Cumberland County homeowners eyeing wallets as property values rise

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Some Cumberland County homeowners say they're worried about rising taxes as property values skyrocket.

Cumberland County recently released its newest property valuations and many properties throughout the county are seeing steep increases in home values.

When combined, Cumberland County said its property revaluations for residential and commercial properties rose about 64.7% in this year's reevaluation since the county's last valuation in 2017.

"We had two houses on this road selling for $30,000, $40,000, $50,000. And now two years to a little over two years later, now my house is evaluating over three times what I paid for it 10 years ago," Aubrey McMullen said.

McMullen said he was worried about what the property valuations will mean for his wallet. He said his home value went from $57,000 to $152,000 in this latest round. Despite working two jobs, McMullen said he might have to cut back on some of his expenses if his property tax bill gets too expensive, and he wants more answers from county commissioners.

"If they can't get ahead of the spending, we're going to vote them out and find somebody who can get ahead of the spending, who can balance the budget," McMullen said.

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County officials said new property values don't automatically mean higher taxes. County commissioners still need to set the tax rate in June as part of next year's budget. They say that tax rate, as well as homeowners' property values, will dictate the ultimate cost of their new annual tax bill.

"Our board of commissioners is certainly taking into consideration any income limitations that our community might have or any concerns that they might have about their taxes being raised, and just considering their month to month budget," said Cumberland County Communications Director Diane Rice.

The county said it has a new phone line just for homeowners to address their concerns about this. Homeowners can also appeal their tax revaluations by March 24 at the county courthouse. Property owners can learn more at the county website.