Real property in North Carolina must be reappraised every eighth year, unless the boards of county commissioners (county boards) advances the reappraisal. The primary objective of the county’s reappraisal is to maintain equitable assessments of real property that is subject to ad valorem taxation within the county’s jurisdiction. In preparation for each reappraisal, it is the duty of the assessors to develop uniform schedules of values, standards and rules (schedules) to be used in revaluation of real property at its market value, as well as its present-use value. When preparing for reappraisals, the assessors and the county boards are required to follow the statutes that govern the submission, review, adoption order, publication and notice to property owners regarding the appeal rights to challenge the schedules used for the reappraisal.

Effective January 1 2018, the above-referenced counties are conducting reappraisals of all real property within their jurisdictions. Prior to the reappraisal, the assessors will submit the schedules to the county board for review and adoption. Part of this process includes the right of property owners to challenge the schedules before the effective date of the general reappraisal. 
 

This update discusses the duty of the assessor to submit the schedules of values to the county board for review and adoption and the notice requirements for property owners to except to the schedules by filing appeals to the Property Tax Commission (Commission). The applicable dates that govern the county board’s publication, public inspection, notices, public hearing, approval of and the order adopting the schedules, as well as the appeal date to the Commission, are decided by the county boards. The dates vary based on the meeting times established.

Initially, the assessor is required to submit the proposed schedules to the county board not less than 21 days before the meeting to consider the schedules. On the same day the assessor submits the proposed schedules, the assessor will file a copy of the proposed schedules in his office where they will remain for public inspection.

Once the county board receives the proposed schedules, a statement is required to be published in a newspaper having general circulation providing that the proposed schedules have been received and are available for public inspection in the assessor’s office; and the board must provide the time and place of a public hearing on the proposed schedules. The hearing must be held at least seven days before the board adopts the final schedules.

Once the county board conducts a public hearing, the board will then approve the schedules. Once approved, an order is issued, and notice of the board’s order is published once a week for four successive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the county, with the last publication being not less than seven days before the last day for a property owner to challenge the validity of the schedules by filing an appeal to the Commission. The notice in the newspaper will inform property owners that the schedules to be used in the next scheduled reappraisal of real property in the county have been adopted and are open for examination in the assessor’s office; and property owners who challenge the validity of the schedules may except to the order and appeal to the Commission within 30 days of the date the notice of the order was first published.

Upon filing the appeal, the Commission will hear the appeal as provided in subdivisions (b)(1) and (b)(2) of G.S. 105-290, and the scheduled hearing will take priority over appeals that may be pending before the Commission under the provisions of subsection (b).

Through this appeal process, the Commission considers the evidence presented at the hearing to determine if the adopted schedules meet the true value or present-use value appraisal standards. If the Commission determines the schedules do not meet the true value or present-use value appraisal standards, the Commission will enter an order that modifies the schedules or requires the county board to revise or modify the schedules that are then approved by the Commission.

Appeals filed under this appeal process may benefit owners of all types of real property (i.e. commercial, industrial, shopping malls and other retail property, hospitals, agricultural, forestland and horticultural parcels) since the Commission is required to expedite the hearings and then render a decision modifying or confirming the order, or requiring the county board to revise or modify the order, in advance of the January 1 general reappraisal date. 

If the schedules are not challenged, property owners may challenge the assessed values of their real properties as determined by the county assessor.  After receiving notice of the assessed values of their properties, the real property owners may appeal the assessed values to the local boards of equalization and review and then to the Commission.