Wednesday, March 24, 2010

“Most Orange tax protesters had property values lowered (Burlington Times-News)” plus 3 more

“Most Orange tax protesters had property values lowered (Burlington Times-News)” plus 3 more

Most Orange tax protesters had property values lowered (Burlington Times-News)

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 09:28 AM PDT

CHAPEL HILL -- Three of five Orange County property owners who challenged their county tax assessments last year got them lowered, a report released Tuesday says.

   But the county can't say, on average, how much those properties' tax values changed, Tax Administrator Jo Roberson said.

   "We don't keep a scorecard," she said. "I don't mean that in a flippant way. It's done on a one-on-one, individual basis. We don't keep that kind of data."

   Last year's revaluation raised property values an average of 24 percent from the last revaluation four years earlier. The numbers led to protests and the creation of a group called Orange County Tax Revolt. Hundreds criticized values they said couldn't be accurate in the worst economy since the Great Depression.

   A total of 5,026 informal appeals and 1,656 formal appeals were filed, nearly one out of 10 taxable properties in the county. In typical revaluation years, 2 percent of property owners appeal.

   Of the 5,026 informal appeals decided by county staff, 3,073 property values were adjusted, almost all of them down, Roberson said.

   Of the 1,656 property values appealed to the Board of Equalization and Review, 992 property values were adjusted -- almost all of them lower.

   Property owners can appeal further to the N.C. Property Tax Commission. There are 182 properties under appeal to the commission, the county revaluation report says.

   One of those belongs toLeon Todd, a mortgage banker whose McLennan Road home's tax value shot up 40 percent, he said.

   Todd went to the local board. "They just said they felt it was accurate," he said. "I told them I guess this means we'll meet in Raleigh."

   The five other homes on Todd's street rose about 20 percent, he said, and a private appraisal assessed his property 15 percent higher.

   Roberson said a majority of appeals in any revaluation year probably result in lower tax values because people bring in information the county does not have. Former Tax Assessor John Smith, now retired but consulting for the county, published the new tax values on the county's Web site early to give people advance notice, she said.

   "Mass appraisal is different from fee appraisal," she said. "In mass appraisal, you don't see inside. There are certain things you're not privy to that can have an impact on the value of a property."

   Three studies, including two that compared sales of more than 1,000 Orange County properties to the new tax values, verified the accuracy of the county revaluation, Roberson said.

   Far from discouraging appeals, the county was pleased with the number of people who came forward with information to make the county assessments more accurate, she said.

   "I do really, truly believe we had a fair revaluation," she said. "I believe the analysis bears that out."

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Needham's voluntary property tax relief fund shrinks (Needham Times)

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 07:35 AM PDT

 

Town officials are hoping to encourage more folks to contribute to a dwindling voluntary property tax relief fund without actually soliciting for money.

The number of people who applied for and qualified for property tax relief funds didn't significantly change from last year, with the number of awards increasing from 36 to 37. But the average award decreased from $438 to $380 due to a lower overall fund balance.

"Donations to the fund are down; the number as well as the average donation has also declined, which is probably an indication of the overall tougher economy," said Finance Director Dave Davison.

The town received 292 contributions toward the property tax relief fund for a total of $9,269 in fiscal 2010. This is a sharp drop from the $15,555.50 contributed in fiscal 2009. The high-water mark for contributions was in fiscal 2005, when the town received $21,622 in contributions.

The fund is used to help the town's seniors and disabled with fixed incomes who are having difficulty paying their property taxes. On average, the fund receives $15,000 annually from town residents who are given the option to contribute when they receive their property tax, excise tax and water and sewer bills.

The town treasurer, Evelyn Poness, estimates about 2 percent of the town's 10,000 households contribute to the fund, with the average contribution being around $50. Poness said every applicant who qualified for an award received one this year, even though the average award was smaller.

As of March 16, the fund balance was at $20,195.50 in fiscal 2010. In fiscal 2009, the fund balance was $22,457. In fiscal 2008, the fund was $30,121. And in fiscal 2007, the fund balance was $35,987.

A Town Meeting vote last spring established a matching fund using town dollars. The town put $1,000 toward a fund to go along with the voluntary fund. In subsequent years, the town plans to match the voluntary fund through Town Meeting, up to $25,000.

"The town will be formulating policies and procedures toward distributing the money, but clearly $1,000 won't go very far," Davison said.

But in order to avoid violations of ethics laws, the town is limited in how to replenish the voluntary fund's decreasing coffers.

"We can't solicit donations," Poness said.

Selectman Jerry Wasserman, who was charged with examining ways to increase property tax relief and recommended the matching fund, felt the town must do whatever it can within current restraints.

"We need to look at some creative ways to market this more," Wasserman said. "Maybe we can get volunteers together who are marketing types. As the voluntary fund drops, there is the temptation to drop the dollars from the [matching] fund."

Davison expressed caution in whatever efforts the town undertakes.

"There's a limit on what we can do for solicitations," Davison said. "Solicitation is a very dangerous road. Even volunteers on a committee are subject to conflict of interest laws. We need an indirect, 'Oh! By the way,' process to do any promotion for the fund."

Wasserman still encouraged town administrators to take a closer look.

"It never hurts to look at what we can do," he said.

 

Oh! And by the way, those interested in contributing to the Senior Tax Relief Fund can send checks to the Town Treasurer's office at Needham Town Hall, 1471 Highland Ave. Write the check to Senior Tax Relief Fund.

 

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Elderly, disabled can defer property tax payments (Henderson Daily News)

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 06:36 AM PDT

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Property tax rate set by school board (The Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 01:36 AM PDT

The property tax rate for the Iowa City School District will go no higher than $15.24 per $1,000 of valuation.

The school board voted unanimously 5-0 Tuesday night to publish the maximum rate at $15.24. For the owner of a $150,000 home, the proposed hike would mean a school tax bill of $1,072.35, a 10.5 percent increase from the $970.37 bill they paid this year at the current $14.19 per $1,000 of valuation rate. The $15.24 rate is about 7 percent lower than the $16.30 rate originally proposed to the board at its March 9 meeting, which would have raised the tax bill of a $150,000 home owner to $1,146.93, or 18.2 percent more.

To accomplish the rate, about $6.3 million of money from the district's share of the countywide School Infrastructure Local Option sales tax would be used to cover different parts of the budget. Under the plan, SILO money would be used to make a payment on the debt remaining from the $39 million bond issue approved by voters in 2003 as well as reducing how many the district asks for in its physical plant and equipment levy for building maintenance, said Paul Bobek, the district's executive director of administrative services.

Using the SILO money could mean the delay of some building projects, officials said.

"We would delaying brick and mortar projects in lieu of cutting programs," Superintendent Lane Plugge said.

The primary reason for the property tax hike, Bobek said, was because of the loss of about $12.7 million in state funding, mainly from the loss of federal stimulus money, the potential non-funding of allowable growth or cost of operating increase, and the loss of $5.6 million that came from a 10 percent across the board cut in state funding last year.

Bobek said he was hopeful that the new budget, which could be presented later this week before the legislature adjourns for the year, would replace about $7.5 million of that state money using more than $127 million in federal stimulus funding going to Iowa that was announced two weeks ago.

"Once the legislature adjourns, we expect these numbers to change," he said of the three areas with lost funding.

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