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County property values climb 58 percent

By Lisa Majors-Duff
The wait is almost over.

By the end of this week or early next, those who own property in Jackson County should know the new value of their land as assessed during the recent revaluation process.

The county tax assessor's office plans to mail to all property owners a form that will indicate the results of the first revaluation of property in eight years. The document is not a bill; in fact, figuring out how much will be owed is not possible until the county board establishes a tax rate in June.

The property valuation for 2000-01 is being estimated at $2,904,825,000, an increase of slightly more than $1 billion, said finance officer Darlene Fox. Under the current budget, property valuation was estimated at $1,836,911,266.

There are no projections on a tax for 2000-01 at this time, Fox said, though commissioners have said in the past that they expect to reduce the rate to adjust for the expected increase in values.

For several months, tax assessor Cecil Dills had been estimating an increased value of between 30 and 40 percent. As it stands now, that estimate seems to have been low, with the $1 billion increase representing 58 percent.

"We still have a lot of new construction to value, and we'll have some adjustments to make, which could cancel each other out," Dills said. "All and all, I think these figures are about on track."

When the "Notice of Real Property Assessed Value" arrives in the mail, property holders will first see the new value of the parcels they own. A column on the right describes the property, lists its market value, deferred value and its net value.

Directly below this is a portion of the statement that allows for a review of the property listed. The statements says that "if you wish to appeal the value of this notice, carefully complete, in entirety, the form below and return by mail (within 30 days of the date on the notice). A change in the value will be considered if the owner can demonstrate that the assessed value is more than the market value as of Jan. 1, 2000, or is inconsistent with the value of similar property."

The statement also indicates that a review of the property may result in the assessed value remaining unchanged, reduced or increased.

If a property owner decides to have his or her value reviewed and is still unsatisfied with the results, an appeal can be made to the Board of Equalization and Review. An appeal after this must be made with state authorities in Raleigh. Grounds for appeal cannot be the percentage increase over the previously appraised value or a land owner's ability to pay the anticipated tax, the document says.

Each county in North Carolina is required by law to conduct a revaluation of all real estate at least every eight years. Jackson County's last revaluation was completed in 1992, and after several years the current project is now complete, Dills told commissioners last week. "Our office has monitored the sale of real estate in the county over the past years to use as a guide to establish values on property," said Dills. "Jackson County has had a tremendous increase in the selling and purchasing of property during the past few years and will likely see this trend continue for sometime.

"More and more people want to own property in the mountains, which drives the value ever upward," he said. "The supply of usable land is small, which has resulted in higher and higher prices being paid for property."

Back to Archive: 03/23/00.