What You Need to Know
About
Property
Taxes
Local real estate taxes fund
schools, police and fire departments,
and local parks and recreational pro
grams. While most people won't
dispute the necessity of these ser
vices, rapidly escalating local prop
erty taxes are causing more and
more homeowners to question
whether they may be carrying more
than their fair share of the lax bur
den.
What can you do if you feel
you're paying more than your fair
share of property taxes? What if you
think your house is assessed for
more than it should be? Assessing
property is not an exact science and,
as such, setting property values can
be somewhat subjective. According
to the North Carolina Association of
CPAs, if you believe that your house
has been unfairly assessed, you may
want to consider appealing your tax
assessment. The process is a rela
tively simple one. Although most
property appeals arc usually made
after an area-wide reassessment of
property, there's no need to wait for
a re-evaluation if you feel your as
sessment is currently out of line.
While the actual procedures for
appealing your assessment can vary
from locality to locality, the North
Carolina Association of CPAs offers
the following general guidelines to
familiarize you with the process.
Check Your Property
Record Card
The first and easiest step is find
ing out whether your house has been
accurately evaluated by the tax as
sessor. To verify the accuracy of the
information the tax assessor has on
your property, you need to review
your property record card which you
can obtain from the tax assessor's
office. Your property record card is
the official worksheet used by the
assessor to determine your home's
value. This card includes a great
deal of information, including the
dimensions of your property; your
house's age and square looiage; type
of construction and number of
rooms; the condition of your attic,
roof and garage; a description of
your heating and air conditioning
systems; extras like fireplaces,
swimming pools and decks; and
your home's location. Carefully ver
ify the accuracy of all the informa
tion on your property card. You
should also make sure the card men
tions any features ihat might detract
from your property's value, such as
its proximity to a highway or indus
trial building, a deteriorating roof or
Hooded basement, termite damage
or antique plumbing fixtures.
If you discover that your property
record card is incomplete or con
tains inaccurate information, sched
ule a meeting with your tax assessor
to review the missing or erroneous
information. Be sure to bring to the
meeting useful documentation to
hack up your claim.
For example, if your property
record card shows the wrong square
footage of your property, you can
present your survey which shows
the correct dimensions. If you be
lieve there arc specific physical con
ditions which should reduce your as
sessment, bring along pictures to
substantiate your claim.
While you're at the tax assessor's
office, ask to sec a list of all avail
able exemptions. Exemptions vary
from locality to locality, but tax
breaks are often available to the el
derly, disabled, blind and veterans.
Be sure you haven't overlooked a
special lax exemption for which you
may be eligible.
Many lax disputes resulting in
significant savings to tax payers arc
resolved in meetings with tax asses
sors. But what if you're still not sat
isfied? Suppose you still feel your
assessment is loo high? The next
step, which centers around the fair
ness of your assessment, can be a bit
more tricky.
Determining The Comparable
Worth (>r Your Home
It's up to you to demonstrate that
your house is being assessed at a
higher value than comparable prop
erties. Comparable propcriies-or
"comparablcs"-arc those that arc
similar in location, age, size, design
and construction to your own prop
erty. There arc a number of ways
you can compare your assessment to
those of comparablcs.
You might begin by talking to
neighbors with similar homes to find
out their assessments. If you're not
comfortable doing this, you can re
view the property tax records in
your assessor's office. Assessment
records arc public information so
you should have no problem brows
ing through the tax list for your
neighborhood.
This document shows, by block
and lot number, the assessed values
of the properties around you and the
property taxes for each home. You
can also compare your home's value
to the sale prices of recently sold
properties in your neighborhood.
A local real cslatc agent may be
willing to provide you with this in
formation or you can check die
county office where deeds are
recorded.
Appealing Your Assessment
If you determine that your house
is unfairly assessed, you can appeal
your case to the local appeals board,
which is typically made up of three
to five local business people. Be
prepared to present your case sim
Leland Man Given Life Term
A Lcland man was sentenced to
life in prison Monday after pleading
guilty to second-degree murder.
James Glenn Maynard, 28, of
Long subdivision, also pleaded
guilty to assault with a deadly
weapon with intent to kill inflicting
serious injury.
He was charged by Brunswick
County Sheriffs detectives on Oct.
3 following the shooting death of
Alex Dale "Baby Hcwey" Hewett,
25, of Route 5, Lcland.
The shooting occurred in the
parking area of Lincoln Primary
School after school hours. De
tectives believe the shooting was
sparked by jealously over a girl
friend.
Maynard was charged with firing
a ,25-gaugc shotgun at Hewett, who
was struck by pellets in the face and
lower neck area. He died the next
day.
A pellet from the shotgun blast al
so struck Darryl Woolen, of Lcland,
in the hand, causing him to lose a
finger. Wooten also suffered from
powder burns to his left eye and left
side of his face.
Brunswick County Superior Court
Judge Joe Freeman Briu scnienccd
Maynard to life in prison on the
murder charge and to three years in
prison on the assault charge, to run
concurrent wi :h the life term.
He also ordered that the defendant
pay court costs if given work release
or early parole and restitutions in the
following amounts: hospital bills for
Hewett and Wooten; funeral expens
es for Hewett; reimbursement to the
state for any money paid to the N.C.
Victim's Assistance Program; and
51,250 for a court-appointed attor
ney.
"The case went the way we fig
ured it would," said District
Attorney Rex Gore. "It was a tough
case."
Maynard was also credited for
time served awaiting trial.
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ply, clearly and succinctly. Take
along relevant materials.
It's important that you back up
your appeal with documentation:
property maps, photographs, assess
ment figures on comparable houses.
r
prices of similar homes thai were re
cently sold, and other relevant mate
rials. Conclude your appeal by sug
gesting an alternative assessment
amount to the Ixxtrd.
In most instances, you'll rcceivc
ihe board's decision in ihc mail. If
you lose ihe case and want to take
further recourse, you can appeal to
the state review board which follows
a procedure similar to the local
board. Your last resort is to take
your ease to tax court, a more costly
option that you should consider only
if the potential savings arc likely to
exceed the costs of hiring an attor
ney. getting a professional appraisal,
and other related expenses.
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