Buying in Pinehurst This Winter? The Tax Figure on the Listing Expires January 1

Every Pinehurst listing this fall shows an annual property tax figure. That number comes from an assessed value Moore County set on January 1, 2023. The county's next revaluation takes effect January 1, 2027, about ten weeks from now. New values are expected in mailboxes in late February. Whatever a buyer pays at closing this winter, the tax line they budgeted around will be replaced within months.

Most coverage stops at the countywide headline, which is how much values rose on average. For an individual Pinehurst owner, that headline says less than it seems. The bill depends on two things, and the average is neither of them.

The County's Four-Year Clock

North Carolina law requires counties to reappraise real property at least once every eight years. Commissioners can choose a shorter cycle. Moore County revalues every four years. According to The Pilot, the shorter cycle is meant to cut down on large swings in values, up or down.

Those swings have varied a lot. The Pilot reported that overall values fell about 2 percent in the 2015 revaluation, rose 8 percent in 2019, and rose an average of 50 percent in 2023. In October, the Board of Commissioners set the schedule of values for 2027. That document is the framework and methodology appraisers follow. It does not list values for individual properties.

Here is the sequence from now through next summer:

1. Early November 2026. The window for appealing the schedule of values itself closes. The Pilot reported that those appeals go to the state, and that Tax Administrator Gary Briggs had not seen one in Moore County since he joined in 2007.
2. January 1, 2027. The new values take effect, set at market value as of that date.
3. Early February 2027. The county completes the revaluation work.
4. Later in February 2027. Every property owner gets a notice with the updated value.
5. Next budget season. The county and the Village each set a tax rate to apply to the new values. This year, Pinehurst adopted its budget at the May 26, 2026 council meeting, and it took effect July 1.

The last step does as much to set the bill as the new value does.

Why the Average Increase Is the Wrong Number to Watch

Briggs told The Pilot he did not expect a spike like 2023's. The department's tracking showed an average selling-price increase of 15 to 20 percent across the county, covering all property types. "I don't have a crystal ball," he said. "I wish I did, but I don't."

Rates usually move in a revaluation year as well. State law requires a local budget in a reappraisal year to publish a revenue-neutral rate. That is the rate estimated to raise the same revenue as if no reappraisal had happened, adjusted for new construction and boundary changes. Boards don't have to adopt that rate. They do have to show it.

To see how this works, take a simplified example. Say the whole tax base rises 15 percent and a board adopts the revenue-neutral rate. A home that rose 15 percent pays about what it paid before. A home that rose 30 percent pays more, and a home that rose 5 percent pays less. A revaluation redistributes who pays according to how each property moved compared with the rest of the base. The governments' total take changes only if the boards set a rate above or below revenue-neutral.

So a buyer comparing two Pinehurst homes this winter is really asking two questions. Has this kind of home gained faster or slower than the county as a whole since January 2023? And what rates will the county and the Village adopt next summer?

What 2023 Showed in Pinehurst

Pinehurst's last revaluation gives a local answer to both questions. In 2023, Councilmember Jane Hogeman said the revaluation had raised the Village's tax base by close to 50 percent. In the same council debate, she said the gains were uneven. The Pilot reported her words:

"Many of the affordable and more modest units went up at a higher rate than other residential properties."

That is the relative mechanism in action. Homes at the more modest end gained faster than the base as a whole, so even a rate cut that offset the average left their owners paying a larger share.

The rate decision followed the arithmetic closely. Then-Village Manager Jeff Sanborn said a 21.2-cent rate would fully offset the revaluation. Adjusted for the prior year's inflation, the figure came to 23.5 cents. Then-council members Patrick Pizzella and Hogeman supported 22 cents, which they described as closer to a true revenue-neutral level. The Village's 2024 Strategic Operating Plan lists the rate that followed at 23 cents.

Sources: 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 Village Strategic Operating Plans, and the Village's council meeting highlights for FY2027.

Pizzella is now mayor. The Pilot reported that he has called for tax cuts for three years running, aimed at a fund balance projected at more than $16 million. In May the council approved the FY2027 budget unanimously with a half-penny cut to 22 cents. That record gives some context for next summer's rate debate. It doesn't predict the outcome.

The county followed a similar path. According to The Pilot, the county's revenue-neutral rate for FY2024 would have been 46.7 cents. Last year the county lowered its rate from 31 cents to 29.5 cents. The FY2026-27 plan carries a 29-cent general rate and raises the Advanced Life Support rate from 3.75 cents to 4.25 cents per $100.

The Gap Already Built Into Today's Listings

A listing's tax figure was low compared with market value even before this year's price gains. The North Carolina Department of Revenue's 2025 sales assessment ratio study uses 2024 sales. It put Moore County's median sales-assessment ratio at 86.79 percent. That means the median assessment was about 13 percent below the sale price for 2024 transactions. Briggs's countywide tracking shows prices climbing since then, so that gap is the starting point for 2027, not the end of it.

A purchase price is also a fact the county will be looking at. The county's appraisers work through a computer-assisted mass appraisal system across more than 76,500 parcels and roughly 700 tax neighborhoods. A model at that scale can miss details of a specific house, positive or negative. Briggs put it plainly: "We have most of the information, but if there are nuances to the property, positive or negative, then our data might not be fully reflecting it."

That is why appeals exist, and why they are common. The Pilot reported 1,300 formal appeals heard by the Moore County Board of Equalization after the 2023 revaluation. Briggs called himself "a big advocate for appealing."

How a Value Appeal Works

The county's appeal process document describes two routes. An informal appeal can be filed from January 1 until the Board of Equalization and Review convenes. The owner submits a signed form and supporting information, and an appraiser reviews it. A formal appeal can be filed through the Board's adjournment, and an informal appeal is not required first. Formal appeals get a hearing where the owner and the Tax Department each present their case. The Board's decision is mailed within 30 days of adjournment. The document's examples still refer to the 2023 revaluation, and the county has not yet published 2027 convening dates. The deadline that matters will be the one printed on the February notice and on the county's tax pages.

This is general information about how the revaluation process works. It is not tax, legal or financial advice, so please confirm the details of your own property with the Moore County Tax Department or a tax professional.

A Few Straight Answers

Will my taxes go up 15 to 20 percent in 2027? That figure is Briggs's countywide tracking of selling prices across all property types, not a tax forecast. The change in any one bill depends on how that home's new value compares with the overall base, and on the rates adopted next summer.

I'm closing in December. Which value applies to me? The new values take effect January 1, 2027, and owners receive notices later in February. The figure on today's listing reflects the January 1, 2023 assessment.

Does Pinehurst have to adopt the revenue-neutral rate? State law requires the revenue-neutral rate to be published in a reappraisal year. It does not require a board to adopt it. In 2023 the Village's adopted rate landed between the pure offset figure and the inflation-adjusted figure.

Who sets my rate? Pinehurst property carries both the Moore County rate and the Village of Pinehurst rate. Each board sets its own in its annual budget.

If you're weighing a Pinehurst purchase this winter or thinking about listing in 2027, I'm happy to sit down with you and look at where your home stands compared with what's been selling around it, so the February notice holds fewer surprises. Reach out to Rose A Ward and let's connect.