SL 362 Project UpdateRefunds and Discoveries
Presented to Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners
July 1, 2014
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov
Proverb for the Day
2
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov
Juggling Chainsaws is not a long-term career
3
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov
CAMA/Appraisal is a perfect science?
4
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov
Additional Proverb for the Day
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MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 6
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectSL 362 Revaluation Review Project
What is SL 362? Enacted in July 2013 Section 1 identifies the counties that are
required to follow SL 362 Section 2 identifies the requirements of
SL 362• (i) Conduct a reappraisal within 18
months • (ii) have a qualified appraisal
company conduct a review of all values in the county by neighborhood
Option chosen by Mecklenburg County (ii) Pearson Appraisal Services
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 7
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
SL 362, Section 2 (1) Adj. to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having a significantly overstated value
Refunds for SL362 Statutory changes Software changes Procedural changes
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 8
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
SL 362, Section 2 (1) Adj. to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having a significantly overstated value
Process Timeline After BOCC approval, notices are mailed 30 days to appeal (we allow some extra
time for mail to arrive) If no appeal, refund process begins (add
’l 30 – 45 days)
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 9
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
Who gets the refund? The owner of record on the date the taxes are paid.
What is the interest rate paid on the refunds? 5%
How many have been mailed to date? As of September 24th, 83,762
How many refunds have been generated by SL 362 to date? As of September 24th there are 161,530
Historical refunds counts (annually) 2010-11 630 2011-12 5,568 2012-13 5,406 2013-14 (SL 362 only to date) 161,530
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 10
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
What is the total amount refunded to date? As of September 24th, $9,162,391.12 including interest
What is the total amount of refunds remaining? As of September 24th, $8,673,148.95 including interest
Month Approved
Total Processed
October 2013 195 195November 2013 6,063 6,050December 2013 3,745 3,554January 2014 13,882 11,488February 2014 13,503 11,360March 2014 10,441 7,703April 2014 16,253 9,437May 2014 16,154 10,619June 2014 19,021 11,883July 2014 21,150 11,454August 2014 20,362 September 2014 20,761 Totals 161,530 83,743
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 11
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectRefunds
Refunds Processed TotalJan - April 21 5,599April 22 - June 13 16,882June 14 - June 27 19,264June 28 - Sept 24 41,998
Total 83,743
Automation process beginning to catch up with the project needs
As of Sept 24th CAO has processed 84% of the refunds
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 12
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectDiscoveries
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectDiscoveries
SL 362, Section 2 (2) Adj. to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having a significantly understated value
Discoveries for SL362 Statutory changes Software changes Procedural changes
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 13
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectDiscoveries
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectDiscoveries
How many discovery bills have been generated by SL 362? As of September 24th, 34,073
What is the dollar amount of discovery bills? The total of all discovery bills to date is estimated
at over $5,000,000 Note that there is no penalty included on
discovery bills for the 2011-2014 years
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 14
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectDiscoveries
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectDiscoveries
Who is responsible for the discovery bills? Current owner of record
Why the current owner? NCGS 105-312 (d) directs the assessor to mail to
current owner. Effectively it is because the tax lien goes with the property.
Like refunds the volume of discovery bills is a significant increase over previous years. Last year we did 1,373 discoveries
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 15
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectAppeals
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectAppeals
BER and PTC Issues
PTC appeals in 2013 – over 2,300 parcelsPTC appeals in 2014 – 124 parcels remaining (now under 100 cases)BER appeals for SL362 – over 1,863 to date
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 16
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectAppeals
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectAppeals
Financial Issues
Appeals were not included in the original scope of work for Pearson Appraisal ServicesOriginal contract is for $3,892,000We have added $ to the contract to pay for the appeals
Based upon PTC cases worked (approx. 2,000), current appeals (1,863 unique parcels), and estimates for the remainder of the project
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 17
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectLessons Learned
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectLessons Learned
REAPPRAISAL
Field Canvassing is important 2011 Reappraisal – Publically discussed that it had been
17 years since last visited You must physically walk your properties to ensure
accuracy IAAO Standards state once every six years
Don’t rely items that are not completed Appeals module wasn’t ready
Communication is crucial No response speaks volumes, just not the message you
want conveyed
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 18
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectLessons Learned
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectLessons Learned
SESSION LAW 2013-362
No one cares that it hasn’t ever been done before Refunds Start-up periods
Everyone wants their property to be completed early in the process
18 month project with18 monthly reportsCommunication is crucial
Citizens Elected Officials County Administration Media Contractor CAMA/Software provider
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 19
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectLessons Learned
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectLessons Learned
SESSION LAW 2013-362
Multiple Years bring on new issues and problems Data Entry/Notices Refunds Appeals
Workflow/Business Processes are going to change Think about the process prior to starting Determine who is going to handle what processes Include you CAMA/software provider
Refunds Manage expectations Proactively work with Legislature on minimum refund
amount
MecklenburgCountyNC.gov 20
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectLessons Learned
SL 362 Revaluation Review ProjectLessons Learned
SESSION LAW 2013-362
Define role and chain of command with the contractor You do not want line staff making decisions on the fly
Space was a big issue for us 40-50 contractor’s for 18+ months
Know the contract and who is responsible for each item Cost can escalate quickly
You will not think of everything Stay ready for change If it happens once it will happen again