2025 Charleston County Property Reassessment & Tax Impact
Charleston County is conducting its countywide property reassessment in 2025, as required by South Carolina law. This reassessment affects all real estate, including properties within the City of Isle of Palms.
What Is Reassessment?
Reassessment is the process of updating property values to reflect current market conditions. It ensures that property taxes are fairly distributed based on the most recent property values.
Why Is This Important for Isle of Palms?
Property values in Charleston County—including Isle of Palms—have risen significantly since the last reassessment in 2020. The median residential sales price increased from $1.2M 2020 to $1.7M in 2025, a jump of approximately 42%.
How Will This Affect Your Tax Bill?
- Some residents may see an increase in property taxes due to higher assessed values.
- Others may see little or no change, or even a decrease.
- State law limits total tax revenue increases after reassessment to account for inflation and population growth.
- 15% Reassessment Cap
- Most properties are protected by a 15% cap on the increase in taxable value. This means: Your taxable value can only increase by up to 15%, even if your market value increased more.
Exceptions: Properties sold or transferred in 2024, newly added to the tax rolls, or with significant improvements may not qualify for the cap.
Revenue Neutrality During Reassessment
Under South Carolina law, when a countywide property reassessment occurs, the City of Isle of Palms is required to adjust their millage rates to remain revenue neutral.
This means:
The city does not automatically collect more tax revenue just because property values have increased.
Instead, the millage rate is rolled back to offset the rise in assessed property values.
This ensures that the total revenue collected from property taxes remains roughly the same as before the reassessment, unless the City Council votes to increase it within legal limits.
How It Works
- The Charleston County Auditor calculates a “rollback” millage rate that would generate the same revenue as the previous year, based on the new property values.
- The City of Isle of Palms uses this rollback rate as a baseline.
- Any increase above this rate must be justified and is subject to state-imposed caps based on inflation and population growth.
Key Dates & Actions
- Reassessment Notices: Mailed in August 2025.
- Appeal Deadline: November 18, 2025.
- Reassessment Hotline: (843) 958-4144, available Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Disagree with Your New Value?
You may file:
Objection – Informal review.
Protest – Formal review.
Appeal – Review by the Board of Assessment Appeals.
Forms and instructions are included with your reassessment notice.
For more information, visit: Charleston County Assessor’s Office or call the hotline: (843) 958-4144)
Isle of Palms residents are encouraged to review their notices carefully and act promptly if they have concerns.