Archive for January 21st, 2009

Well Excuuuse me, no way my Charlotte home is worth THAT much!

January 21st, 2009 categories: Charlotte Living

Yes it’s THAT time of year again….TAX TIME! That time of year when we all look back over the last year and try desperately to remember anything, anything we did or spent that might reduce our tax hit! Here’s Kiplinger’s take on the 10 most overlooked dedutions if you’re into that kind of thing.

But today I wanted to talk about something near and dear not to every Charlotte homeowoner’s heart…Charlotte Mecklenburg property taxes, or in the latin Ad valorem taxes – (don’t you they use latin or french when they want something to sound more noble and magnanimous.) By the way for 2008 it’s $1.2973 per $100 assessed value.

In today’s Charlote ObserverApril Bethea has as really great article Can I Appeaal Tax Value?. In part she reports

“The start of the new year kicks off the period when property owners can appeal the tax values on buildings and land, and officials from across the Charlotte region said they’ve been peppered with requests similar to Stanberry’s. But N.C. law doesn’t allow current economic conditions to be used as a reason to change a property’s tax value… The law catches many homeowners by surprise. “A lot of people assume quite naturally that current sales information would be a valid reason for an appeal,” said Chuck Hicks, real property appraiser manager for Mecklenburg County. read the full article here”

Things that can be considered in appeals:

• Correction of clerical or mathematical error, or error in applying schedule of values used in most-recent property reassessment.

• Physical changes to property, such as addition or removal of a structure.

• A rezoning change, or adoption of a conservation or preservation agreement.

Things that cannot be used in appeals:

• Normal, physical depreciation of buildings.

• Economic changes affecting the county.

• Improvements to property such as repainting of buildings or other structures, and landscaping.

Authored by Donna Johnston | Discussion: Your Comments Please »