At the time, they were assessed at about $100,000 each, for a total of $400,000. After Orange County's new revaluation, they're 10 percent higher, near $440,000.

If anything, Everett says, given the current recession, his property is worth less, not more, than what he paid for it. It's an argument a lot of taxpayers are making. More than 500 have appealed their assessments.

But Assessor John Smith said the the last assessment, in 2005, didn't accurately reflect some market growth in 2004. The latest revaluation has to account for nearly four years of appreciation, along with about a year of decline, he said.

Home values are still up since 2004. Smith said Everett's condos are valued fairly; he just happened to get a good deal on it through a bank sale.

"Some of it's perception," said Smith. "[Taxpayers] are convinced values are down, and that's not the case."

Assessed values were so low relative to sales prices at the time of the last revaluation that even with this revaluation's 26 percent average residential increase, the average assessment is still lower than the average sales price for the last quarter of 2008. At the end of 2004, the average assessed value of $230,000 was more than 24 percent below the average sales price of $303,828 for that quarter.

That gap doesn't bother Mark Zimmerman, president of the Greater Chapel Hill Association of Realtors; most people know assessed value is typically lower than market value.

"We never use the tax value as a way of deciding the list price for the house or a bid price for the house," he said. "What I don't want to see is the assessment increase at a greater rate than the market has increased."

But that's exactly what's happened with this year's revaluation.

Smith said he can't rely solely on average sales prices because they don't reflect all the types of homes across the county.

The assessor's aim was to reflect the market value of each home, neighborhood by neighborhood. Still, if comparing average sales prices and average assessments countywide is any indication, they have succeeded. The difference is less than half a percent.

Data from the Triangle Multiple Listing Services shows the average sales price for Orange County climbed from $303,828 to $306,238 between the fourth quarters of 2004 and 2008.

This small change is misleading, Zimmerman says, because homebuilding slowed in 2008, putting fewer new, expensive homes on the market. Still, when Zimmerman looks at actual gains in individual home prices, he sees 8 to 10 percent in net appreciation since 2004, certainly not more than 20 percent.

Said Everett: "My belief is that Orange County as a general proposition has not taken into account the economic downturn."

He believes his assessment shows that some Orange County property owners will be paying taxes on overvalued property, and he wants to help them fight it. Everett Law Firm is offering free legal advice on how to appeal the latest assessments mailed out to property owners this month. A staff lawyer, Matthew Suczynski, will not represent taxpayers pro bono but will talk them through the appeals process.

"We're not tax attorneys," said Everett. "This is not exactly what we do. I'm fired up enough to try to help the taxpayers of this county to address what I think is an injustice.

"I'm not trying to get one dime off of this thing," said Everett.

Zimmerman's RE/MAX Winning Edge agency in Chapel Hill is offering a similar service, a free market analysis comparing an assessed value to the sale prices of similar homes to determine its accuracy.

"There's just a lot of confusion on the part of people who are receiving these reassessments, and sometimes that may lead to a case where a property wasn't assessed properly, but sometimes people just don't understand," Zimmerman says. "What's most important is, did your property go up more or less than the average?"

In other words, because the local governments set budgets with a specific amount of revenue to be raised, the important thing is that a property is assessed equitably when compared to other properties, so that everyone pays their fair share. Officials in Orange County and the Town of Chapel Hill have already indicated they plan to lower tax rates for next year in order to raise the same amount of money as this year.

801 HILLSBOROUGH ROAD, CARRBORO

Henry Wilson's home mirrors the increase in assessed values between 2005 and 2009. His assessment grew from $269,382 to $348,762, up 29 percent. Still, he doesn't think he could sell it for its assessed value.

"I built this house for $13,500. This year, they're trying to assess it for $345,000," he said. "They just reach up in there and pull a figure out."

Wilson's neighborhood west of downtown Carrboro is above average, according to the assessor's office. Its market factor is 1.55, meaning homes there are worth about 55 percent more than the average in Orange County.

By multiplying that market factor by the base per-square-foot rate of $83,878 for the 1,368-square-foot house, then by other corresponding rates for porches, a carport and a storage area, the assessor arrived at an initial value of $239,117. Subtracting 21 percent depreciation on the 48-year-old house, the county assessed the building at $215,694.

Multiplying the 179-foot average width of Wilson's lot times Hillsborough Road's $798-per-foot pricing and then by a size-factor of 0.70, which accounts for the diminishing value as lots get larger, the assessor's office valued Wilson's land at $99,989, for a total assessed value of $348,762.