With reappraisals on hold, Pender County commissioner looks for next steps
PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY)– With the Pender County Commissioner meeting coming up on Monday, what one commissioner hopes to learn and reveal.
Residents across the county have spent the past month voicing frustration over recently mailed property reappraisals conducted by Vincent Valuations, which significantly increased home values.
As concerns grew and residents began to protest, County Commissioner Jimmy Tate moved to pause the process.
“I’m not going to let the state, or anyone bully me for helping the citizens of this county or move forward with a revaluation rate that may be inaccurate,” Tate said.
A special meeting was held last week after questions emerged about whether a motion passed two weeks earlier — pausing the revaluation process — violated state law.
Under North Carolina law, counties are generally not permitted to halt or reverse property reappraisals after Jan. 1 of the revaluation year. Tate, however, argues against it.
“I don’t believe we have broken any law. I don’t see any initial case law on this matter,” he said. “I have a private attorney advising me, and I am continuing to research it.”
With another commissioner meeting scheduled for Monday, Tate said he hopes to gather more information from county staff and state legislators about how to proceed.
One issue he plans to raise is a reported $800-per-day fee charged by Vincent Valuations to extend the appeal deadline for property owners to Oct. 1.
“We should not be paying this company $800 a day with this level of inaccurate data,” Tate said.
Tate said he learned about the potential fee from residents, not county staff.
“I have not heard that officially from management. I want to hear from them and get that question answered,” he said. “I would have liked to hear that at the last meeting, but again, they were silent.”
If the fee is confirmed, Tate said he plans to introduce a motion to stop the payments. He added that his goal is to ensure taxpayers are fairly represented.
“We are not trying to prevent anyone from paying taxes,” Tate said. “We want to make sure they are paying taxes based on accurate property values.”
The appeal process is still open and has been extended until October 1st.
