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PROPERTY VALUES SPIKE BY 48 PERCENT

Many Henderson County homeowners may experience sticker-shock in the coming days when they open their notice of new property values based on the countywide reappraisal effective Jan. 1.

Overall, the county’s tax base increased by 48 percent —to $21.3 billion from $14.4 billion. The largest percentage increases by city were Laurel Park, 51.1 percent; Mills River, 52.7 percent; Fletcher, 49.5 percent; Flat Rock, 42.7 percent; and Hendersonville, 38.8 percent (downtown taxing district, 28 percent; Seventh Avenue tax district, 22.8 percent). The highest increases by fire district were Dana, Mills River and Etowah-Horse Shoe, each between 53 and 60 percent. The lowest increase was Green River. All other fire districts rose by 46 to 52 percent.
Notices go out Wednesday, Tax Administrator Darlene Burgess told the Board of Commissioners Monday night as she announced the new values publicly for the first time.
“If the taxpayer agrees with the value, they don’t need to respond to the notice at all,” she said. If a taxpayer has questions or wants to appeal, the county tax office offers numerous ways to contact the office. The mailed notice includes a form to initiate an informal appeal. The Board of Equalization and Review will hear formal appeals filed by May 15. In 2019, less than 5 percent of values were appealed.
Other highlights of Burgess’s report:
• The county has about 70,000 parcels. Seventy-four percent are improved and 95 percent are residential. The county tax office started the four-year reappraisal in 2019 and visited all 70,000 parcels.
• The tax office identified 12,000 qualified sales, defined as an arm’s length transaction between unrelated buyers and free of any consideration other than the property sale itself.
• Median price as of Jan. 1 was $418,000 for single-family home, up 64.8 percent from 2019, when it was $271,000. Condos and townhomes rose by 70 percent, to $310,000, from $189,000.

Burgess cautioned that the overall taxable value will decrease by some amount because some taxpayer appeals will be successful. Elected leaders and their budget managers will take the overall tax base into account when setting a tax rate. Expect rates to be lower but rather they're revenue neutral remains to be seen. In a two-day budget retreat last month, Henderson County commissioners heard requests from department heads for millions of dollars worth of capital improvements, new vehicles and equipment, new personnel and pay raises.

“The goal of the 2023 reappraisal,” Burgess said in a news release, “is to appraise all real property at 100 percent of its fair market value as of Jan. 1, 2023. Fair market value is determined by the most recent sales activity in the local real estate market.”

“Darlene and her staff have done a great job over the last four years of this reappraisal,” Henderson County Manager John Mitchell said. “Darlene’s team visited 100 percent of the nearly 70,000 parcels in the county. This process is important to be sure that all taxpayers receive fair treatment under the law.”

Henderson County is not alone in recording an eye-popping increase in the total real property value over four years. Among other counties' increases were Alamance County, 79 percent; Catawba County, 69 percent; Macon County, 57.5 percent; and Brunswick County, 55 percent.

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To learn more, visit hendersoncountync.gov/tax and select 2023 Reappraisal. Information on specific parcels may be found by selecting Online Tools, then selecting Spatialest Property Search. Contact the tax office at taxdept@hendersoncountync.gov or 828-697-4667 or visit the office in the Courthouse at 200 N. Grove St. 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.