How the Mecklenburg County assessor’s office determined your home’s new value
Mecklenburg County’s revaluation process is meant to redistribute the property tax base fairly and equitably.
That’s according to Tax Assessor Ken Joyner, who spoke to Mecklenburg County Commissioners this summer as his office worked on the 2023 property revaluation. The county sent out notices in the mail Friday to hundreds of thousands of property owners with new values after more than two years of work.
Property owners also can find the values on the county website beginning first thing Friday morning.
The values are a key part in determining your next tax bill. In a growing region like Charlotte, values have been on the rise, meaning property owners might feel a bit of sticker shock.
But how does the revaluation process work? Here’s a look at it.
More tax assessor workers
More than a decade ago, Joyner’s office didn’t have a full-time staff dedicated to the property revaluation. At that time, the county conducted property revaluations by the state-mandated timeline of every eight years. Local governments can opt for a shorter revaluation cycle.
Today, the county has an eight-person team that works full time on the revaluation. The 2019 revaluation didn’t finish until the spring of 2020, Joyner said, as the county had to go through property owner appeals.
Work on the 2023 revaluation started a couple months later.
“If you’re on an eight-year cycle, it’s hard to justify needing a full-time professional team that can do these valuations when you could have a large gap in time,” Joyner told The Charlotte Observer this week.
What goes into the revaluation
The revaluation process requires a bit of detective work.
County property appraisers like David Strafel dig through thousands of data points of recent property sales. Strafel and his team make sure sales in a neighborhood generally match up with the average price.
The work also involves site visits. Appraisers use a property record card that shows land and building value, the last sale price, when the home was built, how many stories it is and square footage.
On some visits, appraisers use a laser or a tape measure to help measure a home’s dimensions. Appraisers check to make sure information is accurate, sometimes working with the homeowner. They have to be careful about comparing newer homes to older ones, especially when properties vary in size.
A revaluation is not meant to increase property tax revenue, Joyner said. But it could increase property taxes for some people regardless of the rate.
Property owners can check their values on the county’s website by searching their address. By clicking the “comper” tab after searching an address, you can see which comparable home sales the county looked at for your assessment.
