Chowan Budget Vote Recessed as State Revaluation Bill Creates Uncertainty

Chowan County commissioners recessed their June 29 budget meeting and are scheduled to reconvene Tuesday after state legislation created uncertainty over which property values the county may use for its FY 2026–27 budget.

According to a public notice emailed by Chowan County, commissioners reviewed two budget scenarios Monday evening: one using the 2026 Schedule of Values and another using the 2022 Schedule of Values.

The board then voted to recess the meeting because of anticipated action from the North Carolina General Assembly.

The meeting is scheduled to reconvene Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at 6 p.m. at the Chowan County Public Safety Center, 305 West Freemason Street in Edenton.

The business scheduled for consideration is Agenda Item No. 7: the FY 2026–27 budget and budget ordinance adoption.

The issue centers on two state bills: Senate Bill 889 and Senate Bill 474.

According to Chowan County’s June 29 agenda packet, SB 889 was signed into law June 19, 2026. The county’s agenda summary says the law imposes a one-year moratorium on using new property revaluations in counties with populations of 15,000 or greater.

Chowan County’s population at the decennial census was listed as 13,708, which would have exempted the county from that moratorium under SB 889. That would have required Chowan County to move forward using its 2026 Schedule of Values for budget planning.

But the agenda packet says SB 474 could change that. The latest draft of SB 474, according to the county’s agenda summary, would reduce the population threshold to 12,000. That would place Chowan County back under the moratorium and require the county to use the previous 2022 Schedule of Values for the FY 2026–27 budget.

The county’s agenda packet says Chowan was still waiting on the status of SB 474 when the agenda was drafted.

The packet also says the School of Government advised counties that may be affected by SB 474 to wait to adopt their FY 2026–27 budget ordinance until they know what the legislature will do. The county noted that state law allows counties to adopt interim appropriations for a short period of time.

That uncertainty appears to have carried into Monday night’s meeting.

In the emailed notice, the county said that if SB 474 is passed as written, Chowan County would no longer be exempt from SB 889.

The budget delay matters because property revaluation affects the county’s tax base, budget planning, tax rate calculations and how residents understand the impact of the upcoming budget.

In Chowan County, property tax concerns have already been part of public discussion during recent budget meetings. Residents have raised concerns about revaluation, school costs, fund balance, the new John A. Holmes High School project, fire taxes and overall county spending.

The June 29 agenda also included other major items, including high school change orders, a jet ski agreement between the Town of Edenton and Chowan County for search and rescue operations, a sheriff’s office drone grant pre-authorization, a debt service budget transfer and current-year budget amendments.

But the budget item is now the central issue heading into Tuesday’s reconvened meeting.

For Camden Tribune readers, the Chowan County situation is worth watching because it shows how state legislation can suddenly affect small-county budget decisions across northeastern North Carolina.

Camden County, Chowan County and other rural counties face many of the same pressures: school construction costs, emergency services, public safety, infrastructure, revaluation questions and taxpayer concerns.

Camden Tribune will continue monitoring county budget decisions across the region when they affect taxpayers, public services and local government accountability.