Property values being refigured as 2020 revaluation dawns

    Cherokee County tax assessors are finalizing efforts to re-evaluate property values.
    For the last three years, assessors have been visiting properties throughout Cherokee County to remeasure structures and update the official records with information regarding additions or improvements. Municipalities in North Carolina are required to conduct property re-evaluations every 4-8 years.
    Homeowners are not required to allow assessors onto their property. However, they are encouraged to do so because county commissioners use the re-evaluations to establish a tax rate based on the fiscal year’s budget. Re-evaluations equalize the tax burden among all classes of property.
    “If someone has a gate or a no trespassing sign, we do not [cross the property line],” Cherokee County Tax Assessor Eddie Allen said, adding that they can do their job without physical access, but it’s difficult, time consuming and usually not as accurate.
    “If they say, ‘Leave,’ we turn around and leave. There is no law that requires property owners to allow us on,” Allen said. “But there is a statute that says we can use every means necessary to be as fair and accurate with that appraisal as possible. If we underestimate, it could have an adverse effect on the other property owners.”
    Allen presented the schedule of values to the commissioners on Monday night for their review. The public hearing on the reval will be Monday, Nov. 4.
    When re-evaluating a property, assessors essentially study legitimate open-market sales in a neighborhood and assign a new value to comparable properties that have not sold. Property values sometimes increase, but they could also decrease or stay the same.
    If a property owner is home at the time, assessors may ask questions regarding flooring material and the number of baths and bedrooms to determine whether improvements have affected the home’s value. If owners decline to answer inquiries or refuse to allow an assessor on site to evaluate the exterior of a property, officials use internet records and building permits to re-evaluate the home.
    Tax assessors never enter the inside of a property for an appraisal unless the owner appeals a re-evaluation.
    “We would then physically go out and enter the home to validate their claims,” Allen said. “And there would be two of us. About 2 or 3 percent [of homeowners] tell us they don't want us there, and there’s probably another 5 percent that have gates.”
    If a homeowner is not present, assessors will assume nothing has changed inside the property and double-check measurements and take pictures to document that an assessor had visited. They will also leave a card informing the homeowner about the assessment.
    “It's not about raising taxes,” Allen said. “All we do is tell you what we think your property is worth in a re-evaluation cycle. We establish value to bring balance and make properties equitable.”
    Property re-evaluations must be complete by Jan. 1, 2020. Residents will receive notice about new property values by the end of that month.
    In the meantime, if a homeowner is wary of someone claiming to be a tax assessor, they can call county officials for verification.