Property schedule of values gets look Tuesday
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 18, 2010 1:46 PM
The public will get its first look at Wayne County's proposed 2011 real property schedule of values -- values assigned to specific kinds of property that will play a role when county commissioners set next year's tax rate.
Commissioners will take no action Tuesday other than to schedule a public hearing on the schedules of values for Nov. 2 at 9:15 a.m. in their boardroom on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
The schedule will be presented during the board's mid-monthly session at 9 a.m. The meeting will be preceded by an agenda briefing at 8 a.m.
The proposed schedule of values will be available for public inspection beginning Wednesday in the county tax office on the first floor of the courthouse annex.
The new values are the result of the property revaluation that the county does every eight years. The current values were established during the 2003 revaluation.
The schedule of values is expected to be approved by commissioners on Nov. 16. Four notices about the schedule of values will be published over a two-month period on Nov. 17 and 24 and Dec. 1 and 8.
Dec. 17 is the final day that the schedules can be appealed.
Property owners will receive their new property value notices in the spring. The values will be based on the property's market value as of Jan. 1, 2011.
The notification will include paperwork to file an informal appeal and once an informal appeal is filed, the tax office will review the property.
If the tax office does not change the value, the taxpayer may appeal to county commissioners sitting as the Board of Equalization and Review.
Work on revaluation started in the tax office around the first of the year including installing new software. Inside the office, staff is looking at the most current sales data -- what farmland and residential property are selling for in different areas.
From that analysis came the new schedule of values that will be presented to county commissioners Tuesday.
In other business Tuesday, commissioners will hold a work session on several proposed amendments to the county's subdivision ordinance. A public hearing is required before commissioners can approve any changes.
The county Planning Board has proposed the following changes:
* Allow subdividers to submit a digital copy of a preliminary subdivision plat in lieu of a paper copy
* Add Wayne County Cooperative Extension Service, Board of Education and Emergency Medical Services to the list of agencies that review and make recommendations on plats
* Following the initial review the subdivider would be required to increase the number of paper copies to 15 along with a digital copy for commissioners
* Allow the subdivider to submit a digital copy of the original final plat in lieu of paper copies
* Require plats to include information about existing water lines and fire hydrants.