Newberry County property owners will soon receive a notification of the new value of their property for tax purposes, if they have not already. The notices were mailed on Thursday, August 21, 2025. This is not a tax bill.

South Carolina state law requires that all counties go through a process of revaluing property for tax purposes, which is referred to as reassessment and equalization. 

According to County Administrator Jeff Shacker, reassessment must be conducted every five years, in accordance with South Carolina state law. However, it may be extended up to one year by county council.

“Newberry County Council did approve a one year extension in June of 2023. The process of reassessment is prescribed by South Carolina state law and Newberry County followed the required process,” Shacker said. 

The process of reassessment involved the appraisal of all real property within Newberry County through a mass-appraisal process to determine the current market value of those properties, as state law requires. 

Now that the notices have been mailed, the 90-day appeal period, during which property owners may contact the Newberry County Assessor’s Office to appeal the new valuation of their property, has begun. The 90-day period will expire on November 22, 2025. 

For property owners looking at their notices, they should be aware that South Carolina state law caps the increase in the value of individual properties at 15% in many cases. However, there are exceptions to that cap. 

“The most common exceptions are increases in the value of properties sold in between reassessments and increases in the value of properties attributable to new construction, additions, improvements and renovations,” Assessor Melissa Mote said. 

Additionally, state law requires that the county reduce its property tax rate (referred to as millage) to ensure that the county does not receive an increase in revenue as a result of the new property values established through the reassessment process. This lowering of the property tax rate is referred to as “rolling back” the millage rate.

“Newberry County Council made clear at the beginning of the reassessment process that it intends to fully roll-back the property tax rate to avoid a county-wide property tax increase during a reassessment tax year,” Shacker said. “Reassessment and Equalization is required by South Carolina state law. It is not optional to Newberry County. However, Newberry County Council remains fully committed to not increasing county taxes this year to ease, to the extent the county can, the impact of reassessment on county taxpayers.”

Those who would like to file an appeal to their new value can do so by contacting the Newberry County Assessor’s Office. 

The Newberry County Assessor’s Office is located at 1512 Martin Street, Newberry, South Carolina 29108 and can be reached by telephone at 803.321.2125 (option 1) and by email at AssessorsOffice@newberrycounty.gov.