‘Don’t freak out’: Meck County property revaluation notices hitting a mailbox near you
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CLT Property Revaluations
Starting Friday Mecklenburg County is mailing out the 2023 property revaluation notices to hundreds of thousands of property owners.
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Mecklenburg County is mailing out notices starting Friday to hundreds of thousands of property owners with what’s expected to be much higher real estate assessed values — a key component that helps determine the next tax bill.
The property revaluation is the culmination of more than two years of work.
It’s the first time in recent memory Mecklenburg County Assessor’s Office has completed a revaluation on a four-year cycle. The county, seeking to keep tabs on growth on a more regular basis, was on a four-year cycle in the 1990s but has been on a longer eight-year cycle in recent years, according to Charlotte Observer archives.
State law requires counties to perform a revaluation at least every eight years. Property revaluations are intended to set both residential and commercial property values to match the most current real estate market, in this case as of Jan. 1.
But higher values don’t necessarily mean your property tax bill will go up. Local governments will set tax rates this year, at which point property tax bills will be sent out.
Homeowners too anxious to wait for the mail to arrive — possibly as early as Saturday — can instead opt to check their new values online. The county has a property record card where property owners can search their addresses. Or you can go to this Observer database to check on it.
Most properties rise in value
Don’t be surprised to find some bigger numbers compared to the last time your property was valued in 2019.
Nearly all of the county’s more than 350,000 residential properties saw an increase in market value. The value of some parcels increased more than three-fold, according to a Charlotte Observer analysis of those parcels.
Take Sarah Drive, for instance. This quarter-mile-long road just west of South Tryon Street near Clanton Road is home to about a dozen small, mostly brick, houses. Increases in property values along Sarah Drive ranged from 100% to more than 400%, data show.
The market value of one home jumped from $60,000 to more than $300,000, with the median value of homes in the surrounding neighborhood increasing 160%.
Similar increases, while not as dramatic, unfolded in many communities within Charlotte’s “crescent,” the arc of mostly low-income neighborhoods stretching above uptown.
They rose 105% north of uptown, in communities nestled between Beatties Ford Road and Interstate 77, data show. And a little to the east, along North Graham and North Tryon streets, they increased 161%.
Urging calm, despite the changes
Home appreciation in the Charlotte region has been soaring the past few years, driven in part by high demand and limited supply.
The median sales price in the region for last year was $379,890, according to Canopy Realtor Association. That’s an increase of close to 17% from the year prior. The association provides monthly reports on residential real estate market activity for the Charlotte region.
The pandemic also played a role in higher values, real estate experts told The Charlotte Observer, as people had the freedom to relocate while working from home. The area has seen an influx of residents from the Northeast or West who find a relatively more affordable market in North Carolina.
Despite the cyclical nature of a revaluation, homeowners are still likely to get some form of sticker shock. Some Realtors aim to calm those feelings as residents will have to wait for tax rates to come out.
“It literally is, ‘Don’t freak out,’ ” Charlotte Realtor David Huss said of his message to homeowners.
Neighborhoods near uptown in for a change
The median value of real estate in Mecklenburg County is up by about 51% from 2022, Tax Assessor Ken Joyner told the Observer this week. That includes a 58% increase for all residential properties and 41% for commercial.
People with homes priced on the lower end of the spectrum should expect to see the biggest increases to their tax bills. That’s because less expensive homes jumped the most in value over the past four years, Joyner told county commissioners this year.
Neighborhoods to the north and west of uptown are expected to see some of the highest property value gains, Joyner told the Observer.
“Those properties were in greater demand because they fell into a range of price that was more affordable,” he said. “You tag that on to the location, more and more people are wanting to be nearer to uptown.”
County commissioners got a hypothetical scenario presented to them in January from the tax assessor’s office, considering a revenue-neutral rate:
- A home previously valued at $140,000 would now be valued at about $264,000. Property taxes would cost about $1,318, jumping $278.
- A home previously valued at $232,000 would now be valued at about $379,000. Property taxes would cost about $1,836, jumping $223.
- A home previously valued at $420,000 would now be valued at about $625,000. Property taxes would cost about $2,946, jumping $223.
What commissioners weigh on tax rate
Tax rates set by local governments could be lowered in favor of a revenue-neutral rate — the rate needed to bring in the same amount of money as the previous year’s budget.
By law, local governments are required to publish the revenue-neutral rate, but can choose to set it higher or lower.
Mecklenburg County commissioners will consider the new property values when setting the new tax rate. After making the new revenue neutral rate public, commissioners will determine what rate must be set to bring in enough revenue to pay for public services without overly burdening residents.
That rate applied to property owners’ new value will determine the amount owed on tax bills this year.
At-large Commissioner Leigh Altman said she considers three things when setting the rate: fairness, those already tax burdened and quality infrastructure and services.
“All of us are experiencing the impacts of inflation and we cannot deliver the services if we don’t keep up with these increased costs,” Altman said. “I’m going to try to balance these considerations as best as possible to ensure we deliver services while trying to keep taxes low.”
Overall, property owners shouldn’t be surprised to see an increase in their tax bill.
“Mecklenburg County is economically strong and therefore our property values are going up,” Altman said. “That’s not new news to anyone, and revaluation will reflect that.”
City, towns set tax rates
If you live in the city of Charlotte or a town in Mecklenburg County, those boards will set a municipal tax rate, too.
Things like inflation, recession fears and needs for city and county services and infrastructure will impact leaders’ decisions when setting the tax base.
City Councilman Ed Driggs said inflation also has resulted in inflated incomes. Both the city and county gave their employees pay raises in last year’s budget. Social Security fixed incomes increased by 8.7% to adjust for the cost of living in 2023.
“People have more capacity to pay property taxes as well,” Driggs said.
This story was originally published March 17, 2023 at 6:30 AM.
