Vance resident Susette McLendon asked the Vance County Board of Commissioners for a time frame to receive information about the most recent property reevaluation.
McLendon told commissioners that she is dissatisfied with her reassessment. She said that she had had a meeting with Pearsons Appraisal Service where she “did not get far”. She said that the county contractor did not provide her with the information she requested.
Specifically, McLendon said that she is having difficulty getting supporting information that the company used to reevaluate her property.
The Vance resident and property owner asked the board to ask the appraising company to provide all of the information used in assessing her home. She informed the board that the information is public information per the judgment of the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
In a telephone interview with Vance County Tax Assessor Sam Jones, Home in Henderson asked whether or not McLendon’s request was valid. Jones replied that McLendon will meet with the appraisal company again.
“I don’t know what they have worked out,” Jones said.
When asked if there were any problems with the tax reevaluation that he was aware of, Jones replied that there were none to his knowledge.
During the meeting, Danny Wright noted that McLendon’s increase was greater than the county-wide increase at 211%. He informed McLendon that she could appeal the increase to the Board in May when it sits as a different body to consider such requests.
The commissioner noted that 70% have success in making the appeal.
According to Michael Brown, head of the North Carolina Department of Revenue’s Property Assessment Department, the only valid reasons to contest a reassessment is based on market value, building cost, or income generated by a property. In other words, the percentage of increase is not in itself a valid reason to dispute the reassessment.
Brown also indicated that he has received no complaints regarding tax reevaluations in Vance County, nor, to his knowledge, have any of his staff.
Bob Pearson of Pearsons Appraisal Service said in a telephone interview that his company would give all the information that it has to property owners. He indicated that an attempt to contact McLendon had already been made.
“We don’t have very much here,” Pearson said, referring to the information available. He said that he works primarily from county property cards, county records, and maps provided by the county with sales figures pasted onto them.
Pearson said that his assessors also consult with real estate brokers to garner price information.
According to the assessor, sales in the county are used to set up guidelines, and assessments should be “in line” with sales. Pearson said that the process continues for two years and modifications in the rates are made.
“[We] want the process to be uniform,” Pearson said, emphasizing that his objective is that everyone is treated fairly.
Pearson agreed that many problems are information flow issues. He said that many times information on sales in the county is not available in county records for three or four months after the transaction is completed.
In McLendon’s case, Pearson indicated that the discovery that one of her lots is unbuildable “will probably mean a lot” in her reevaluation appeal.
In December of 2007, approximately 70 letters were sent to Pearsons Appraisal Service by individual property owners requesting all information and documentation used to perform the reevaluations on their property. As of the posting of this article, no response has been made by the appraiser.
Pearson acknowledged that the letters had been received. Pearson said that he was putting together a response to those who had written.
Assistant County Attorney Jonathan Care told commissioners at Monday’s meeting that he did not know if it was legally required to give the information to the public. He was directed to investigate the matter.
Editor’s Note: Jason Feingold, the editor and publisher of Home in Henderson and author of this article is among the approximately 70 property owners who sent letters to Pearsons Appraisal Service requesting information and documentation.