Craven County Tax Administrator Leslie Young presented an update on the 2023 revaluation process to the Board of Commissioners during their meeting on Feb. 6. She also addressed unpaid 2022 taxes and requested approval of the tax lien advertisement date in the newspaper during the meeting.
According to Young, property valuation across the county is estimated to increase by 36%.
Young said Feb. 14 would be the last day for appraisers to finish their valuations for certification. The print vendor needs the file by Feb. 15 in order to mail revaluation notices by Feb. 27. The tax administrator expects them to arrive in mailboxes on March 1.
Young prefaced the report by stating it is simply a brief update for a revaluation and she will provide a more detailed report on Feb. 20.
“I’ve got to make this abundantly clear before I report this number. The percentage increase in valuation is a comparison of the 2022 valuation for where we are as of today, February 6,” Young emphasized. “It is still subject to change because again we have until February 14 to finalize the values. This is an average. This is not an across-the-board number. This is the overall county average…of this morning that valuation percentage increase across the county in valuation is 36.11%.”
After a brief silence, Chairman Jason Jones said there was, “some concern amongst our board of commissioners.” He mentioned the economy and home sales declining and referenced the Business Journal.
When Jones asked for a comparison between Craven’s property valuations and other counties, the tax collector said Craven was “right in line“ with its neighbors.
“We have no indication just yet that we are in a downturn economy” she continued, stating that local sales prices are still very strong. Young also noted that the last countywide revaluation was in 2016.
Commissioner Chadwick Howard mentioned that he bought his property at a good price and the comparison is not year-to-year.
“Every value from 2016 through December 31 of 2022 is based on the 2016 cost tables” Young said, and further explained, “this county-wide revaluation is the cost tables as of January 1 of 2023 and our revaluation cycle will end on December 31 of 2027 because our next county-wide revaluation will be in 2028.”
Jones concluded, “Even though when you get your evaluation, your properties are going to go up and what we’re being told what matters is what this board of commissioners do with the tax rate.”
Stay tuned for an update from the Craven County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 20.
Also, during the board’s Feb. 6 meeting, Young announced Craven County’s delinquent tax collections are $2,045,130.17 for tax year 2022 and the tax collection rate of 96.18%. She compared it to last year’s delinquent collections of $2,559,181.34 with a collection rate of 95.16%.
Young asked for the advertisement to be published in the New Bern Sun Journal on April 11. She originally wanted it to print on April 10, but the newspaper doesn’t publish on Sundays or Mondays. The board voted unanimously to approve her request.
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.
The tax rate for fiscal year 2022-2023 is $0.56 per $100 valuation. Property taxes in North Carolina are due September 1 of each year.
For more information, contact the Tax Collection Division at 252-636-6605 or Real Estate Appraisal Division at 252-636-6640.
Officials have not responded to requests for comment.
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By Wendy Card and Todd Wetherington, Co-Editors