North Carolina § 105-286 - Time for general reappraisal of real property.

§ 105-286. Time for general reappraisal of real property.

Octennial Cycle. - Each county must reappraise all real property in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 105-283 and G.S. 105-317 as of January 1 of the year set out in the following schedule and every eighth year thereafter, unless the county is required to advance the date under subdivision (2) of this section or chooses to advance the date under subdivision (3) of this section. Schedule of Initial Reappraisals. Mandatory Advancement. - A county whose population is 75,000 or greater according to the most recent annual population estimates certified to the Secretary by the State Budget Officer must conduct a reappraisal of real property when the county's sales assessment ratio determined under G.S. 105-289(h) is less than .85 or greater than 1.15, as indicated on the notice the county receives under G.S. 105-284. A reappraisal required under this subdivision must become effective no later than January 1 of the earlier of the following years: The third year following the year the county received the notice. The eighth year following the year of the county's last reappraisal. Optional Advancement. - A county may conduct a reappraisal of real property earlier than required by subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection if the board of county commissioners adopts a resolution providing for advancement of the reappraisal. The resolution must designate the effective date of the advanced reappraisal and may designate a new reappraisal cycle that is more frequent than the octennial cycle set in subdivision (1) of this subsection. The board of county commissioners must promptly forward a copy of the resolution adopted under this subdivision to the Department of Revenue. A more frequent reappraisal cycle designated in a resolution adopted under this subdivision continues in effect after a mandatory reappraisal required under subdivision (2) of this subsection unless the board of county commissioners adopts another resolution that designates a different date for the county's next reappraisal. , (c) Repealed by Session Laws 2008-146, s. 1.1, effective July 1, 2009. Division One - 1972: Avery, Camden, Cherokee, Cleveland, Cumberland, Guilford, Harnett, Haywood, Lee, Montgomery, Northampton, and Robeson. Division Two - 1973: Caldwell, Carteret, Columbus, Currituck, Davidson, Gaston, Greene, Hyde, Lenoir, Madison, Orange, Pamlico, Pitt, Richmond, Swain, Transylvania, and Washington. Division Three - 1974: Ashe, Buncombe, Chowan, Franklin, Henderson, Hoke, Jones, Pasquotank, Rowan, and Stokes. Division Four - 1975: Alleghany, Bladen, Brunswick, Cabarrus, Catawba, Dare, Halifax, Macon, New Hanover, Surry, Tyrrell, and Yadkin. Division Five - 1976: Bertie, Caswell, Forsyth, Iredell, Jackson, Lincoln, Onslow, Person, Perquimans, Rutherford, Union, Vance, Wake, Wilson, and Yancey. Division Six - 1977: Alamance, Durham, Edgecombe, Gates, Martin, Mitchell, Nash, Polk, Randolph, Stanly, Warren, and Wilkes. Division Seven - 1978: Alexander, Anson, Beaufort, Clay, Craven, Davie, Duplin, and Granville. Division Eight - 1979: Burke, Chatham, Graham, Hertford, Johnston, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Moore, Pender, Rockingham, Sampson, Scotland, Watauga, and Wayne. History (1939, c. 310, s. 300; 1941, c. 282, ss. 1, 11/2; 1943, c. 634, s. 1; 1945, c. 5; 1947, c. 50; 1949, c. 109; 1951, c. 847; 1953, c. 395; 1955, c. 1273; 1957, c. 1453, s. 1; 1959, c. 704, s. 1; 1971, c. 806, s. 1; 1973, c. 476, s. 193; 1987, c. 45, s. 1; 2008-146, s. 1.1.) Local Modification. - Robeson: 2003-201, s. 1. Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2008-146, s. 1.1, deleted the subsection (a) designation. The subsection (a) designation has been re-inserted and the section set out in the form above at the direction of the Revisor of Statutes. Session Laws 2008-146, s. 1.4, as amended by Session Laws 2009-445, s. 45(a), provides: "This Part [Part I of Session Laws 2008-146] becomes effective July 1, 2009, and mandatory advancements in G.S. 105-286(a)(2) , as amended by Section 1.1 of this Part, apply to notices sent under G.S. 105-284(c) on or after that date." Session Laws 2008-146, s. 6, provides: "The Revenue Laws Study Committee must study the following: "(1) the effect of PART I of this act and determine whether new positions are needed to perform sales assessment ratio studies in additional counties each year and to perform other functions related to this act. "(2) The definition of income as it applies to the homestead exclusion." Session Laws 2009-180, s. 1, provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 105-285 and G.S. 105-317 , a county may change the value of real property after January 1, 2009, effective for the taxable year beginning July 1, 2009, based upon the schedule of values used to appraise real property in the county for its last reappraisal if the county adopted a resolution to postpone a 2009 reappraisal between January 1, 2009, and June 30, 2009. This authorization does not affect the requirement in G.S. 105-286 to reappraise property at least once every eight years. If a county changes its values of real property pursuant to this section, the schedule of values adopted by the board of county commissioners and used to appraise real property in the county for its last reappraisal will remain the schedule of values to be used to appraise real property until the county reappraises all real property in accordance with G.S. 105-286 ." Session Laws 2013-362, s. 1, provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 105-287 , 105-325, 105-380, any provision of law restricting the time for which a change in appraisal or valuation may be made, or any other provision of Subchapter II of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes inconsistent with the provisions of this act, a board of county commissioners shall undertake the measures required by this act if all of the following conditions are met: "(1) The county has independent evidence that the majority of commercial neighborhoods in the county reviewed by a qualified appraisal company possess significant issues of inequity. "(2) The county has independent evidence that for residential neighborhoods instances of inequity or erroneous data had an impact on the valuation of the neighborhood as a whole. "(3) The county's last general reappraisal was performed for the 2008 tax year, 2009 tax year, 2010 tax year, 2011 tax year, or 2012 tax year. "(4) The independent evidence resulted from a review performed by a qualified appraisal company selected and retained by the county and registered with the Department of Revenue and had a sample size of no less than 375 properties, the relevant characteristics of which were reviewed on location at the property." Session Laws 2013-362, s. 2, provides: "If all of the conditions of Section 1 of this act are met, a board of county commissioners shall either (i) conduct a reappraisal, using no less than one person certified by the Department of Revenue for mass valuations per 4,250 parcels, pursuant to G.S. 105-286 within 18 months, applicable to all tax years from and including the tax year when the last general reappraisal was performed pursuant to G.S. 105-286 or (ii) have a qualified appraisal company, which may be the same company that provides the evidence in Section 1 of this act, conduct a review of all the values in the county by neighborhoods and make recommendations as to the true value of the properties as of January 1 of the year of the last general reappraisal performed pursuant to G.S. 105-286. After the reappraisal or after each neighborhood review required by this section is complete, the board of county commissioners shall make any change on the abstracts and tax records to ensure that the assessed values of incorrectly appraised properties in the county reflect the true values of those properties effective for the year of the last general reappraisal performed pursuant to G.S. 105-286 and shall apply the adjusted values for those properties for each tax year until the next general reappraisal for real property is performed by the county pursuant to G.S. 105-286 unless those adjusted values are changed in accordance with G.S. 105-287 . In making changes to the abstracts and tax records mandated by this act, the board of county commissioners shall make adjustments for previous errors prioritized as follows: "(1) Adjustments to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having a significantly overstated value. "(2) Adjustments to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having a significantly understated value. "(3) Adjustments to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having an overstated value. "(4) Adjustments to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having an understated value. "In instances of parcels with errors that resulted in an overpayment of taxes, the governing board shall require that notice of refund and the refund amount be sent to the owner of record as of the date the payment was made. The provisions of G.S. 105-380 do not apply to the issuance of any refund under the provisions of this act." Session Laws 2013-362, s. 3, as amended by Session Laws 2015-266, s. 1, provides: "Interest on taxes paid on parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having an overstated value shall be calculated at a rate of five percent (5%) per annum. Additional taxes levied on parcels as a result of errors causing the parcels to have an understated value (i) shall be treated as taxes on discovered property pursuant to G.S. 105-312 , except that the discovery penalties set forth in subsection (h) of G.S. 105-312 shall not apply, (ii) are due and payable on September 1 of the fiscal year for which the taxes are levied, but not earlier than four years from the last general reappraisal date, and (iii) shall be payable, at the taxpayer's option, by means of an agreement over a period of not more than 36 months, in equal monthly installments, if the total of the additional taxes levied is greater than one thousand dollars ($1,000). Interest shall not accrue for the period a taxpayer is making timely payments under a payment plan. The tax collector is authorized to issue forms and develop procedures to implement a payment plan authorized under this section. Notwithstanding G.S. 105-365.1(b) , for parcels that have been transferred in a tax year for which errors requiring reappraisals under this act resulted in an underpayment of taxes, the following apply: "(1) The taxes for each tax year prior to and in the fiscal year in which the transfer occurred shall be collected from the owner of record as of January 1 of each tax year for which unpaid taxes exist. Only the remedies available in G.S. 105-367 and G.S. 105-368 may be used to collect against the owner of record as of January 1 of each tax year for which unpaid taxes exist. "(2) Notwithstanding G.S. 105-355(a) , there shall be no lien on the real property for underpaid taxes that arose in a year in which the property is owned by a person other than the current owner as of January 1 of that year. The current owner shall not be held personally responsible for such underpaid taxes. "(3) If an owner not responsible for underpaid taxes pursuant to this section paid the underpaid taxes, the owner may assert a valid defense for a refund pursuant to G.S. 105-381 , as a tax imposed through clerical error. Interest on the refund shall be calculated at a rate of five percent (5%) per annum from the date the owner asserting the defense paid the underpaid taxes until the date the refund is issued." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2008-146, s. 1.1, rewrote the section. For effective date and applicability, see Editor's note.