ASSESSORS NOT TREATING TAXPAYERS FAIRLY

CCTA CRAVEN COUNTY REPORT—ASSESSORS NOT TREATING TAXPAYERS FAIRLY

February 15, 2011


A recent Sun Journal article informed me of yet another instance of assessors treating the taxpayers unfairly. The first instance in which I learned the assessors were going all out to extort money from the citizens was when Tyker Gonzales appealed to me as CCTA’s Watchdog Chairman to look into the fact that property anywhere near water was being assessed at least $25,000 per acre. I went out to Johnnie Wetherington’s farm and took a look at what he and Tyker Gonzales were talking about. What I found shocked me. I had to walk 200 yards, at least, in a swamp to get to the body of water in question. Turkey Quarter Creek was not even visible from any place on the farm that was dry enough to walk through without getting muddy feet (which I did).

I then went to the assessor’s office and talked to Glen Jones about this situation. He informed me that everyone with property “on” a body of water had been treated fairly because they had all been charged with at least one developable lot valued at $25,000. Huh? Screw a lot of people and it’s ok? He also stated that it was the property owner’s responsibility to use the appeal process, but he would take my inquiry seriously and “they” would go out again and take a look at Mr. Wetherington’s property. I believe Dan Jenkins went out there and changed the assessment to eliminate the “water view” assumption. Well, while he was at it, he decided that much of the farm was commercial because they boarded stock that did not belong to them and had a show ring. The net result was a higher assessment (incidentally, Jenkins did not even go near the creek, did all his discussion in a building and under a tree near the building). That’s when Tyker really went to work and learned that they were screwing a huge number of farmers out of Present Use Value treatment for their farmland as provided for by North Carolina law. They are willing to make the refunds only if the people who have been cheated ask for refund.

While following the letter of North Carolina law, the situation described above could also be expressed differently and still be accurate. Present Use Value refers to valuing a property for tax purposes to reflect what it is being used for “in the real world” now. It’s a farm, so we’ll tax it at a value that reflects what a farm is worth today. However, in order to be taxed on that value (instead of a value that might occur some time in the future if some developer were willing to buy and develop the property in such a way as to cause it to bring in more income thereby causing the property to have more value) the owner must make an application to be taxed on the value of his/her farm today. Huh? Is this reasonable? Maybe North Carolina law needs to be changed.

Next I learned about Mrs. Stott who owns a fairly large tract of land on the Trent River. Her property had been assessed at about $1.8 million dollars because it has potential development value. The county has approved no such development. No infrastructure has been built, and no lots have been laid out. I asked the assessors if Mrs. Stott placed a covenant on her property prohibiting development thereby changing the legal use to which the property could be put, would her assessment therefore have to be reduced? Glen Jones refused to give me an answer.

Now comes the news that the assessors have not followed the law in assessing property of military service members. What next? If a private company’s employees had overcharged its customers, the company could not make amends fast enough. But our county’s employees say they again leave the burden on the citizens to ask for redress. Is this a way to treat our nation’s defenders?

Craven County assessors obviously have a built in bias toward higher taxes. From their perspective, higher taxes are needed to produce the revenue it takes to pay high salaries to county employees, to pay high premiums for health insurance policies for county employees, to make large contributions to county employees’ retirement plans, and so on. Their enlightened self-interest is diametrically opposed to the best interest of the citizens, and they are well aware of it. Are there some county employees whose mindset it is to be a “public servant?” Yes, I think there are, but I think they’re few and far between, and I doubt that any of them have anything to do with the process of taxing our citizens.

Tyker Gonzales has won a major victory for the taxpayers. She has fought to the point that many, many more farmers have obtained Present Use Value treatment for the assessment of their farms as provided by North Carolina law. And she is not stopping there, she and Jason Jones, President of Craven County Farm Bureau and Past Chairman of the Craven County Board of Commissioners are continuing their efforts to get fair tax treatment for farmers and other business people. The BOC granted an unprecedented extension of time for all taxpayers to file.

Tyker Gonzales