Botched property revaluation will cost owners thousands

MECKLENBURG COUNTY — The fix for Mecklenburg County's botched property revaluation process is going to cost property owners thousands of dollars.

Channel 9 attended a county budget workshop Tuesday where county leaders learned property appraisers found nearly 7,000 properties were undervalued from 2011 to now.

Those property owners will have to pay the difference.

County tax assessor Ken Joyner told county commissioners that nearly 22,000 bills will be sent out for 7,000 properties. Property owners will likely get three separate bills for 2011, 2012 and 2013.

State law requires the current property owner to pay the back-owed taxes, regardless of whether they owned the property during those years. Joyner told Channel 9 there may be ways to help property owners needing help to pay the bills, but this is the downside to a long, complicated process.

"Anytime you go in and look at 360,000 parcels, you are going to have a certain segment that are overvalued just like you have a certain segment that we are finding will have a undervalue," Joyner said.

The county has approved at least 100,000 refunds to go back to property owners who paid more than they should.

Owners who have questions about their bills can contact the Mecklenburg County Tax Assessor's Office at 704-336-7600.

If owners are seeking assistance with their bills, county officials suggest they contact their mortgage lender for advice.