Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Gaston County, NC (WNN) - If you have been a Gaston County property owner since 2022, you likely noticed the tax increase in 2023. This occurred due to the 2023 property revaluation, which impacted home and business values throughout the county. From a sample of 10 random houses across the county, it is found that the average value of residential dwellings increased by 1.85 times on average. This means if your home were worth 100k in 2022, it would've been worth 185k in 2023.
The 2023 Census Bureau estimates 103212 homes in Gaston County in 2023 with a median value of 235k. This means the residential property value can be estimated at $24.25 billion in 2023, growing from an estimated $13.1 billion the previous year. Since then, the average home value has risen to $284k on average, which represents a $16.2 billion change since 2022 in the county.
Despite a significant reduction in the tax rate at both the county and municipal levels, homeowners have, on average, paid hundreds more due to the revaluation. For example, let's consider a home worth 100k in 2022, located in Cherryville. That year, the tax rate would be $0.81 from the county and $0.52 from the city, resulting in a tax rate of $1.33 per $100 of value. This means that on a 100k home in 2022 in Cherryville, you would pay $ 1,330 in taxes. In 2023, however, the rates dropped to $0.61 and $0.48, respectively, for a total of $1.09 per $100 of value. Your home, now worth 185k, would now cost you $ 1,916.50 in taxes, representing a payment increase of $686.50 in 2023. Even in 2025, when our county tax rate is $0.5990, making it as low as it was in the 1970s, it has not lowered the amount owed yearly to pre-2023 rates.
While commercial and industrial lots showed less change in value, they still grew at rates from 1.05 to 1.3 times. This may seem minor, but it can realistically represent a change that exceeds the total value of homes in the area. The Cherry Hill Plaza, a commercially zoned shopping center in Cherryville, for example, grew by over 300k in value from 2022 to 2023. Multi-million-dollar lots, which are common in commercial and industrial zoning, can change by millions when a revaluation occurs. These sorts of changes represent multiple billions of dollars' worth of growth in Gaston County over the last few years, so how can this be a bad thing?
Due to the county's higher value in general, we have crossed a threshold, resulting in a drastic drop in the amount of money Gaston County Schools receives. According to Superintendent Dr. Morgen A. Houchard, in an email to all employees on December 15, 2025, the "Low Wealth Supplemental Fund" received by Gaston County has decreased by $7.2 million. The fund is a state-provided fund that helps provide schools in NC with the money that the counties cannot offer.
The school system is also experiencing a decline in student enrollment, with the number of students in the 2025-2026 school year being 400 lower than in the 2024-2025 school year. This will also result in a reduction of state-provided funds. Houchard also mentioned that to compound these issues, there has been no allotment to match inflation, and the cost of employee benefits has risen.
The answer that the school system is forced to take is a temporary hiring freeze. This will apply at all levels, from the schools to the central office. Positions considered critical, such as bus drivers and those teaching exceptional children, will be eligible for hire with approval from HR. This is expected to cause issues with staffing across the county, but it will ensure the continued employment of current teachers and other school system employees. This freeze may change once the NC. General Assembly approves a budget; however, at this time, the amount available to schools for the 2025-2026 school year is uncertain.
Currently, the Gaston County School System has approximately 48% of its schools designated as Title 1. Title 1 schools are rated as having a higher percentage of students from low-income families. The higher tax values do not necessarily mean higher income values.
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