Property owners in Lee County should prepare for changes to their tax values.
Lee County Government is in the final stages of its periodic reappraisal, or property tax revaluation. State law requires counties to do a reappraisal of real property (residential, commercial and industrial land and any associated structures) at least every eight years; Lee County by resolution does one every four.
“The last reappraisal was January 2019, and from then on things have continued to increase in value,” explained Michael Brown, Lee County’s tax administrator. “Real estate is all about location, location, location, and what we’re trying to do is reflect what the market has done over the last few years. So we take a picture of the market, and this one is going to be a picture as of January 2023.”
Value is determined by a number of factors, including but not limited to recent sales of similar properties. But Brown said tax department employees have also spent time physically looking at properties, particularly newer ones.
“We try to do a good review of a lot of properties, so we’ve been in the field quite a bit looking at new construction, and we’ve been in a lot of neighborhoods,” he said.
The new values will take effect immediately, and property owners should begin receiving notification letters by mid February. How the revaluation will impact residents’ property tax bills is unknown because the Lee County Board of Commissioners has yet to set its property tax rate for Fiscal Year 2023/24. The current tax rate is 73 cents per $100 of value. When the new rate is set, property owners will be mailed bills in July and August, which are due in January 2024.
Those wishing to appeal their reappraisal should contact the Lee County Appraisal Department at (919) 718-4660, or visit the tax office’s website. Those unsatisfied with the results of an appeal have until May to appeal again to the Lee County Board of Equalization and Review.
Lee County Government also produced a YouTube video with information about the reappraisal process, including about partial exemptions for disabled individuals and senior citizens:
Is there any way for seniors to get some relief to the property tax base. Our liability gets more difficult to handle as prices rise but retirement income doesn’t
I hope the Board of Commisioners takes into consideration the temporarily inflated housing market when they decide on the tax rate. I expect lower taxes since republicans now control the commision.
When the Rant interviewed Commissioner Taylor Vorbeck when she was a candidate she said she was going to increase the budget while cutting taxes so you are in good hands.