Yesterday afternoon, Mecklenburg’s Board of County Commissioners adopted a massive new $1.9 billion budget for 2020, an increase of 9% over the county’s 2019’s fiscal budget.
The residential tax rate would be reduced from 82.3 cents down to 61.69 cents, but since this year’s property value reevaluation significantly increased resident’s property values, the tax rate decrease will actually increase taxes for most residents.
In a statement about the new budget, the county notes that:
- 34.58% of residents will see modest decreases
- 28.85% of residents will see modest increases
- 36.58% of residents will see moderate to significant increases
While just over half of residents will see a negligible change to their tax bill, some will see their taxes more than triple.
The hardest hit will certainly be fixed-income and low-income residents living in heavily gentrified neighborhoods such as Cherry, Lockwood, and Villa Heights.
In our investigation of the 2019 property tax reevaluation, we found that some homes saw their tax values increase by over 350%.
One of the more extreme examples is 839 Drummond Ave. in Villa Heights. The property was last appraised in 2014 (in a special revaluation review) for $65,300. County taxes on the home have been about $537 per year since 2014. The home has not been sold or significantly renovated since 1978. Last month, the home was reappraised for $303,400 (a 365% increase in 5 years).
Under the new tax rate, the owner of 839 Drummond Ave. will now be required to pay $1,871 per year in county taxes.
The City of Charlotte, meanwhile, is now in the final stages of approving their own $2.6 billion 2020 budget, which would change the city’s property tax rate from 48.87 cents to 34.81 cents, meaning the owner of 839 Drummond Ave. will have to pay an additional $1,056.13 in city taxes if the budget is approved (more than tripling the $319.12 in city taxes they paid last year).
What are your thoughts about the new reevaluation and budgets?