Stokes County, NC

The Machinery Act (General Statute 105, Subchapter II) provides the framework for the listing, assessing, and appraising of both real and personal property in North Carolina.

Under General Statute 105-286, all counties are required to conduct a reappraisal at least every eight (8) years. The majority of the counties conduct their reappraisals on this time frame, although a growing segment of counties, including Stokes County, conducts reappraisals on a four-year cycle.  A county may choose to conduct its reappraisal "in-house" utilizing their own appraisal staff, by hiring an outside reappraisal firm, or by employing consultants to assist their staff appraisers.

During the years that a general reappraisal is not made in the county, General Statute 105-287 is the operative statute for changing any property values in the county.

The assessor is limited to certain circumstances in which he may change the value of real property. These include correcting a clerical or mathematical error, or correcting an appraisal which resulted from a misapplication of the schedules used during the county's last general reappraisal.

Also, the assessor may increase or decrease the appraised value of real property, to recognize a change in value caused by factors other than the following: normal physical depreciation of the improvements, economic conditions affecting the county as a whole, or minor improvements to the property such as repainting, landscaping, terracing etc.