4 things to know about Mecklenburg County’s plans for its 2023 property revaluation

Mecklenburg County is on track to set new tax values for homes and business properties next year.

The revaluation comes four years after a similar countywide review of properties, a step the chairman of the board of commissioners said in 2019 would help ease the dramatic spike in taxes some property owners saw after eight years. The revaluation of individual properties is used to calculate new property tax rates.

In 2019, county commissioners unanimously adopted switching to a four-year cycle of real estate revaluations instead of eight.

Here are four things to know about next year’s revaluation, from a board discussion on Thursday.

How many properties are included?

Mecklenburg County is expecting to evaluate over 400,000 parcels for its 2023 assessment, a number comprised mostly of residential properties. As of January, the county has made an initial pass through 325,181 parcels — or 82% — to make adjustments and changes from the prior evaluation.

The overwhelming majority of parcels are residential in nature — from single-family homes to townhomes to condos, according to county Assessor Ken Joyner.

Commercial properties comprise about 7% of the count, Joyner said, but make up about 39% of the overall tax base, meaning their value is still high.

Timeline on notices

Joyner said his office is on schedule for revaluation notices to start going out to property owners a year from now.

Notices will be mailed during the first three months of 2023, according to Joyner’s presentation. The informal appeal process starts at that time and wraps up by the second quarter. The formal appeals process to the Board of Equalization and Review begins May 2023.

Property tax bills will be mailed in July 2023.

Increases in real estate value don’t automatically mean that homeowners are going to see giant jumps in their tax bills.

The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners, Charlotte City Council and the governing boards of the six towns each set their own property tax rates, which they’ll do in the lead-up to finalizing their budgets, the Observer has reported.

Citizens review committee

A nine-member citizens panel will be appointed by the county commissioners to work with the assessor and be a “second set of eyes,” Joyner said.

Joyner said they will be holding interviews in the coming weeks with the 11 people nominated by the board to determine those most qualified. Meetings with the panel will start in March and end by December.

Equity in the appeals process

The county assessors office wants to ensure there is no systemic bias in the appeals process, Joyner said.

For the first time, the office is partnering with the UNC School of Government to study recent appeal data for any such evidence. They will focus on the appeal rates along various demographic groups and the results in those same groups, Joyner said.

The study is expected to be complete by March.