Pender commissioners seek legislative support, third-party review amid property reappraisal backlash

The Board of Commissioners continued its discussion Monday night following the countywide revaluation process.

Commissioners Jimmy Tate and Brent Springer are scheduled to meet Friday with state Rep. Carson Smith and Sen. Brent Jackson to discuss introducing legislation in the General Assembly that would allow Pender County to proceed while remaining in legal compliance.

The county previously voted to halt property reappraisals conducted by North Carolina-based Vincent Valuations. However, questions were later raised about whether pausing the process was legally permissible. Last week, commissioners voted to continue the pause.

Now, county leaders say they are looking for ways to determine whether inaccuracies exist in the valuations completed by Vincent. During Monday’s meeting, officials discussed bringing in the Association of Assessing Officials to review county data and valuation methods.

“The free organization is going to come in and look at our statistics and look at our sales ratios and make sure and give us a report on whether we are statistically valid,” said county manager Colby Sawyer. “We would be hiring a third party to come and remeasure parcels.”

When asked whether only a portion of parcels would be reviewed, Sawyer responded, “A certain amount of parcels at a per parcel cost likely.”

The board later voted to have the Association of Assessing Officials conduct the analysis, with county staff selecting about 5% of all parcels for review.

Tate also requested that an item be added to the board’s next meeting agenda, asking Vincent Valuations to waive its $800-per-day charge through the Oct. 1 appeal deadline.

In the meantime, commissioners continue urging residents to file appeals if they believe their property valuations are incorrect.