PITTSBORO — Chatham County’s Board of Commissioners heard an update Monday night on the county’s reappraisal process in advance of the scheduled March 26 mailing of 2021 reappraisal notices to Chatham property owners.
Ryan Vincent, owner of Vincent Valuations, the firm the county contracted for its reappraisal process, told board members the overall change of value in the county was 14%.
“Now, I want everyone to keep in mind and that doesn’t mean that their particular property is going to go up 14%,” Vincent said.
About 77% of real properties in Chatham will see a higher value than after 2017’s revaluation, while 23% have a lower value. Nearly half of all properties (46%) increased or decreased by 15% or less.
“When people see these numbers, I don’t want everyone to think that their house (valuation) is going to go up 14% — your house might go up 14, it might go up more, it might go up less,” Vincent said. “Or in fact, it might go down based on a lot of factors that we look at.”
The reappraisal process is required in N.C. counties at least once every eight years; under the process, all real property in a county is appraised at its current market value as of Jan. 1. A county’s tax office doesn’t create market value, a presentation by Tax Administrator Jenny Williams emphasized, but analyzes market sales to determine a market’s patterns and trends in different locations.
In Chatham, Vincent said the county’s reappraisal saw increases and decreases in market values in different areas, at a variety of rates. Reappraisal took effect Jan. 1, 2021, and new market values will be used to calculate tax bills to be mailed this summer — based on the county’s ad valorem tax rate — and in future years, until the next reappraisal occurs.
Vincent emphasized that the deadline for property owners who want to appeal a valuation is May 6 — and it’s a hard deadline, he said.
“One thing that’s important to remember is once an appeal is filed, that appraisal file has been reopened, there’s three things that can result from an appeal: an increase in value from your notice, no change in value, or a decrease in value, and that’s a very important point,” Vincent said. “If we get an appeal after that (date), that owner will be responsible for that tax bill at that current value for the tax here in 2021.”
The board also recognized recent retirees and heard an update on COVID-19 from Public Health Director Mike Zelek, who said trends continued to improve in Chatham but vigilance and compliance with the three W’s remain important. The meeting, which was much shorter than usual, had no public hearings or public comment. The board’s next regular meeting will take place April 19, as the board voted to cancel its April 5 meeting after no action items were submitted.
Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @HannerMcClellan.