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There has recently been significant public outcry by citizens who are now learning that their property taxes are likely to increase in Forsyth County this year. The reason for the increase is that the Tax Department is performing its regularly scheduled revaluation of its real property tax base, a process which occurs every 4 years (the state requirement is at most every 8 years). Despite national trends, NC and the southeast in general are not being hurt quite as badly as other areas.
I don't want this discussion to venture into the realm of people complaining about what the local governments do with the tax dollars, because I think that everyone can agree that governments are wasteful. I just want to hear what people have to say about the increase in taxes.
According to the Forsyth assessor, many people have called the tax office to complain about the prospect of higher taxes. Their reasoning seems to be that "everyone knows our home values have gone down 20%".
Do people honestly believe this about homes in the Triad? The last revaluation was in 2005. This region saw significant value increases in 05, 06 and 07, and has since seen an overall slight decrease, although there are areas within the Triad that have had single and even double-digit increases in home values.
What the revaluation means for you is that the county has been taxing your home for the past 4 years based on a value that was current as of January 2005 (homes built after 2005 are still valued according to the 2005 schedule of values). If your home value increased 7% in 2005, and then another 8% in 2006 and 4% in 2007, then how can one expect the tax office to assign your home a lower value for 2009 just because of a 5% decrease in 2008? If this example were a $150k home in 2005, then it would be a $180k home by the time 2008 rolled around. So, after that 5% decrease in 2008, the home would now be worth $171k. I'm no math whiz, but I'm pretty sure that 171 is greater than 150. Even a 15% decline (highly unlikely for any area around here) would mean a 2009 value of $153k.
Recent national reports have stated that W-S in particular has experienced an appreciation rate greater than 4% in 2008, and not a decline. I spoke with the Forsyth assessor last week, and he stated that his research has shown a residential value growth rate of 7% since the 2005 revaluation, and 11% for commercial properties.
So, with all that said, does anyone around here honestly believe that their home value has experienced a net decrease since January 2005? Certainly, and particularly in these tough economic times, no one wants to see a higher tax bill this year, but does anyone feel, beyond simple disappointment, that it is truly unfair or wrong for the counties around here to levy property taxes based on current values rather than those from 2005?
I live in Guilford county and recently had our house appraised at $137k, a mere increase of $2k from 6 years ago. This was disappointing since, in that time span, we renovated the kitchen & put in replacement windows. However, on the bright side, the value was not lower than the previous appraisal. Though I don't remember the figure the appraiser told me many of the VA loans he is appraising for the home values are down.
The triad didn't experience the real estate boom as many metro areas did across the country. With that said I think people are believing the hype behind the fallout and have the wrong perception about the local real estate market.
But don't foreclosures bring down home values in neighborhoods,at least somewhat? And we all know how that's been going lately.
When I owned a home,I felt they over-assessed the value of it,and when it came time to sell it,I was right.
High rates of foreclosures in a neighborhood can affect median home values and influence nearby home prices, but again, the Triad is performing remarkably well in this regard, as well. While yearly increases in foreclosures were minimal (single-digit rate increases) through 2007 for this region, we did see a nearly 25% increase in 2008. Nationwide, foreclosures are up roughly 80% since 2007, so the Triad is clearly doing well... considering...
Local assessors have correctly asserted that the rise in foreclosure rates has not affected home values as strongly as the previous years of growth had.
County-applied assessed values are rarely accurate. They are usually pretty good, but as anyone can surely understand, it's more difficult to perform accurate mass appraisal than case-by-case fee appraisal. If anyone disagrees with the values derived by the local tax departments, then you should look into appealing to the board. It's easy and painless. I do it every few years and they rarely contest my assertions. It's worth the effort, in my opinion, to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars. State law requires the county to assess based on current values, not projected values. We all know that the potential for more negative effects on our home values is high, but the county may not base your home value on what it might be 6 months from now.
So what kind of info would one need to protest the value assessed by the tax department? I certainly would not want to go to them with the appraised value. When protesting property tax on your vehicle I know arguments can be made for high mileage, actual sales values, eg; the market is glutted by your brand of car/ truck because its a pile of crap & nobody wants it.
When we purchased our home 1.5 yrs ago, I noticed that the assessed tax value seemed low. After discussing this with our realtor I learned they do the 4 yr assessments. Although I don't have a problem spending less on taxes, I do realize it is a necessary evil and the county/city should receive their just dues. If I worked somewhere for 4+ years while my value to the company increased and I never received a pay increase (even for cost of living), I would be a little upset! I know that the value of the home HAS increased over the past 4 years and I HOPE it continues to increase. If however, it decreases, we can always have the value reassessed. Just my 2 pennies.
With jobs being lost every day in the "triad" area" (I live in Surry county) highest tax base in NC except for around Charlotte who do you think is going to to pay ? property owners ! sure hope our new gov will bring more industry to the area instead of everthing going to Raliegh ,Charlotte and Asheville areas. North carolina id dying on the vine. Dependance on tourism is a joke I don't think 4.00 dollar gas will increase tourism (although the oil companies are just teasing us now with low gas) it will come back for sure.what we need is the "nafta bill to be repealed. make it in the usa and buy in the usa.
The Forsyth tax dept directed me to this link to a new mapping application that shows sales since the previous revaluation. Searching around, it doesn't take long to see that there are many areas with concentrations homes appraised at 10% or more below their sale prices.
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