By Brad Dountz
brad.dountz@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Wendell “Chip” Main, the Rowan County tax assessor, presented the county’s plan for the 2023 revaluation to county commissioners on Monday night.

Rowan County reappraises its property every four years instead of the standard eight to reduce the impact the valuation changes have on property owners. Seen more as a legal route for the next steps in revaluation, no concrete figures have been presented to determine the changing resale values and tax rates in the county.

“I know from talking with other assessors in this area that we’re seeing in some areas where the values have changed say 5-10 percent per year. So over a four year period, you’d be looking at increases of 40 percent in some areas, but not all over the county,” Main said.

According to Main, the county determines the resale value changes by monitoring the sales of all the properties in the county. They use the information they receive from the deed of the property to find out the value.

“We had about 16,000 sales that have occurred since 2019 and we look at those every time a transaction occurs. A deed has to be recorded downstairs in the register of deeds office. As soon as that’s recorded that information is transferred to us electronically so we can update our tax records,” Main said.

As interest rates rise, the real estate market has become more volatile and some homes may not sell for the price originally paid for them. But such changes don’t delay the revaluation. It will just mean the county adapts to the changes next time around.

“With the county having been mandated to do the reappraisal for 2023 we’re kind of stuck in dealing with that, with the changes in the real estate market, but if the changes continue and things did decline, we can do another reappraisal sooner to adjust things as needed. The earliest would be two years after 2023,” Main said.

Once the county commissioners receive the new values in property they will be able to set the tax rate in June of 2023. If anyone wants to appeal their valuation when they receive it, they can follow instructions on the form to contact the county for an informal appeal process. If they aren’t satisfied with that decision, there’s another appeal option with a review board. If they want to appeal again, they can go to the Property Tax Commission in Raleigh.

Main says the county should have the revaluation finished by the first of next year. Notices to citizens will be mailed out in February.