It's worse than the age old 'chicken or the egg' argument...since it affects how people perceive their biggest financial investment-their homes.
Which is correct-market value or tax value? 
Doesn't sound like a difficult question when I write it down, but it's an ongoing discussion with homeowners in Charlotte NC (and especially in Cabarrus County-Concord, Kannapolis, Harrisburg, in light of the recent property tax revaluation). Seems that in some parts of the country, tax values have some semblance of relation to market values.
Not so around here. And that's hard to accept for relocating families who see listing prices which are far off from tax values, and for homeowners who get new property tax assessments every few years (North Carolina requires a revaluation every 8 years so houses don't get too far out of whack).
There's just not a lot of science involved in determining your property's tax value. The lovely folks in the tax office aren't stupid-they're just overworked and understaffed to properly assign values in an area that's growing as quickly as Charlotte NC is.
The tax cards are notorious for having incorrect numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms, incorrect heated area, missing finished basements, missing screen porches, etc. The assessors also don't have their fingers on the pulse of neighborhood values, and may not be making adjustments for areas that aren't doing so hot.
Long story short, your tax value has NOTHING to do with your market value.
I received a call from a concerned gentleman last week, a lovely man who owns a home in Concord NC. He felt that his valuation was high. I spent a few minutes with him, establishing a reasonable market value range for him-which was far below his tax value. I explained that he could contact the county tax office and dispute his value (you have 30 days from the notice to protest the assessment).
He proceeded to tell me that if they would NOT reduce his tax value to meet my estimates, then he would go ahead and list the house and sell it for the tax value. Ahem. Kinda missed the point there, didn't he? I know it's hard pill to swallow when you see this lovely assessment and you've already started counting the money. But the market is fluid and buyers determine what your house is ultimately worth. I'm not saying that they're always wrong-far from it. But if the market range of your house is far below tax value-the fact that your tax value is higher is NOT going to make a buyer pay that much for it.
If this is confusing (as are most things dealing with county government and taxes), leave me a comment and I'll try again to explain. I'm always glad to help my neighbors here in the Charlotte area-and I will only provide the unvarnished truth!
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