How property revaluation helped one WNC county recover from Helene

YANCEY COUNTY, N.C. — Property revaluation may not sound exciting. In fact, many dread it and even fight it when it happens.

But Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke found out it may be the reason many homeowners recovering from Helene get the money they deserve.

Yancey County does revaluation every eight years. It was due for it this year and the county just happened to wrap up the process two days before Helene hit.

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Here’s why that’s so important: the county had the latest information on people’s homes. So, when they applied for relief they were able to ask for money based on today’s values, not those from almost a decade ago.

Still, that was only half the battle. Stoogenke was told the county’s technology was dated, which could have meant delays. Thankfully, Esri, a major company in the world of Geographic Information System (GIS) software stepped in, giving the county software worth thousands for free.

“Without this technology, they would have had to work across multiple databases, across multiple antiquated, maybe paper, products and records in a courthouse. [It] would have slowed down the process for recovery. And this is all about trying to expedite money to survivors,” Esri’s Ryan Lanclos told Stoogenke.

Esri wasn’t the only one helping Yancey County apply for relief. The Town of Matthews finance director went to help with the paperwork, too.

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