The Mecklenburg County Tax Assessor's office is set to release it's reassessed real estate tax value for every home in Mecklenburg County starting this month. Tax values were last set in 2003 in Mecklenburg and were delayed several times by the county commissioners "due to the economy." Now, with the county in financial crisis, there's no time like the present to raise your taxes.
A Mass Appraisal was performed to update the value of your home. The assessor is unable to examine every sale in your neighborhood, rather a value is set based on a few sales of an entire area. Recent sales in the area will be considered as well as any permitted improvements. It is unlikely that someone from the assessor's office actually visited your home. Rather, they analyzed the sales date and assign based on the information at their disposal. Foreclosures are also not taken into account because they are not considered "arms length" for some reason.
So what should you do when you get your new tax value in the mail?
1. When you stop either laughing or crying, research to determine what homes in your neighborhood have recently sold for. Start by using our free Market Snapshot tool, which gives up-to-date sales data around every address in the Charlotte area straight from the Multiple Listing Service.
Alternatively, you can request a market analysis of your home from a Realtor, which would provide you with sales of similar properties. If sales around your home are below your tax value, complete the form attached to your revaluation notice and include your report as evidence.
2. If your request is denied or they request more information, you may want to consider hiring a licensed Appraiser to complete an appraisal on your property. This will cost $300 - $500 but may be worth the money considering your potential tax savings.
3. If your request is denied at the Real Estate Division of the Tax Assessors office, your next step is to file an appeal to the Board of Equalization. All appeals must be made by May 15th or within 30 days of your notice.
4. If your appeal to the Board of Equalization was declined yet you feel very strongly that the value was too high, your next steps involve hiring an attorney and appealing to the North Carolina Tax Commission and the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
There are tax deferment and relief programs available to Home Builders with unsold inventory, low-income elderly, disabled veterans, and disabled citizens.
What You Might Expect
A brick ranch in Charlotte (28226), built in 1966, on .70 acres, and 2,993 square feet has a tax value today of $223,400 based on the 2003 assessment. Their 2010 tax bill was $2,958. Similar homes in the area have sold as high as $400,000 over the last few years. Today, however, the revaluation tax value could be $350,000.
- 2011 Tax Value of $350,000
- 2011 Combined Charlotte / Mecklenburg tax rate of 1.2973
- 2011 Property Tax: $4540.55 or $161.88 more per month
In 2008, Union county completed property tax revaluations and the result today is that the majority of properties are selling for less than the tax value.
Comments(0)