Even with COVID-19 affecting many of Chatham County government’s regular operations, two specific ones slated to affect Chatham residents’ wallets are still ongoing and — as of now — still on schedule.
Both the 2021 revaluation process and implementation of the Article 46 sales tax option are slated to be completed as planned, county Public Information Officer Kara Dudley told the News + Record on Monday.
The revaluation is a state-mandated process by which county governments re-evaluate the taxable value of all real property within county borders. The current revaluation is scheduled to take effect next year.
“We are not sure yet how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect Chatham County’s revaluation process,” Dudley said via email. “We have until January 2021 for the Board of Commissioners to make a decision about whether or not to delay revaluation. We are continuing on schedule for now, but we will see how the economic recovery progresses as we get into the fall of the year.”
The Article 46 local sales tax option was approved by county voters in March after being put on the ballot by unanimous decision of the county board. The tax puts an additional quarter-cent on all purchases that apply sales tax except for gas and unprepared food like groceries.
“As it stands right now, we are continuing to move forward with the implementation of the Article 46 sales tax,” Dudley said. “Given the timing for a Board of Commissioners vote and then notification and requirements of the N.C. Department of Revenue, the earliest the sales tax would go into effect would be October 1st.”
The county commissioners will next meet on Monday, April 20, at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center. The meeting will be closed to the public due to the governor’s order on mass gatherings, limiting them to no more than 10 people, but individuals will be able to submit public comments prior to that. However, the meeting will be live-streamed as always on the county’s website.
Reporter Zachary Horner can be reached at zhorner@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @ZachHornerCNR.