Revaluation is the process of reappraising all properties within the county for tax assessment purposes. It is required at least once every eight years by North Carolina statute. The process has two objectives: value properties at current market prices, and equitably distribute the cost of local government among the property owners. For more information, go to The Revaluation Process.

** November 1, 2011 - The County conducted its second mailing of property tax bills to customers who had unresolved property issues at the time of the first billing in August.  The values reflected in the bills were current as of October 25, 2011.  Customers who still have the values of their properties under appeal should not interpret the bills as decisions of value: those decisions will be communicated separately, and may result in some bills being reissued with amended values. **

REVIEWING YOUR NEW PROPERTY VALUE

 What IS a reasonable estimate of market value for my property?  What factors should be considered?  How did the Assessor’s Office arrive at their conclusion?  Property owners today have a number of resources they can use to answer these questions.  The following steps describe how you can use each to review your own property.

1) Property Characteristics
The Assessor’s Office maintains information on every property in the County in a database. Each property has a record card that describes the land and improvements (buildings, patios, decks, walls, fencing and other features).  Although appraisers use their training and technology tools (aerial imagery, statistical modeling, e.g.) to list and value each property, an individual appraiser is responsible for almost 14,000 parcels.  Therefore property owners should review their record cards to insure the properties are listed accurately, using Real Estate Lookup.  A mailing address change form is available as well.  A short tutorial will help you use this tool to verify your property listing.

2) Neighborhood Characteristics
Properties in the same neighborhood usually have very similar characteristics: style of house, size, land area, quality of construction, and location.  Therefore owners can compare their values with others close to them.  The Market Analysis tool is a convenient way to do this.  Again, there is a short tutorial to assist you.

3) Market Characteristics
Most property values are derived from recent sales of comparable properties.  The Assessor’s Office reviewed all sales across the County for the last several years, and even further, when sales were scarce.  Their analysis of value used qualified sales – those sales that were arms length transactions between knowledgeable, willing buyers and sellers.  The effect of foreclosures and other known distressed sales were factored into the final adjusted value estimate. Owners can look at the qualified sales near their own homes.  They must realize that these sales are NOT necessarily “comparable” sales, i.e., sales of properties similar to their own.  Use the Reval – Qualified Sales tool to find these sales.  A tutorial gives you some pointers.

4) Property Anomalies
There may be other factors that you feel would influence the value of your property, which may not be evident to the Assessor’s Office.  There might be a material condition of your home or land that would lead buyers to pay a lower price than they would for a similar property.  Owners can use the POLARIS application to graphically or pictorially (using the County’s aerial imagery) map such instances, and provide the Assessor’s Office with valuable information to review regarding your property value.  Some tips...

APPEALING YOUR PROPERTY VALUE

After reviewing all the information you have available to you, you may decide that it does not support the new assessed value of your property.  You may file an informal appeal with the Assessor's Office within 30 days of the date of your notice.  The notice itself has a form that can be removed and submitted for this purpose.  Using this form insures that your appeal is correctly recorded in your property record at the County. 

Property owners wishing to appeal should provide all the information they can on the form.  Some tips are provided to help them present their case clearly for the Assessor's Office to review. 


INTERNET TOOLS
            Real Estate Lookup - Property record information is displayed from the County's database of real property listings, based on common search criteria.
            Market Analysis - Compare a number of properties by location, displaying listing information and value.
            Reval - Qualified Sales - Developed for the revaluation, this tool displays all qualified sales (arms length transactions used for revaluation) over the last two years, in proximity to an entered address.
            POLARIS - Parcel information is displayed graphically through the Property Ownership and Land Records Information System, using the County's Geographic Information System (GIS) integrated with aerial imagery.
            Tax Bill Lookup - Information from the County's North Carolina Property Tax System (NCPTS) is displayed through its Public Web Access (PWA).



THE REVALUATION PROCESS                                                        (Top of Page)

Over time, the real estate market changes and market prices deviate from the assessed values estimated during the previous reappraisal. The last reappraisal in Mecklenburg County was in 2003. The County delayed revaluation for two years due to the economy but it had to conduct a revaluation in 2011, to be in compliance with state statutes .


The Mecklenburg County Assessor’s Office has a specialized team of 7 appraisers and a manager that conducts the review of all properties for reappraisal. The staff has 140 years of experience in the appraisal field, and is familiar with the valuation of all property types. All members of the team are certified in real estate appraisal by the North Carolina Department of Revenue, and several hold certification for independent fee appraisal work, as well.




The team is acutely aware of the changes in the real estate market since 2007, when the subprime crisis appeared and values began to fall in many areas. The team also knows that market prices are not where they were two years ago. It’s important to understand that, while the market has generally declined since late 2007, most market prices in the county are still somewhat higher than they were in 2003 – the year of the last countywide revaluation. The Assessor’s team will monitor market data all the way to the end of December 2010, when value estimates will be finalized prior to mailing notices to property owners.

For more information, browse the resources below.


            
MEDIA PRESENTATIONS
            2011 Revaluation - This overview was presented at the Board of County Commissioners' regular meeting of September 21, 2010.
            Mass Appraisal Methods - Valuation factors are derived from analysis of market sales data, and these factors are applied en masse to property characteristics to generate new values.
            WFAE Interview - Garrett Alexander participated in an interview with WFAE news staff.
            Cornelius Meeting - Commissioner Karen Bentley hosted an information for District 1 at the Cornelius Town Hall on January 18, 2011.
            Realtors Association - Chuck Hicks made his presentation to the members on January 28, 2011 (5 parts).

WEB SOURCES
           News Releases - Mecklenburg County issues updates to the media of the revaluation process. 
           Frequently Asked Questions - This assortment of questions is compiled from those frequently asked of the Assessor's Office, and is updated regularly.
            Charlotte Observer - The news staff maintains a page specifically devoted to the revaluation.

DOCUMENTS
        Revaluation is about fairness - Charlotte Observer editorial published February 9, 2011
        BOCC - 2011 Revaluation - February 1, 2011 presentation of the  revaluation to the County Commissioners by Garrett Alexander.
        Revaluation Presentation – PDF presentation for information meetings - contains pages for all six districts – 2MB.
          Selected Neighborhood Maps – PDF’s of selected neighborhoods with 2010 ratios of median assessed values (based on 2003 Revaluation) to sales:
                   All Districts    
                   District 1 
                   District 2 
                   District 3 
                   District 4
                   District 5
                   District 6.
            Schedules of Values - The factors used to value real property based on market conditions current for 2011 are contained in the Uniform Schedules of Values, Standards and Rules as adopted by the Board of County Commissioners - 3.3MB.