The votes have been tallied, and the decisions are in.
Homeowners filed more than 7,200 appeals of the 1999 property revaluations in Rowan County and presented their cases before the Board of Equalization and Review. After about seven weeks of hearings and discussion the board has turned in their decisions to the county assessor’s office.
“Friday marked the first mailing date for appeal decisions,” said Rowan County Assessor Jerry Rowland. “After Monday we should have most of the decisions mailed.”
Seven thousand may sound like a lot, but it actually represents less than 3 percent of all the properties reassessed throughout Rowan County. The state average for formal appeals is higher, around 5 to 6 percent, Rowland said.
A larger number of Rowan property owners — 21,000, representing 8 to 9 percent of property parcels — submitted informal appeals to Rowland’s staff.
Informal appeals are usually dealt with directly by the County Assessor’s office and do not go before the board. They typically involve issues of incorrect measurements and information. For example, if the Assessor’s office has a house on record for 150,000 square feet but it actually only measures at 100,000 square feet, the homeowner would submit an informal appeal. These types of errors can easily be fixed by the clerk.
Formal appeals are presented to the Board of Equalization and Review, which is made up of 11 volunteer members from across Rowan County. These appeals generally involve homeowners who dispute the reassessment of their property. Each property owner is allotted 15 minutes to present his or her case to the board and answer any questions the board members may have. Most people who come before the board refute the findings of the revaluation or are angry that their taxes are going to increase, said Barbara Ames, a revaluation appraiser with the county.
“Nobody likes taxes, but it is one of those things that we just have to do,” Ames said. “People come before the board and they complain that their taxes are too high, but that is not something that the board has any power over.”
Ames said the board to responsible for ensuring that everyone’s revaluation is done fairly and is accurate. Board members function like a jury taking all factors into consideration and their decisions are not based on sympathy.
“Sometimes you can’t help but feel sorry for people whose values go up and they are going to have a hard time paying their taxes, but you can’t make a judgment in their favor just because of that,” said Hilton Swindell, a board member. “Everyone is entitled to a fair hearing, and in order to keep them fair, you can’t show favoritism.”
Swindell said the hardest thing about sitting on the board is helping people to understand the reasons behind their property value increase.
“I think a lot of people were surprised that their property values went up as much as they did, and they just didn’t understand why,” Swindell said. “They come in here angry and you can’t really blame them because you would be angry too, but they don’t understand that the revaluation is for four years and a lot could have changed concerning their property.”
The best way for property owners to keep the surprise of a large increase to a minimum would be to report changes in their property to the County Assessor’s Office, Ames said.
“Any changes and remodeling of a house need to be reported to the office so that we have accurate records,” Ames said. “Things like enclosing a patio or adding another bathroom can drastically change the valuation of a home.”
While newer homes may not have a large increase in valuation, older homes— especially those in historic districts— could increase considerably in value.
“Owners of newer homes have made fewer changes and done less remodeling than those of older homes,” Ames said. “Homes that are older have undergone many more changes, and most times those changes haven’t been reported to the office.”
There are several different reasons homeowners would appeal their revaluations to the board, including property size and location. Living near a garbage dump or a golf course can greatly affect a property’s value.
“The board’s job is to make equal and fair what one person has in comparison to another, especially when considering a neighborhood,” said Wilbur Boltz, a board member. “People tend to think that we are a board of readjustment and that we have to lower the evaluation, but that just isn’t true.”
In fact, the board has the power to raise an evaluation if they find that a home has been assessed too low. Although that is seldom the case, Ames said it does occur.
One couple who came before the board requested that the office raise their assessment because they were trying to sell their home, Swindell said. “Of course, we have the right to do it, but we didn’t because we felt the office had assessed it correctly.”
Once the board adjourns, the assessor’s office can make clerical corrections but can no longer consider the valuation question, Ames said.
“Once the decisions are mailed, the valuation question is out of our hands,” Ames said. “If property owners are still unsatisfied with the decision, they can appeal to the state board.”
State appeals are handled in Raleigh by the Property Tax Commission. Once the appeal application is completed, property owners might have to wait up to year to receive a ruling, Ames said.
“Once you appeal on the state level you have to wait for them to address the appeals from Rowan County,” Ames said. “That in itself could take a long time depending on what order the commission received each county’s appeals.”
While the members of the Board of Equalization and Review have adjourned for the year and returned to their jobs and lives, some plan to serve on the board in years to come.
“I love serving on the board because everyone is supposed to get a fair shake and that is why we are here,” Swindell said. “I do my job and I don’t take it home with me because to serve on this board you have to be fair minded and thick skinned.”
|
Today's Paper