AssessCheck

The Appeal Process: Informal, Board, Commission

North Carolina’s appeal ladder has a feature no other state on this site has: the formal appeal window closes when the board adjourns — not on a calendar date set by statute, but on a date the county board’s own schedule produces. Everything else (the informal review, the 30-day state appeal) is conventional. The Department’s appeal-process page and Orange County’s page, both read in full, supply the structure.

Step 1 — the informal review

The first step is an informal review by the county assessor’s staff — a county appraiser, not a board, reviews the appeal and the evidence and sends a decision by mail or email. Orange County accepted informal appeals January 1 through March 31, 2026; other counties publish their own windows. The evidence the county asks for is the standard set: comparable sales close to the revaluation date, appraisals, closing statements, photos, condition notes and repair estimates.

What this tells you: the informal step is a real review by a professional appraiser — the person most able to recognize a valuation error. Treat it as the main event: a well-documented informal win ends the matter months before the board even convenes.

Step 2 — the Board of Equalization and Review

If the informal decision does not bring relief, the formal appeal is a hearing before the county Board of Equalization and Review (BOER) — a citizen board appointed by the county commissioners. The window has two anchors:

There is no filing fee and a lawyer is not required. But the end date is the board’s own schedule — a board that finishes its docket early closes the window early, which is why your county’s published dates are the operative ones and why filing early in the window is the safe play.

Step 3 — the Property Tax Commission

A BOER decision can be appealed to the state Property Tax Commission (PTC) in Raleigh within 30 days of the decision letter; the instructions come with the notice. The PTC is a genuine appellate board — it hears evidence and argument afresh — and its decisions can be appealed further to the NC Court of Appeals on legal or procedural issues.

Worked example (illustrative)

Illustrative timeline with Orange County’s published 2026 dates as the example — your county’s dates differ.

  1. January 5, 2026: informal appeal filed with three sales from early 2025 and a repair-estimate summary.
  2. February 2026: the county appraiser’s informal decision arrives — value reduced from $480,000 to $465,000. Not enough; you continue.
  3. April 20, 2026: formal appeal filed — well inside the April 1 – June 30 window, avoiding the adjournment risk entirely.
  4. May 2026: BOER hearing; the decision letter mails June 10 holding the value.
  5. By July 10, 2026 (30 days): PTC appeal filed in Raleigh.

What this tells you: the informal decision anchors everything — it tells you what the assessor’s office will defend, and the formal window is where that defense is tested. Waiting until the board’s window is nearly closed is the one mistake the adjournment rule does not forgive.

What this page does not cover

Each county’s hearing procedures and PTC practice rules are outside this page. The Department’s appeal-process page and Orange County’s appeal page cited below are the authorities for the ladder and the example dates.

Sources