The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

May 29, 2009

Some get assessments reduced

T. J. ROYAL

Although mandatory property revaluations are going to mean a bigger tax bill for many Edgecombe County residents, a few property owners say they're satisfied with the county Tax Assessor's office handling of their cases.

Irene Goodwyn of Tarboro, Douglas and Dorothy Braswell of Rocky Mount and Kay Redding of Emerald Isle all appealed their property values to the Edgecombe County Board of Equalization and Review on May 4. There were also five other people who appealed their values directly to the board at the meeting.

The Board of Commissioners, who act as the Board of Equalization and Review, held off finalizing those values until their meeting Monday. It gave the Tax Assessor's office and the property owners more time to compromise on the values.

Goodwyn, 79, appealed the $230,347 value her Canterbury Road residence was assessed for. She said Thursday that she is "satisfied" with the $12,000 drop the Tax Assessor's office agreed to. She originally valued her home at $200,000.

Goodwyn said that it was worth the time to have her appeal taken up with the Tax Assessor staff, adding that she is "not pursuing (changes) any further" over her home's value.

The Braswells appealed seven of their Edgecombe County properties' values, mostly in the Rocky Mount area. Dorothy said after they worked with Coker and her staff, their property values were dropped around $70,000 total. That will save them around $602 on their tax bill compared to their original assessment, if the Board of Commissioners accept an 86-cent per $100 value tax rate in June.

On one of the Braswells' properties, which was originally assessed at $106,000, the new value dropped down to around $90,000, Dorothy said. But there was one property she said she was not satisfied with, 17 acres of farmland that retained a valuation of $75,000.

With that farmland in particular, which they rent out, she said that with the cost to insure the land, she isn't sure there will be "anything (money) left for the owner" to make any profit on. She added that they have no plans to develop any of their land, that they want to retain it for farming.

"It's not all we hoped for, but we got some reductions" going through the appeals process with the Tax Assessor's office, Dorothy said. She added that she appreciated the "courtesy" she was treated with by Tax Assessor staff, saying that she was able to handle all of her appeals business by phone.

She added that it "wouldn't have helped anybody" if she had lost her cool over the original assessments.

Although Redding had not received her revaluation as of Thursday, she said that when she spoke with Coker on May 4, it was possible her property's assessed value could be cut by a third. She appealed five Rocky Mount properties to the Board of Equalization and Review that day.

"If I get back what (Coker) quoted, I would be happy," Redding said, noting that Coker and her staff were "so nice" while she talked with them.

She also was impressed by the receptiveness of the county Board of Commissioners, especially when she described the conditions of the Edgecombe Meadows neighborhood in Rocky Mount, where some of her property is.

"They understood exactly what I was talking about. I was glad I was not just talking to a brick wall," Redding said. She mentioned that a murder had been committed near her property this year, and Commissioner Wayne Hines said he had attended the victim's funeral. She added that she had to replace a window 20 times at one property.

County Manager Lorenzo Carmon has said previously that the revaluation raised the value of Edgecombe County real estate to $2.1 billion, a 32 percent increase over the 2001 values. With an 86 cent tax rate, that property revaluation would generate $18.06 million annually for the county.

Coker could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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