CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Nearly 6,000 homeowners have submitted appeals on their newly-assessed Mecklenburg County tax value. The assessor's office estimates that number could grow as high as 40,000.
In Tuckaway Park, off the Carmel Country Club Golf Course, for example, appraisers have been busy. The neighborhood is a mix of multi-million dollars mansions and older homes that remain on the lots in between them.
Carol Howie's 2,500 square foot brick ranch was valued at $276,000 in 2003. In 2011, the county's assessed it at $642,500 -- an increase of 130 percent.
"It just makes no sense," Howie said. "If someone wanted to pay that, we would sell it in a heartbeat....We have to do something."
Her neighbor across the street, John Patton, had an appraiser out Thursday. His wood ranch assessed at 88.9 percent higher than its 2003 value. The appraiser, he said, called that increase absurd. "I just know in my heart that this house is not worth that kind of money," he said. "The lot is all they'd be buying."
The first notice of appeal is due to the Mecklenburg County's assessors office by March 10--30 days after the notices were first sent. It will take some time for the office to begin to process them. All homeowners who appeal will hear yes or no. Anyone who is denied will be permitted to appeal that decision.
Those appeals will be heard by the Board of Equalization, a 9-person committee that will be appointed by the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners.
It is unclear how long the process will take. Tax bills will be mailed in August, and if all appeals aren't complete, homeowners whose appeals are successful could be refunded tax money in the end.
