When you look at an Oak Ridge home this fall, the property tax figure on the listing is accurate and also out of date. It comes from a bill that Guilford County calculated on the home's 2025 assessed value. That's true even though the county finished a full reappraisal this year and mailed new values to owners in February.
Those new values aren't gone. They're waiting for the 2027 bill. In Oak Ridge, the town's own budget message put the average increase in residential values at 49%. That puts Oak Ridge above the countywide estimate, and the gap matters more than the headline tax rate will.
The Number on This Year's Bill Is a 2025 Number
Guilford County's 2026 reappraisal set new values effective January 1, 2026, and those values were supposed to show up on July 2026 bills. Then the state stepped in. Governor Stein signed Senate Bill 889, the Property Tax Reappraisal Moratorium, on June 19. The county's statement after the budget vote was blunt about the result. Your 2026 tax bill is based on the same value as your 2025 bill, "not the 2026 reappraisal value from your February notice."
If you build a monthly budget from the most recent tax bill on an Oak Ridge home right now, you're working from a bill based on a valuation the county has already replaced. The Guilford County moratorium page says the 2026 values will apply to 2027 bills, and the next reappraisal isn't scheduled until 2032.
So the value that sets an Oak Ridge owner's taxes from mid-2027 on is already on paper, and it stays in place for years.
How Oak Ridge Ended Up With a Frozen Year
The order of events explains why the town and county budgets look the way they do:
- February 2026. Reappraisal notices arrive. Rhino Times reported the county's expectation of a 40% to 45% rise in the overall real estate tax base.
- Spring 2026. Owners push back. In the last week before the May 15 deadline, WFMY counted 13,131 appeals.
- May 2026. Oak Ridge drafts its budget on the new values. It calculates a revenue-neutral rate of 5.9 cents per $100 and proposes 6.6 cents.
- June 19, 2026. SB 889 becomes law, and Oak Ridge property values go back to 2025 levels.
- June 25, 2026. Guilford County adopts a rate of 78.95 cents per $100, an increase of 5.9 cents, applied to 2025 values.
- June 30, 2026. Oak Ridge Town Council adopts Ordinance O-2026-02 by a 4–0 vote and keeps the town rate at 8 cents per $100.
- July 7, 2026. A follow-up law, S.L. 2026-47, changes which counties the moratorium covers. Guilford stays on the list.
The town's 6.6-cent proposal never took effect. Oak Ridge's June 30 minutes describe the adopted 8-cent budget as built on 2025 values after the moratorium. Every rate decision tied to the new values has been pushed to the budgets that come next June.
Revenue-Neutral Is About the County's Total, Not Your Bill
When values jump in a reappraisal, North Carolina local governments publish a revenue-neutral rate. That's the lower rate that would bring in roughly the same total revenue from the larger tax base. Guilford County has already estimated its own. If the 2026 values hold, the revenue-neutral rate for FY2028 would be 58.54 cents, compared with the 78.95 cents in effect now.
A revenue-neutral rate keeps the county's total about the same. It doesn't keep each owner's share the same. If 78.95 cents and 58.54 cents raise about the same amount, the ratio between them, roughly 1.35, gives a rough sense of how much the county expects its overall taxable base to grow on 2026 values. A home whose value rose about that much would see a county bill near where it is today. A home whose value rose more would pay a bigger share, even if the rate came down.
Oak Ridge's reported average was 49%. Northwest Guilford reporting from March cited only the countywide 40% to 45% expectation, with no separate figure for the area. Compared against both the county's estimate and the base growth implied by its revenue-neutral rate, the typical Oak Ridge home is on the side of the line that pays a larger share.
What That Looks Like on One Hypothetical Home
The table below uses a made-up home and two "what if" assumptions, neither of which has been adopted. It assumes a 2025 assessed value of $400,000 and an increase matching Oak Ridge's 49% average. For 2027 it uses the county's estimated revenue-neutral rate and the town's pre-moratorium revenue-neutral figure. Fire district taxes aren't included.
| Line item | This year's bill, 2025 value | 2027 at estimated revenue-neutral rates, 2026 value |
|---|---|---|
| Assessed value | $400,000 | $596,000 |
| Guilford County | 78.95 cents → $3,158 | 58.54 cents → $3,489 |
| Town of Oak Ridge | 8 cents → $320 | 5.9 cents → $352 |
| Combined | $3,478 | $3,841 |
Under those assumptions, the home pays about 10% more even though both rates went down. Run the same math on a home whose value rose by the county's roughly 35% base growth, and the county portion stays almost flat.
Real outcomes will differ for three reasons. The 49% is an average, so individual Oak Ridge homes rose more or less. The county's 58.54 cents is an estimate that depends on values holding through appeals. And neither the county nor the town has adopted any 2027 rate. The NCGA summary of SB 889 describes which schedule of values counties use and when. It doesn't describe any cap on 2027 rates or any requirement to adopt the revenue-neutral rate.
The Appeal Windows Still Open, and Who Can Use Them
The extra year leaves more time to challenge a value before it reaches a bill. According to the Guilford County Board of Equalization and Review, appeals for tax year 2026 can be submitted through December 31, 2026. Appeals for tax year 2027 can be filed through May 17, 2027, and the online portal for them opens January 1, 2027.
The text of S.L. 2026-8 allows appeals in calendar 2027 for people who didn't file in 2026. Changes from those appeals take effect for the tax year starting July 1, 2027. The county has also said that an appeal filed this year still counts toward next year's bill.
For an Oak Ridge transaction, that leaves a few questions to ask during due diligence:
- What 2026 value did the February notice show for this home?
- Did the current owner appeal, and if so, what happened?
- If you close before May 17, 2027, ask the Guilford County Tax Department whether you, as the new owner, can file an appeal for tax year 2027.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Before acting on an appeal or a tax estimate, confirm your situation with the Guilford County Tax Department or a qualified professional.
A Few Common Questions
Is Guilford the only county under the moratorium? No. After S.L. 2026-47, the NCGA summary lists nine counties: Anson, Bladen, Buncombe, Chowan, Davidson, Guilford, Onslow, Pamlico and Pender.
Did Oak Ridge raise its town rate this year? No. Council kept the rate at 8 cents per $100 on a unanimous vote on June 30, 2026.
Where can I see the value my current bill is based on? The county points owners to its tax billing search for the 2025 assessed values behind FY2027 bills. The 2026 reappraisal value is the one on the February notice. Reappraisal details are on the county's 2026 reappraisal page.
If you're weighing an Oak Ridge home or getting one ready to sell, I can pull the 2025 value, the February 2026 notice and any appeal history together, so your numbers reflect the 2027 bill as well as this year's. Talk with Colleen Long and request a free home valuation that accounts for both years.
