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Reappraising property in Rockingham County led to harsh words and heated debates at meetings and sapped the time and energy of county staff, so the Board of Commissioners decided to delay it.

“It was just time to either move on or stop it,” said Amelia Dallas, chairwoman of the  Board of Commissioners.

The commissioners’ unanimous vote Monday rescinded a resolution to reappraise property this year and put it off until 2011.
That decision means this year’s tax values essentially will remain the same as last year. It also will give county tax staff another couple of years to monitor sales trends.

“I think we did the right thing,” Dallas said Tuesday. “We’ll just kind of measure the market and see how it goes.”

A revaluation updates tax assessments of real property based on the current market value. It’s about equity, county officials repeatedly have said, and ensuring that everyone pays their fair share of taxes.

But some residents said there was nothing fair about it. They complained of astronomical increases in property values and petitioned the commissioners to stop the revaluation in light of the recession.

The meeting Monday started simply as an information session. Residents packed the commissioners’ chambers to hear the answers to questions posed at a Feb. 9 hearing.

“We wanted to try as best we could to respond to those,” County Manager Tom Robinson told the audience.

Robinson addressed concerns that ranged from county tax administrator Karen Carter’s qualifications to oversee the revaluation to reasons why some people may have received larger than expected revaluations.

But soon the tone of the meeting changed. Vice Chairman Harold Bass began asking questions about rescheduling the revaluation. Bass ultimately would make the motion to delay it.

Counties are required to revalue property at least every eight years. Rockingham County last did so in 2003.

County officials sought the advice of Christopher McLaughlin of the UNC School of Government, whose opinion was that counties don’t have the authority to repeal reappraisals after Jan. 1 of the reappraisal year.

County Attorney Eugene Russell said counties that want to err on the side of caution should follow McLaughlin’s advice.

“But the legal argument is that the statute gives the county discretion to set a different year,” Russell said.

Rockingham County isn’t alone in its decision to delay a revaluation.

Both Stanly and Caldwell county commissioners voted after Jan. 1 to delay revaluing property.

In contrast, on Monday night, Forsyth County commissioners voted against postponing revaluation.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com