Matthew victims may remain eligible for property tax adjustment
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 14, 2018 5:50 AM
Ronda Hughes' home, like many in the riverside village of Seven Springs, was flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.
Unlike some of her neighbors, Hughes' family was able have the house quickly repaired and was able to move back in before Jan. 1, 2017.
As such, her property was not eligible for a tax value adjustment by the county for 2017.
The Wayne County Tax Department is finalizing the 2018 tax bills that should be mailed out to county taxpayers within the next two weeks.
For the second year in a row Wayne County taxpayers whose property was damaged by Hurricane Matthew could receive an adjustment on the property's tax value.
Tax office appraisers started at Seven Springs and worked their way across the county to assess the hundreds of properties damaged by the storm, Tax Administrator Alan Lumpkin said.
Properties that had not been repaired as of Jan. 1 could receive an adjustment on their tax values.
Taxpayers who do not receive an adjustment, but think that they should, need to contact the tax office at 919-731-1478 or 919-731-1461, Lumpkin said.
Hughes' Neuse River Trading Co. just reopened earlier this year.
"The tax value on our store, it never went down," Hughes said. "I think it (adjustment) is a good thing that it did go down for other people. They need a break wherever they can get one because this (disaster recovery) has been going on for two years now.
"They need a break because, if they are waiting on the FEMA buyout or whatever, they have been waiting a long time so they need every break that they can get."
Lumpkin said his office attempted to identify all of the properties the storm damaged, in many cases the process went on without documentation.
It is possible that some properties were inadvertently missed, he said.
That is why his office has been encouraging people whose property was damaged to call the tax office if their bill does not reflect an adjustment, Lumpkin said.
Lumpkin said the 2017 tax value for Hughes' store property could not be adjusted, but that the tax value for 2018 could be looked at and that an adjustment could be possible.
Hughes said she would talk to her husband and check into the possibility of an adjustment on the store property.
Wayne County also handles the billing for all of the fire districts and all of the county's municipalities.
The only tax rate changes this year are the Saulston fire district tax, which increased from 6 to 7.5 cents per $100 of property value, and the Waylin fire district tax which increased from 4.5 to 7 cents per $100 of property value.
Property taxes are due Sept. 1, but people have until 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 7, to pay without being delinquent.
A 2-percent penalty is added to bills not paid by the Jan. 7 deadline.
An additional three-quarters of a percent is added at the first of each following month to any outstanding balance until the bill is paid in full.
Payment options include:
• In person at the tax office on the first floor of the Wayne County Courthouse Annex or left in a drop box located on the Ormond Avenue side of the courthouse.
• Online or by phone, but both those options carry a fee collected by the company that provides the service. The county does not receive any revenue from the fee.
• Remove the bottom portion of the tax bill, write a check and mail it in.
Bills that are mailed must be postmarked no later than 5 p.m. Jan. 7 by the Postal Service. Office postal marks are not valid to show that the mailing met the deadline, Lumpkin said.
Lumpkin said that his office receives calls from taxpayers wanting to know why the mailed-in bills are sent to Charlotte.
The payments go straight to the bank, where they are processed for the county, he said.
Taxpayers who do not receive their bill by Sept. 1 should contact the tax office at 919-731-1478 or go online at www.waynegov.com to look at their bill.