Is The Mecklenburg County Revaluation Legal?
People across Mecklenburg County were affected by the invalid, and in our opinion, illegal process used by the Assessor’s Office while conducting the 2011 Revaluation. We have heard directly from people in Matthews, Pineville, Charlotte, Huntersville, Davidson and Cornelius. Our group represents over 500 concerned citizens. Indeed than 200 people attended each of two Board of County Commissioner (BOCC) meetings to show their frustration with the Revaluation. Aside from committing to upgrade the customer service and their web site, the BOCC is generally non-responsive to our concerns.
The taxpayers of Mecklenburg County are victims of the flawed revaluation, and as a result, experienced excessive increases in taxes, in many cases 100%, 200% or more.
WE NEED YOUR HELP. When you investigate this situation you will find that the Assessor’s Office violated NC State Statutes, and generally accepted appraisal standards. You can help uncover the truth about the the 2011 Revaluation, and identify potential remedies.
On March 6, 2012, we citizens of Mecklenburg County presented a Letter of Complaint (click here) to the BOCC contending that the 2011 Revaluation of Real Property did not meet the requirements of:
- NC State Statutes (specifically, The Machinery Act);
- The 2011 Uniform Schedules of Values, Standards and Rules for 2011 Reappraisal, approved by the BOCC;
- USPAP Standard 6: Mass appraisal, development and reporting.
Complaints outlined include, but are not limited to the following:
- The Assessor selectively applied percentage adjustment factors to property values only located in 550 neighborhoods, based on the impact of foreclosures and distressed sales in those neighborhoods.
Application of these adjustments is in direct violation of the Machinery Act (which prohibits application of percentage adjustments to property other than public services properties). The Machinery Act also prohibits
consideration of foreclosures and distressed sales in the reappraisal process. - Taxpayers cannot get all information pertinent to the revaluation of their property, in direct violation of the Machinery Act
- The process used for determining 2011 land values does not follow the process outlined in the 2011 Uniform Schedule of Values, Standards and Rules, approved by the BOCC.
- The process used discriminates against property owners who are not computer enabled or savvy. This
handicaps the elderly and disabled in dealing with the appeal process.
County staff responded via a number of documents containing misleading information, denial of problems and issues that in fact exist, and stated that the County did not violate either State statutes or the 2011 Uniform Values, Standards document.
They did not respond to the following requests:
- Conduct an independent audit of the process and systems used in the 2011 Reappraisal
- Provide details regarding the selective use of a percentage adjustment of property values
- Provide legal clarification regarding communication of conflicting deadlines for filing requests for formal appeals and Board of Equalization and Review hearings.
The Agenda from the March 20th County Board meeting contains the County’s response to our Letter in two parts of the Agenda: the Manager’s Report – Revaluation & Appeals Process and the County Commissioners Report & Requests – Revaluation. (click here)
Today we are delivering a second Letter to the County Commission. (click here).
Please help us.
Jim Bensman
Bob Elliott
Ron Kelley
Emily Zuyus
We need your help! If you like PunditHouse, please consider donating to us. Even $5 a month can make a difference!
Short URL: https://pundithouse.com/?p=9468
