Page 2 The Shoreline April 2005
Outlines Property Tax Revaluation Process
On Dec. 20, 2004, the Board of County
Commissioners decided to move the real
property revaluation date to Jan. 1,2007, and
return to a four-year cycle thereafter. Their
action is within their legal authority and
according to law. How we implement that
decision and understanding your participation
in the process is a matter everyone ought to
know so that your property will be correctly
assessed.
The legal standard for real property
valuation requires that all property be assessed
at market value. This value must be determined
every eight years or sooner if directed by the
County by the County Board of
Commissioners. Our last revaluation was Jan.
1, 2001. In other words, you are currently
being taxed on the market value of your
property as it existed on Jan. 1, 2001. This
will continue to be the assessed value for
2005 and 2006. The next revaluation will
affect the 2007 tax year in which you will be
taxed on the market value of your property as
it exists on Jan. 1, 2007.
In order to accomplish this task, our
appraisers and support staff will be reviewing
the accuracy of the property records on about
56,000 parcels. They will be visiting
neighborhoods and individual properties.
They will also be analyzing the real property
market, including raw land sales, improved
land sales and construction cost to determine
the fair market value of property as it exists
on Jan. 1, 2007.
With that analysis, a proposed schedule
of values will be generated and presented to
By Carl Tilghman, County Tax Administrator
the County Board of Commissioners for
approval after a public hearing. This will take
place in the summer of 2006. Once the final
schedule of values is adopted, those values
will be applied to each of the individual
parcels. In that application, the individual
existentproperty characteristics will be priced
and the assessed tax value computed. This
process is commonly referred to as a Computer
Assisted Mass Appraisal or CAMA.
Once the values are computed, notices of
the new value will be sent to the taxpayers.
This will take place in December, 2006. Upon
receipt of the new values, taxpayers will have
an opportunity to informally meet with the
appraisal staff if they believe that their
property has been incorrectly valued. A
resolution of the difference at the meeting
and an agreement on value will end any
further appeal. If no agreement is reached, the
taxpayer will have the opportunity to appeal
to the County Board of Equalization and
Review. That board will hear the taxpayer’s
appeal and render a decision. If the taxpayer
is still dissatisfied with the assessed value,
further appeal is to the State Property Tax
Commission and then judicial review is
available to the taxpayer.
In order to have an accurate and fair
revaluation according to our law, it is
important that we have the assistance of the
taxpayer in this process. You can help by
keeping the tax office informed of your current
mailing address so that you will promptly
receive all written notices. Please read all
notices you receive and respond in a timely
Police Report
Submitted by Chief Culpepper
The Pine Knoll Shores Police Department responded to 154 calls for service during
February. These included six Fire/EMS assists, three accidents, nine motorist assists, six town
ordinance violations and 17 well-being checks. Twenty-four citations were issued, including
six for driving while impaired, seven for speeding and two seatbelt violations. They also
issued 13 warning tickets, made 135 residence checks and 378 business checks.
The Police Department reminds all residents to keep their doors locked and garage doors
closed at all times.
Fire & EMS Report
By Acting Emergency Services Director Bruce Flynt
The department responded to 13 calls in the month of February. Eight required Emergency
Medical response.
Training for February was with Paramedic Randy Shaffer, instructor on “Emergency
Incident Rehabilitation.”
Fire Department training consisted of Aerial Operations and Safety Officer operations on
a fire scene.
On February 16 and 24, 102 children from Morehead Middle School visited the PKS
Public Safety Building. They were shown all the fire trucks and EMS vehicles. Firemen
dressed in their fire fighting gear to demonstrate the safety of what to do at home for escape
plans. All the children were excited to look at the big fire trucks and EMS vehicles and were
fascinated with the sound of the sirens.
fashion if necessary. If you think that our
records do not accurately describe the
characteristics of your property, please let us
know so that we can make sure our data is
correct.
Your property will be assessed based upon
the data we have on record. If that data is not
correct, your value will be wrong.
Finally, a determination of the assessed
value is only one part of the equation to
determine what your final tax bill will be. The
tax rate and any exemption that may apply
will be used to calculate your tax bill.
Exemptions are provided for by law, such as
the elderly or disabled exemption, and the tax
rate is determined by the Boards of
Commissioners in the annual budgets.
The first annual budget using the Jan. 1,
2007 assessed value will be enacted in June of
2007. At that time you will be notified of the
adopted tax rate and the “revenue neutral”
rate so that you can compare the overall effect
of the new revaluation and the amount of
taxes levied.
During this revaluation process, members
of the tax department staff will be happy to
meet with you to answer your questions about
revaluation. We can come to your civic clubs,
churches, social clubs or community meetings
to help you better understand how this process
works and how you can help us do a better job
to properly assess your property.
We ask for your support and participation
in this endeavor. Please call us at 728-8485.
We will be happy to schedule a meeting time
or answer any questions you may have.
The,
Editorial Board
Managing Editor
Bill White 240-1599
Feature Editor
Sue Christman 240-2556
Production Editors
Diane Donovan 247-6409
Carolyn Rife 727-5034
Editors at Large
Dick Reeves 247-2947
Bob Ruggiero 247-7208
Circulation Manager
Yvette Bannon 240-1528
Contributing Reporters
Yvette Bannon 240-1528
Marge Green 726-9966
Beth LaBrie 240-2966
Barbara Milhaven 240-0678
Sigrid Schneider 247-9495
E-mail: shoreline@townofpks.com
Published by
IShopper
3200 Wellons Blvd., New Bern,
633-1153
Taste of the Town
Coming Soon
Taste of the Town, the popular Habitat for
Humanity annual event, will take place on
Monday, April 11 at the Crystal Coast Civic
Center in Morehead City. Area restaurants
and caterers will offer diners “tastes” of their
best in appetizers, entrees and desserts from
4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sponsored by Wachovia Bank and
Carteret Craven Electrical Cooperative, the
evening promises to provide those attending
with a large assortment of tempting treats for
their donation of $ 15.00. A silent auction and
raffle of items provided by area artisans and
businesses will round out the evening.
“I’m looking forward to Taste of the
Town,” said Habitat Director Kris Durham.
“Last year was my first year here and an event
like this gave me, as it does others, an
opportunity to see which area restaurants I
would enjoy. Of course, the funds raised for
Habitat are the main concern, but the side
benefit is welcome, too.”
Tickets are available at the Habitat Office,
1412 Bridges St. in Morehead, at Costello’s
in Havelock, the Village Market in Emerald
Isle, and at all area bookstores. Raffle tickets
will be available at the door.
Those who have patronized this event in
the past are united in saying that no one goes
away hungry. There is no need to plan on
going elsewhere for dinner afterward, which
the word “taste” might imply.
Habitat for Humanity is an international
organization which seeks to give people a
“hand up, not a handout” on their way to
home ownership. Homeowners contribute at
least half their 400 hours of “sweat equity”
before they become eligible to have their
home started, then pay an interest-free
mortgage. Volunteers and area donors provide
the labor and other necessary funds.
For further information, call Habitat at
808-2757 or stop at the office.