BY KARISSA MILLER
Before the Iredell County Board of Commissioners moves ahead with the countywide property revaluation, resident Jill Schooley wants board members to consider the volatile housing market, rising interest rates and the impact that a property tax increase will have on local families.
A year ago the average mortgage interest rate was 3.2 percent, meaning the monthly payment on a $400,000 house was $1,730, Schooley said during the commissioners’ public hearing on Tuesday. Today, she said, that same mortgage would likely have 7.2 percent interest rate and a monthly payment of $2,755.
“I’m well aware of how this all works. I know that you have to do this every couple of years,” Schooley, who works in the construction industry, said regarding the 2023 countywide reappraisal.
Unless commissioners reduce the tax rate, property owners can expect an increase in their property tax bills if the tax values increase as anticipated.
With the housing market is softening, there are predictions that home prices will decline by 10 percent in the next year.
“If you could delay the tax assessment by one year, it would actually help a lot of citizens,” Schooley said. “I would like for you to consider that.”
Gerald Stevens told commissioners now was not a good time for a tax increase.
“We have a lot of veterans and retires on Social Security benefits, and this will be a great burden to them to have that kind of money added to their mortgage payments and their daily bills. They will have to come up with that money, and it’s not going to come out of the air,” Stevens said.
Commissioners will vote during the board’s October 18 meeting to adopt the uniform schedules of values, standards and rules for the market value and present use value to be used for the 2023 countywide appraisal. That document outlines how the value adjustments are made.
N.C. General Statue requires property to be appraised at its true value in money, meaning the price property a property would sell for between a willing and financially able buyer and seller.
Tax Assessor Fran Elliot said the purpose of the revaluation is to “equalize the tax burden” among property owners and among all classes of property.
“Reappraisals aren’t intended to raise taxes, but to distribute them more fairly,” Elliot said.
According to N.C. General Statute, counties are required to conduct a property revaluation at least every eight years. Iredell County adopted a four-year cycle in 1993.
Notices are expected to be mailed to all property owners in February 2023 which will detail their 2023 real estate assessed value. The notice will contain information regarding the appeal process.
A copy of the proposed 2023 Schedule of Values, Standards, and Rules is available for public inspection at the tax assessor’s office, at the Iredell public libraries and on the county website.
I am a senior citizen of Iredell County and a property owner. Although I do not know resident Jill Schooley, I am in total agreement with her as to how a tax re-evaluation in 2023 will not reflect the softening market value of a home and the additional unsustainable market value of homes will definitely create a tax burden on so many families who are currently feeling the effects of inflation. I would like to encourage the Iredell County Board of Commissioners to delay the appraisal process at least one year or until the current state of inflation is normalized.
If the commissioners decide not to delay the property revaluation, then they should decrease the tax rate to coincide with increase in values. This is the right thing to do because with inflation what it is and gas prices beginning to rise again this will make it impossible for a whole lot of taxpayers to be able to afford their homes with a 50 percent increase in their tax bill. We will all have to wait and see, but I personally would not want to be on the board and be one of the ones who voted to raise taxes that much and expect to be re-elected again.