June 20, 2025
In February 2024 many Pitt County property owners were shocked at the massive hikes in the supposed values of their homes. Every four years Pitt conducts county-wide property re-evaluations in order to update assessments to reflect the current market.
According to the Pitt County Tax Administration, 62% of property values increased by over 40%. An elderly friend on a fixed income saw their reappraisal skyrocket by 145%! The house value in 2023 was $89,096, and without any addition or renovations it got hiked to $218,592 in 2024. A flummoxed family member faced an increase of over 71%. My husband and I had a 47% increase in our home value without renovations or additions. Many homeowners could not believe increases of over 50%, saying this seemed unprecedented and wondering how they could afford the tax bills. They were urging local officials to consider these massive hikes when looking at possible adjustments to the property tax rate.
In 2024, Pitt County lowered its property tax rate by almost 12 cents per $100 valuation, while the City of Greenville reduced its rate by 9.4 cents. The Town of Farmville did not reduce our property tax rate. They kept it the same and plan to do so for 2025. (Property owners pay a county tax as well as a town or city tax.)
Homes reassessed for approximately $270,000 paid an additional $420 to the Town of Farmville in property taxes in 2024 and will again in 2025. With so many property owners, just imagine how much additional money Farmville’s Town Hall has taken in with the revaluations, and at no expense to them! This has been an incredible boost to the Town coffers. It benefits the Town of Farmville to see as many new houses constructed as possible.
Undoubtedly, this windfall should be a huge help for Farmville to set aside money for the construction of our much-needed new fire station. We shall see what the Town has allocated for this critical project in the 2025/26 budget.
Please note that Farmville’s financial woes go back several years. Some who had a part in getting us in this trouble are no longer in the same positions of power. There are newer faces who are trying to help us get out of problems they had no hand in causing.
WITN – February 21, 2024
“While the county says most re-evaluations sent out have higher property values, that doesn’t automatically translate into higher taxes.
It will now be up to towns, cities, and county commissioners to decide if they lower tax rates to make the reappraisal revenue neutral, meaning the amount paid actually in taxes stays at the same, even though the value of the property itself changed. Those decisions will be made before tax bills come out later this year.”
celiastone 