One of the greatest benefits of owning real estate is the appreciation of value it gains over time. Unfortunately, as values continue to increase, so do the taxes associated with owning it. Like all things, the more it is worth, the more taxes you are expected to pay on it.
On Friday, February 3, Catawba County mailed out notices to property owners that their property taxes would be increasing soon on their homes, land, and businesses. We can expect them to be in our mailboxes soon.
The property tax base in the County increased by 69% since the last revaluation just four years ago. In 2019, the increase was just 8.5%. I think the county already knows this extremely rapid increase in tax valuations will rub many the wrong way, thus they have already opened a phone line for questions and concerns, as well as a webpage, and a “Appeals Portal” for those who feel that their new valuation is not on par with their homes current market value. Continue reading to learn more about contacting the County with questions, concerns, or appeals.
While the exact increase for your specific property will depend on multiple factors, such as location and size, most property owners can expect to see an increase of 50-70%.
Here are some of the major municipalities that were greatly affected:
Hickory saw a tax base increase of 68.4%.
Conover saw a tax base increase of 73.4%.
Newton saw a tax base increase of 85.1%.
Sherrills Ford saw a tax base increase of 77.3%.
Catawba saw a tax base increase of 104.9%.
Long View saw a tax base increase of 96%.
Claremont saw a tax base increase of 92.2%.
Brookford saw a tax base increase of 91.2%.
Maiden saw a tax base increase of 52.1%.
To find out what your new tax valuation is before the mailer reaches you, you can click here to visit the Catawba County GIS. Once there, it will prompt you to accept their terms and conditions, and then on the right side of the screen you can search your address. Once you have your property pulled up, click “Parcel Report” on the right side of the screen, and your new valuation will be in the box labeled Tax/Value Information. You will also have the option to visit the Appeal Portal from here. The County is willing to review appeals from property owners who feel that their new valuation is not on par with what the property is worth in todays real estate market.
The county website, catawbacountync.gov, is also going to be rolling out a new feature soon called COMPER, which property owners can use to see sales data of neighboring properties that were used to help determine the value of their property.
For questions and concerns, the county has also provided a revaluation line: 828-282-2009, and a page on their website dedicated to the topic: http://catawbacountync.gov/county-services/tax.
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