CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mecklenburg County commissioners were told Tuesday they can't stop the county's property revaluation appeals, despite requests from Cornelius officials to push the stop button until concerns from residents are addressed.
Commissioner Karen Bentley, whose district includes Cornelius, asked whether the process could be halted because many of her constituents were confused by the process and felt they hadn't been given a fair hearing.
But County Attorney Marvin Bethune said state law governs the revaluation and gives them no authority to do anything once last year's property revaluation "was set into motion."
Bentley said she has discussed property owners' concerns with N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis of Cornelius.
"Mecklenburg County is not the only county he's heard from," she said. "From the mountains to the coast, they're hearing about it."
She said he appointed her to a committee to look at the process and its fairness.
Commissioners then spent two hours getting an update and asking questions on the appeals from Mecklenburg tax assessor Garrett Alexander.
Alexander said that 11 percent of the 355,307 parcels revaluated were appealed, indicating "that for the most part property owners were satisfied with the revaluation."
Cornelius town commissioners proposed the moratorium on the revaluation after residents peppered them with questions and complaints.
The request is another example of lingering frustration about new property values, the first wholesale reappraisal since 2003.
Alexander told commissioners that his office of 75 assessors went beyond what they were required to do to get out information about the revaluation, including 30 public meetings.
Many Cornelius residents complained that the county set value too arbitrarily. They're frustrated that their appeals were rejected by the county without explanation.
Alexander responded that his assessors did a "herculean job" of revaluating all properties, and listening to appeals.
Commissioner Jim Pendergraph said he visited Cornelius to hear concerns. He said the town has 1,800 lake properties, some with same-size houses and lots. "And they're valued differently."
Alexander said the market drives the values of those properties, which can vary because of waterfront footage and depth of water.
In other business Tuesday:
Mecklenburg County wildlife officials told commissioners they want to track the county's growing population of coyotes to get a better handle on their behavior and where most are concentrated.
Chris Matthews, natural resources manager for Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, told county commissioners Tuesday that his agency is searching for money to pay for collars with global position systems to tag coyotes and track their movement.
Concerns over a proliferating coyote population in Mecklenburg have been growing in recent months and come at a time when N.C. wildlife officials are considering expanding the hours when coyotes can be hunted.
At present, coyote hunting is permitted in North Carolina only during daytime hours. But the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is proposing that coyotes - and feral pigs - be hunted at night with guns, except on Sundays, when bow-and-arrow hunting would be the only legal method.
Yet it's unclear how the proposal would affect residents in Charlotte and other urbanareas, where the use of firearms and archery equipment is limited by law.
The state is holding a series of hearings in March on the proposed hunting law changes.
