Tax Appraisals Underway

Currently, tax appraisers are visiting homes all over the Mecklenburg County area. They are in process of evaluating homes and formulating current pricing for homes all around the Charlotte Metro area. This is in preparation for the 2019 revaluation process where prices are set for what each property in the county is worth. The prices are then used to formulate tax bills which will be sent out to homeowners in January 2019 and will be due later that year.

Price per square foot numbers from a presentation by Mecklenburg County Assessor’s Office

County commissioners will spend much time over the summer and fall of 2018 setting policy used to calculate taxes. You currently get charged just under 82 cents for every $100 of value for your home. If you reside in the City of Charlotte, you pay the 82 cents plus 42 cents for each $100 of value.

Tax rates are not guaranteed to go up, but values of homes have been steadily going up and costs for government are always on the rise so it’s a good bet. Higher taxes on homes with high values can be another obstacle for potential homeowners.

The last time the county reevaluated homes was back in 2011. There were numerous issues with that reevaluation. Many suburban areas were assessed too high and there will millions of dollars refunded to the taxpayers after the process was completely done over. When all was said and done, values went up by around 11% from the previous evaluation in 2003.

This time around, we are expecting a much higher increase in valuation. The home price index is up about 50 percent, commercial prices are up 101 percent and retail prices are up 77 percent. This means that there could be many property owners that question the new valuations and will challenge them through a formal appeal process.

The county tax assessor’s office has made a number of changes this time around to be sure they don’t have a repeat of 2011. They have a better online system for appeals and disputes. There will be more staff to deal with issues. There will be better communication with homeowners, including helping them determine what neighborhood they are in. A simpler grading system is in place to identify the quality of buildings.

After this year, Mecklenburg county will move to a four year cycle for reevaluation. This means the next reassessment will be in 2023. After that the plan is to move to two-year cycles.

The county will have the option of lowering the tax rate to compensate for the higher values. Some reduction in tax rate seems likely, but taxes may still rise.

If you are interested in a home in the Charlotte area, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. You can also view current listings on our website here.