As of
Monday, Chatham County’s tax office had received approximately 1,800
requests for appeals of their revaluations.
This number
is about average, according to Tina Stone, tax administrator for the
county.
"During a
revaluation most counties anticipate about 10 percent appeals from
the number of notices mailed," she said, "so we are expecting about
4,000 appeals."
Property
owners can request an informal appeal by mailing in a form attached
to their revaluation notices or by calling 542-8262
Stone said
her office has not seen a big increase in appeals this year.
"There are
several of us who have been through several revaluations," she said.
"This is not different. You always have a lot of people disagreeing
with their revaluation."
She said
that overall, the revaluation was going well.
"We’ve had
inquiries on both sides of the fence," she said, "people wondering
why their revaluations went up and others wondering why they went
down."
She added
that she has received notices from people agreeing with their
revaluation, but it is not necessary to return the form in this
case.
In the end,
these forms will not be counted as appeals.
Stone said
she expects the final tally to be about average.
"We still
have mail coming in this week," she said. "We will probably get the
10 percent."
In Siler
City, Mayor Charles Turner said he has heard from a number of
residents who share his concern about the revaluation.
Turner
addressed his concerns in a Feb. 17 letter he wrote to George Lucier,
chairman of the county Board of Commissioners.
In his
letter, Turner said he and other Siler City board members have
"received calls and concerns regarding substantial increases" and
that Linrene Furniture Inc. "indicated their building and land value
increased by almost $180,000."
Turner said
the increases "will burden our citizens and businesses with
additional expenses at a time when any additional increase in cost
is a problem. In the case with Linrene, the owner has indicated that
he is considering layoffs as a result of the economic downturn.
Increased taxes will further impact his situation."
Turner, who
has erected a mock "for sale" sign in his yard reflecting the
increase in the valuation of his property, said in an interview on
Tuesday that he believes the county should postpone a revaluation
this year, saying now is not the time for it.
"I’ve talked
to a lot of people in Siler City who think this is the worst thing
that’s happened in a long time," said Turner. "It’s a bad time to be
raising tax values."
Given the current economic
downturn, Turner said property values "should be going down and not
up."
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