Wake County property tax bills are out amid continued growth

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- If you live in Wake County, you might be one of the 53% who saw an increase in your property values when they came out in January.

Despite Wake County lowering the tax rate, many with increased valuations will still pay more in property taxes for 2024.

You can now check and see exactly how much your bill has changed by clicking here.

Some of the areas that are seeing the biggest increase are in fast-growing parts of Wake County such as Wendell and Knightdale.

"Towns like Wendell specifically are growing at a crazy rate. So, that has to come with the appropriate infrastructure and that has to be paid for one way or another," said Wendell business owner Olaf Piesche.

He's a part-owner of Whistlestop Bottle Shop. He told ABC11 that he's seen the growth firsthand.

"There's a lot of times I'm here and I see nothing but new faces come through the door, which is really, really nice to see as a business, right?" he said.

He said he believes the rising cost of living in bigger cities is part of the draw, but so is the Wendell way of life.

"They're looking for something small-town. It's something that that community and the small town, the small-town-vibe place where you still know your neighbors, where it's still relatively quiet," Piesche said.

That small-town spirit is what drew Sam Laughery and his wife to Wendell 17 years ago. He now meets with his church group once a month in the summer at Whistle Stop.

He was also on the town's planning commission seven years ago and remembers growth causing budget issues then. too. as they tried to meet infrastructure and public safety demands.

"Scrambling to try and, you know, make ends meet and get whatever we needed to keep the town safe," he said. "It was difficult."

That growth has exploded since. Bradley Congleton bartends at Whistle Stop part-time and works as a Realtor. He can attest to the growth

"I'm born and raised here from Wendell, here my whole life, and just within the past five or six years, I mean, it's been tremendous growth and it's coming day by day," he said.

Everyone our crew spoke with agreed that they don't mind paying more in property taxes as long as the money is spent responsibly to manage the growing needs of the town.