Ballantyne Scoop » Ballantyne Breakfast Club

Tax Reval – How Will New Tax Values Be Assessed?

Caroline Adams — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:31:53 +0000

Ballantyne, NC – Ballantyne Hotel was the site of a flurry of activity. An over flow crowd was in attendance for the January 27th property revaluation meeting. Ballantyne Breakfast Club was the host for the discussion and drew the largest attendance thus far for this series of public sessions taking place county wide. District 7 City Council Member Warren Cooksey helped organize the meeting for Ballantyne residents. Mecklenburg County Vice-Chair Jim Pendergraft apologized on behalf of District 6 Board Member Bill James who was under the weather and unable to attend. Mr. Pendergraft went on to explain that the county website for the property revaluation is up and running at http://reval.charmeck.org and all of the meeting information is available there. The county expects to mail the private property revaluations by February 7th and hopes the county will remain revenue neutral, however this does not mean taxes will not increase. The county will decide the new tax rate sometime in June.

Mecklenburg County Tax Assessor Garrett Alexander was present to talk about the appeals process. The state statute gives each property owner 30 days from the date the property revaluation is received in the mail.There are approximately 319,000 privately owned properties in this county. The county hopes to mail the commercial revaluations on March 1st, 2011.The county is still analyzing the 2010 fourth quarter tax data and expects to be done analyzing all of the data shortly.

The lead appraiser For The ReValuation Team is Chuck Hicks. Mr. Hicks did a power point presentation explaining the process (available on the website).The last time the property revaluation was done in this county was 2003. The 2003 process was partly based on 2002 property values. Two major factors influence the current process. One is market value. This is defined as the most probable price in an open market in a typical sale in the absence of undo stimulus. The second factor is equity. This is defined as the reflection of the current value applied fairly. Every county in North Carolina is bound by the state appraisal standards when doing revaluations.

In the past, foreclosures were not included in the revaluations. This years revaluation will include foreclosures. Appraisers can use a cost approval approach or a sales approach. The state has mandated that all counties do a property revaluation a maximum of every eight years.

Between the years of 2002 – 2006, the federal government lowered the interest rates several times. This temporarily increased property sales and prices. Some time after this there was a ‘market correction’. The ‘top’ of the housing bubble was in 2007. In 2009, the county was scheduled to do a revaluation but the commissioners decided they wanted to postpone this revaluation.

The ratio used by the county is the assessed value divided by the actual sale price which equals the assessment/sales ratio. If your property has increased in value since the 2003 revaluation, your ratio is below 100% (meaning your taxes will likely increase). If the price of your home has fallen, then your ratio is above 100%. If the value of your house is approximately the same as it was in 2003, then your ratio will be at or near 100%. The county board of commissioners will decide the new tax rate in June.

All property owners should receive a new property revaluation form. This is a perforated piece of paper and all appeals should be filled out on the lower portion of this same form. After filing an appeal, the owner should receive a post card from the county. Owners have 30 days from the date they receive the new property revaluation form to appeal the value. An example of a reason to appeal: if you have several unsold properties in your neighborhood and you feel the county has not taken this into account. Another example of a reason to appeal would be if there are a large number of rental units in the neighborhood that you feel the county did not take into account. A third example of appeal would be if the county has the square footage wrong or if it has changed since 2002. This would be time to fill out the lower portion of the form and mail it to the county with the number of unsold properties in your neighborhood. Please included a reason of why the county’s value is not the actual value.

The ‘Board of Equalization’ will be handling the appeals (click here for appeals info). This board is required by law to handle these appeals starting the first Monday in April and be finished by the first Monday in May. Each owner will need evidence to show why the value should be changed. Right now this board has nine members. This board member size was decided in 1981. The current board of county commissioners would like to control the size of the ‘Board of Equalization’. The county commissioners would like to increase the size to 15 members in a revaluation year. This is due to the number of appeals that are expected. There is a bill in Raleigh right now to allow the Mecklenburg County Commission to establish an ordinance to control the membership size of the ‘board of equalization’ locally. The other idea is to have two concurrent or successive panels in order to speed up the appeals process. All of the appeals forms will be scanned and put into a ‘queue.’ Property owners have 15 days after receiving a decision from the ‘Board of Equalization’ to file a second appeal. The reason for this board is a system of ‘checks and balances’.

The county now has seven appraisers on the revaluation team and seventeen appraisers who handle new construction.The county appraisers are using the median and not the mean. Here the reason the mean was not chosen. For example, if a neighborhood has an average sales price of $400,000 but one house sells for $1 million. This $1 million dollar sale would skew the mean for that particular neighborhood. The median takes this kind of anomaly into consideration. Using the median, all the rest of the neighborhood would not have unusually high property values due to one house that sold for $1 million. This will help the county arrive at the fair market value for properties.

A question was asked about why the county is choosing ‘30 days’ for appeals rather than giving property owners until May 15th. Mr. Alexander stated that there are statutes and case law to support the idea of a ‘30 day window of time’ to appeal. Another question was asked about lack of data. What happens if there are no sales of properties in a neighborhood for 2009 or 2010? Mr. Hicks explained that trend sales from 2007 and line of best fit are used to best estimate the fair market value. The appraisers use the best data available to arrive at the fair market value.

The county suggests that property owners go to the revaluation web site before the revaluation form arrives. Type in the address of your property and check to see what value is listed.The county is using a median analysis system of doing the revaluation. The date on the revaluation is January 1, 2011. The county expects to mail the private property revaluations by February 7th.

Susan J. Spaulding
Public Policy Writer

http://ballantynescoop.com

Follow Susan on Twitter @susanjspaulding

Ballantyne Breakfast Club Special Meeting on Property Reval Issue

Caroline Adams — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:12:46 +0000

Ballantyne, NC - The Ballantyne Breakfast Club is holding a special meeting on Thursday, January 27th. This is the next property revaluation meeting. It will be held at the Ballantyne Hotel in the Fairway Ball Room at 7:00 pm. Councilman Warren Cooksey will have a presentation to explain and clarify the revaluation process. County representatives will be present. On February 12th, The Ballantyne Breakfast Club will meet in the Ballantyne Hotel. This is the ‘Priorities 2011 Meeting’. ‘On hand’ will be elected officials from the state, county, city, CMPD, CMS, the district attorney’s office and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. All will speak about their top three priorities for their respective areas. All are encouraged to attend both meetings.

Ballantyne Breakfast Club Set For August 21 – Dr. Peter Gorman to Speak

Caroline Adams — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:46:21 +0000

Ballantyne, NC – The Ballantyne Breakfast Club will host CMS leader Dr. Peter Gorman on Saturday, August 21. School Board representative Tim Morgan, City Councilman Warren Cooksey and Michael Barnes are also expected to attend. The meeting will be at the Ballantyne Hotel in the Fairway Ballroom on the second level. Presentations will start at 9:00am.

This meeting will provide neighbors with an opportunity to learn first hand from Dr.Gorman the status of the changes CMS has had to make and will be looking at making based on the recommendations of the School Board. This could have an impact on future assignments throughout the entire system.

In addition to Dr.Gorman we will also have a brief presentation by the Mecklenburg Sheriff Chipp Bailey.

The BBC has been an integral part of the Ballantyne Community since it was founded in 2001 by local residents with the goal of connecting residents with local business leaders, developers, elected officials and service providers. The BBC has a regular meeting schedule that can be found at BallantyneBreakfastClub.com. Each meeting includes an update from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department and features guest speakers from the community.

The meetings have an informal feel to them and attendees are encouraged to arrive at 8:30 to participate in a meet and greet session by getting to know your neighbors. This is a great forum for local residents to be informed of “goings on” in the area as well as ask questions of your public officials.

Over the years this group has grown dramatically and has established itself as a voice for the community. The meetings are free and open to the public with everyone having a chance to get updated on local news and ask questions.

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caroline@ballantynescoop.com

2010 Ballantyne Scoop The Scoop Network

Ballantyne Breakfast Club To Feature Chief Rodney Monroe

Caroline Adams — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:41:10 +0000

The Ballantyne Breakfast Club Community Forum will hold its next meeting on Saturday June 12th at 9 AM in the Fairway Ballroom at the Ballantyne Hotel. Our featured guest speaker will the CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe who will provide an update on the police department efforts to further reduce criminal activity in our city. In addition to the chief members of his command from our local South Division will be attending to share information and results for our area.

We encourage those attending to arrive about 8:30 AM so they have time to socialize and enjoy the free refreshments provided by our host the Ballantyne Hotel.

Our meetings are free and open to everyone wanting to learn more about our dynamic and growing community.

For more information visit www.ballantynebreakfastclub.com

Ballantyne Breakfast Club Hosts County Manager Harry Jones & Char-Meck Schools COO, Hugh Hattabaugh

ssherron — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:31:39 +0000

Ballantyne, NC – The Ballantyne Breakfast Club hosted Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones and the COO of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Hugh Hattabaugh, on Saturday April 12 at the Ballantyne Hotel. The video below is a recording of the live internet stream.

**You may experience audio gaps in the video. The audience asked many questions and we only had our microphone set up at the podium. The audio will be at it’s best when the speakers are at the podium.

caroline@ballantynescoop.com
steve@ballantynescoop.com

Ballantyne Breakfast Club Hosts County Manager Harry Jones & Hugh Hattabaugh, COO of CMS On April 10

Caroline Adams — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:26:50 +0000

Ballantyne, NC – The Ballantyne Breakfast Club will host Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones and Hugh Hattabaugh, COO of CMS on Saturday, April 10 at 9:00am in the Ballantyne Hotel Fairway Ballroom. Jones and Hattabaugh will discuss “Our Budget Crisis…where are we and what are we doing about it”. School Board representative Tim Morgan, City Councilman Warren Cooksey and Michael Barnes are also expected to attend.

If you are unable to attend the meeting check it out on BallantyneScoop.com for a live internet stream of the meeting at 9 a.m.

caroline@ballantynescoop.com

Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Information For Ballantyne

tinaroggenkamp — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:57:09 +0000

Ballantyne, NC – Officer Colin Cumberworth has become my go-to contact with Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department and he’s provided me with some information on some of the issues currently affecting the Ballantyne area. One such issue, according to Cumberworth, is that of solicitors in Mecklenburg County, which will be a feature of the upcoming April newsletter.

The March Newsletter dealt particularly with the issue of home and vehicle break-ins in the area. In several instances a neighbor saw something suspcious, but didn’t call 911 until later. We need to be good neighbors and report anything suspicious at the time it is happening. As the weather gets warmer, more people will be outside and more eyes to keep a watch on the neighborhood. Don’t forget to keep your garage doors closed though!

CMPD will be at several HOA meetings this month as well as the Ballantyne Breakfast Club on April 10th for a short update about Ballantyne area crime stats and safety tips.

Officer Cumberworth also shared with me CMPD’s sites with good information on Personal Safety and Home Safety

tina.roggenkamp@gmail.com
@bovinesituation
Check out my blog.

2010 BallantyneScoop.com

Ballantyne Breakfast Club Hosting Mayor Anthony Foxx On February 13

ssherron — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:42:14 +0000

********************Note From Ray Eschert, Ballantyne Breakfast Club Founder********************

As the founder of the Ballantyne Breakfast Club, I would like to put to rest the rumor that Mayor Foxx was invited to address this meeting on the rezoning. That is incorrect. Mayor Foxx had agreed to speak to the Ballantyne Breakfast Club months ago, before the rezoning came up.

In the past, the Mayor’s address to the Club has been on the subject of the state of Charlotte, and that is what we asked of Mayor Foxx following his election.

There is a process for communication about the rezoning petition, and Saturday’s meeting of the Ballantyne Breakfast Club is not part of that process.

***************************************

Ballantyne, NC – The Ballantyne Breakfast Club is scheduled to meet on Saturday, February 13 at 9:00am at Ballantyne Hotel. The featured speaker will be Mayor Anthony Foxx who will be sharing his vision for Charlotte and the Ballantyne area.

The Ballantyne Breakfast Club is a group of area business leaders and residents that meet regularly to discuss area development. “Since it was founded in 2001 the goal of the Ballantyne Breakfast Club has been to provide a forum for the exchange of information between the area residents, business leaders, developers, elected officials and services providers,” according to their website.

The meetings are free and open to all to attend and are best described as informal, like neighbors meeting over a cup of coffee to talk about what is new in the neighborhood.

At a meeting on Dec. 5, 2009 the organization was recognized in an official proclamation issued by then Mayor Pat McCrory in his last official act of office proclaiming it as Ballantyne Breakfast Day.

For more information visit www.BallantyneBreakfastClub.com.

2010 BallantyneScoop.com The Scoop Network

Ballantyne Chili Cookoff. Meet The Candidates Video Highlights.

ssherron — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:58:39 +0000

Ballantyne

This event featured politicians and a chili cook-off among community groups and restaurants. The cook-off shares a similar theme with the famed Mallard Creek Barbecue, an annual tradition for 80 years in the University City area known for good food and dozens of politicians showing up to shake hands. It was a great event and the candidates mingled, ate a lot of chili and were very gracious in answering a lot of questions from constituents. Enjoy the video highlights as Caroline Adams interviewed several of the candidates on hand.

The Ballantyne Chili Cookoff was sponsored by the Bissell Company and the Ballantyne Breakfast Club. In the end, it was the Charlotte Fire Dept. who won the Chili Cookoff.

caroline@ballantynescoop.com

Warren Cooksey Holds District 7 Meeting In Ballantyne

ssherron — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:06:31 +0000

City Councilman Warren Cooksey holds weekly meetings for constituents of District 7. Warren is available every Friday morning at the Ballantyne Hotel from 7:30 am to 8:30 am to meet with concerned citizens. Mr. Cooksey briefs the City Council agenda and explains how he plans to vote.

Warren Cooksey is up for re-election this November and will face Democratic challenger, Marc Friedland.

These meetings are open to the public. In the photos, Mr. Cooksey is picture in the purple shirt.

Photo Cutline: Tim Morgan from School Board District 6 on left. Ray Eshert, CoFounder of Ballantyne Breakfast Club pictured in foreground with long sleeve shirt.

caroline@ballantynescoop.com