County property tax bills to be mailed out end of week
- Chuck Thompson
- Jul 30
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 31
Remember to check your mailboxes soon. You’re getting mail from the county.
No, it’s not a love letter, get well soon card or even a thank you note – it’s a property tax bill from Cleveland County.
According to county officials, the adopted budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 is at revenue neutral. This means the new tax rate is calculated to generate the same amount of revenue as the previous rate, accounting for changes in property values due to revaluation.
Cleveland County Tax Administrator Sherry Lavender explained, “The valuations went up, but the tax rate went down.”
The tax rate decreased from the previous rate of 54.75 cents per every $100 value, to 40.5 cents per $100 for fiscal year 2025–26.
While 40.5 cents sounds better than 54.75 cents, it doesn’t mean your bill is going down; in fact, it could be about the same, or higher than last year’s bill, depending on the county’s reappraisal of your property. The county completed a reappraisal of all property on Jan. 1 of this year. Most properties across Cleveland County saw an increase in value from the last assessment in 2021.
Lavender said with the tax rate drop to revenue neutral it could have been higher, but the Cleveland County Commissioners felt with a property valuation increase, and to keep it near revenue neutral, the best course was to lower the rate from 54.75 to 40.5 per $100 value.
Reappraisal or revaluation determines the market value of property for a certain time period. It reflects its true worth in the current market according to the county’s assessment. Each property is valued based on what a buyer and seller would agree on in the current market conditions. The value for each property varies from one to the next.
State law requires a reappraisal at east every eight years, but counties can choose to work on a shorter cycle, as Lavender explained.
“Cleveland County is a on a four-year cycle,” she said. “Because the value increases were so great from the last one in 2021, our sales ratio dropped in 2022 to below 85% the state required us to do one for 2025.”
She added, “We were already going to do one for 2025, so nothing changed for us. We just knew we were going to have a larger increase because of the values of the time.”
When property valuations in the county fall to 85% or lower of market value, under North Carolina law, a mandatory reappraisal or revaluation is required within three years. This is to ensure property tax assessments reflect current market values, preventing situations where some property owners might pay more than their actual value, while others have paid less than their current value.
According to Cleveland County’s government website, a home value is determined by three ways:
Aerial and street photography – County goverment visits each parcel to capture detailed views of each property. They also consider zoning, soil classifications, and any improvements made.
Recent Sales – Cleveland County analyzed market trends and sales. Personal property like motor vehicles, trailers, boats, and ATVs are valued annually, but real property, which is land and any improvements to the land, is valued during this countywide revaluation process.
Land Records – County teams reviewed property deeds to take the age and condition of construction into consideration.
According to the Cleveland County Tax Administration’s website, it states, “The Tax office does not determine market value; instead, it is shaped by the actual activity in the local market. We strive to follow established industry standards for mass appraisal.”
The bills from the county will go out soon.
“The paper copies are still pending, but they should be in the mail later this week,” Lavender noted.
For more information, visit the Cleveland County Tax Administrator website .
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Chuck Thompson is a reporter for The Shelby Independent.
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