Craven County property valuation will increase more than previously indicated, according to information presented this week by the Craven County Tax Administrator.
During a Feb. 6 presentation before the county commissioners, Tax Administrator Leslie Young said property valuation across the county was estimated to increase by 36%, but stressed that number was preliminary and was subject to change. Young said Feb. 14 would be the last day for appraisers to finish their valuations for certification.
On Feb. 20 Young came back before the board and said appraisers had finalized and certified their values and updated the valuation increase to 42.03%.
Young emphasized that the number represented a county-wide average percentage increase in 2022 taxable real estate valuation.
“What that number represents is an average, that means there’s high lows and all in between in the valuation,” she noted.
Young said what the number does not represent is the percentage increase in value for all 60,000 individual real estate parcels in Craven County.
“There are parcels that are going to increase in value larger than 42.03% and there are parcels that won’t increase this much,” she said.
According to Young, the total county real estate taxable evaluation for 2022 was $8,041,167,514. She said for tax year 2023, the valuation of real property that is taxable is $11,420,985,589.
“When I take the $11 billion figure minus the $8 billion figure, that difference has been divided by $8 billion and that calculates to 42.03%,” Young said.
Property valuation is a way of determining how much a property is worth for purposes of pricing it for sale, qualifying for a mortgage, or determining a property tax bill. Property taxes are calculated by multiplying the appraised value by the tax rate.
The Craven County Board of Commissioners determines tax rates during their annual budget process in late spring and they become effective July 1, 2023.
The tax rate for fiscal year 2022-23 is $0.56 per $100 valuation. Property taxes in North Carolina are due September 1 of each year.
Craven Tax Office prepared to answer questions
Young said revaluation notices would begin mailing to residents early next week. She said the county has made several improvements to the form to assist residents who are confused or have questions about the revaluation.
At the top of the form, the address and three telephone numbers are listed for the Craven County Tax Department, which Young said would have 21 lines ready to take calls from citizens with questions about the revaluation.
“I have trained the staff for personal property and tax collection and they can assist the caller in reading the revaluation notice,” Young said. “At that point, it will be up to the caller to decide if they want to submit an appeal.”
The second change to the form is information for residents who wish to make an appeal online, the first time that option has been available in Craven County.
Young said the notices will also include information that will allow residents to use the county’s GIS site to call up the six most comparable sales to a property in question. She said the tax department is “very ready, very prepared to assist the citizens.”
“It allows for myself as an appraiser and the property owner to immediately have an educated conversation, because now they can see that sale that I actually used,” she commented. “When a property owner needs to appeal their property the burden of proof is on them to provide why the accessor is wrong. This gives a property owner a starting place.”
Real estate valuations rising state-wide
Presenting information from an unofficial poll of 26 counties in North Carolina undergoing a county-wide revaluation this year, Young said Craven County’s valuation increase was not unusual. Of the 14 counties that responded to the poll, Craven fell somewhere in the middle, with Alamance topping the list with a 79% increase and Yadkin at the lower end with an estimated 30%-40% jump in property valuation.
Alexander, Ashe, Burke, Catawba, Henderson, Iredell, Lee, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, McDowell, and Randolph counties all showed confirmed or expected real estate valuation increases between 40% and 69%, according to the poll.
“Not only are we in the ’40s but we’re in the very conservative ’40s,” Young said. “Nothing extravagant, nothing drastic. We’re right in line.”
Young said one takeaway from the rise in local property revaluations is that Craven County’s real estate market is “very strong.”
According to data Young presented from the Neuse River Region Association of Realtors, the average sales price for homes rose during each month of 2022 when compared to the same month of the previous year. Over the last year, Craven County homes have stayed on the market an average of between 19 and 36 days per month.
Young said in January 2023 the average sales price for a home in Craven County had risen from $262,845 to $300,614, an increase of 14.81%. During that month homes spent an average of 45 days on the market.
“Days spent on the market is tremendous,” Young said. “One day to 90 days on market is considered excellent. Ninety-one to 120 days is a very good market.”
By Todd Wetherington, co-editor. Send an email with questions or comments.