By: Charlotte Smith
Chris Ellis, Bladen County Tax Administrator, gave an informative presentation to the Elizabethtown Rotary Club on Wednesday. He began by a review, “Where we are now is in the revaluation process is, we have been out to the field, we have revalued all the properties through the sales approach, sent out the first wave of the revaluations in February. We have gotten appeals in from those notices and, we have just now sent out the second notices.”
We have Revaluations in Bladen County every 8 years. The last revaluation in Bladen County was done in 2007. Assessment Solutions is the company that was hired in 2007 to help with the revaluation process and was hired again this year.
Ellis said, “When you receive your second notice and are still unhappy with that value and don’t think that value is correct and don’t think that value is the market value, then your appeal this time is going to come in front the Board of Equalization and Review, those nine people are the county commissioners.” The appeal process will be open until the last day the Board of Equalization and Review meets to have an appeal heard. If you would like to appeal your tax revaluation, contact the tax administrator’s office to schedule the appointment.
Ellis gave some advice, “If you wish to go in front of the board and you want to appeal, do some homework. Have as many comparable properties as possible.”
There are two ways citizens can pay taxes on half the value of the property. Senior Citizens and citizens with disabilities may qualify for the reduction. The criteria for senior citizens are you must be 65 years or older on the year you are applying, you have to live in the house, and it has to be yours, your income can’t be more than $29,000 per year. The same qualifications apply for citizens with disabilities, except for the age criteria.
Citizens that own forest property may also qualify for a reduction in taxes. If you have any questions contact the tax administrator’s office.
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