HALIFAX — Tax bills are expected to go out to residents in Halifax County next week following the recent revaluation, which many may see an increase.
A lot is going on with the county’s tax office as the Tax Collector’s Office staff moved from its previous location at the Halifax County Courthouse and into the old bank building on King Street owned by the Town of Halifax. But the biggest move is the 2024 revaluation conducted every four years in the county to update the value of real property.
According to information, revaluations (appraisals) are required by state law, where counties complete a real property assessment once every four years. Halifax County conducts its revaluation every four years. The goal of the revaluation is to determine the current market value, and that taxation is fair and equitable for citizens.
The Halifax County Board of Commissioners sets the county tax rate each fiscal budget year. Municipalities within the county also set a tax rate. The Halifax County tax rate of $0.70 per $100 was adopted on June 17 for the 2024-2025 budget, which is a decrease from last year’s $0.76.
The revenue-neutral rate proposed to county commissioners was $0.67, which, according to county Tax Collector Doris Hawkins, is the rate that will generate approximately the same tax revenue for the county as the prior fiscal year’s rate.
“The revenue neutral is calculated for each tax district in the county,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins and county Tax Assessor Shane Lynch were appointed by the county Board of Commissioners and are responsible for various duties outlined in the NC general statutes.
Hawkins said those duties keep the county tax office busy year-round.
“The Assessor is responsible for determining the assessed values of all real property, personal property and motor vehicles in Halifax County,” she said. “The collector is responsible for all collections, both voluntary payments as well as enforced collections once bills are delinquent.”
Hawkins said the assessing staff routinely updates and maintains property records for all real and personal property in the county and valuation schedules are applied to the data to calculate each individual assessment for property types such as land parcel and/or buildings, individual personal property, business personal property, and motor vehicles.
“Motor vehicles are billed and collected as part of the registration & renewal process in coordination with the NC Department of Motor Vehicles,” she said. “The other property types are all billed and collected through the Tax Department.”
Hawkins said the Halifax County commissioners adopted an updated cost schedule based on current market and cost data applied to real property effective Jan. 1, where the countywide average change for real property values since Jan. 1, 2020’s revaluation was 26%.
“This change reflects increases in both construction costs and property sales,” she said. “The ratio of the newly-assessed values to all validated sales for 2023 was 99.77% as of Jan. 1, 2024. This is indicative of the accuracy of the 2024 revaluation.”
Tax bills were mailed out on Friday, which Hawkins said payments, like previous years, received during the discount period will receive a 2% discount.
Here is the county’s tax calendar:
• Jan. 1, 2024, value, ownership, situs and taxability of real & personal property determined; first day of listing period.
• Jan. 31, 2024, last day of listing period unless extension is requested.
• March 31, 2024, last day to pay prior year taxes to avoid advertisem*nt in local newspaper.
• April 15, 2024, last day for personal property listing (approved extensions only).
• First week of May 2024, typically the deadline to appeal real property values falls in this week.
• Last week of July 2024, property tax bills are mailed.
• Thirty days after Bill Notice Date Deadline to appeal personal property values is 30 days after the Bill Notice Date.
• Aug. 31, 2024, last day to pay property tax bills at a 2% discount.
• Sept. 1, 2024, property taxes are due.
• Jan. 6, 2025, unpaid prior 2024 year taxes become delinquent; 2% interest adds (0.75% interest adds the first day of each month thereafter).
Hawkins said the discount period ends Sept. 3 instead of Aug. 31, since it falls during Labor Day weekend holiday. She said the bills will be delinquent Jan. 7, 2025.
“This is a later date due to a weekend, as well as, the delinquency date is typically Jan. 6,” Hawkins said. “This year’s bills also include an insert which explains that the Tax Collector’s Office has moved to the former bank building in Halifax at 3 South King St. Payments will need to be made at this new location. The Assessor’s Office has not moved and will continue to be in the same location in the Court Services Building at 357 Ferrell Lane.”
Some residents may find that taxes have increased, which, according to information from the Halifax County Tax Office’s 2024 Revaluation FAQ, means that values change due to economic fluctuations and people’s preferences.
“There have been four years of changing property values since the last reappraisal in 2020,” the document reads. “Beyond changing property values and from the perspective of the marketplace, all property does not change value at the same rate. Property values are most often impacted by many factors with the location of the property being one of the most important.”
Additionally, the FAQ reads that property values are not created or set by the county Tax Office appraisers.
“People who buy and sell real estate in the open market establish market values,” the document continues. “The appraisers’ jobs are to diligently and carefully research and analyze those sales in our local market to determine an estimate of market value for all properties, as we are required to do by law. Depending upon the available data and the type of property being appraised, there are several methods an appraiser may use to determine value.”
Halifax County Commissioner Vernon J. Bryant, chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, told the Herald that the reason commissioners agreed to go to four years instead of eight years for a revaluation was to be fair to the government and taxpayers.
“We wanted to be real fair in the revaluation process and four years will give you a better picture than eight because a lot can happen in eight years,” Bryant said.
Bryant, who is also a real estate agent, said property values are likely to go up in some areas, but buyers determine the market.
“When you look at sales, that’s how real estate agents come up with values on properties, and the buyers determine that,” he said. “Let’s say, if a property is listed at $100,000 and the buyer gets in a bidding war — and that happens a lot — they get in the bidding war and the price drives it up to $150,000 or $160,000, that’s $50,000 to $60,000 above the listed price. And if that property is sold, well, that’s what you are stuck with, and that’s what the agents have to use when it comes to comps and all that kind of stuff, because that’s what it sold for.”
Bryant did say that the Tax Office does offer payment plans.
