SL 362 Project Update Refunds and Discoveries Presented to Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners July 1, 2014

Proverb for the Day Juggling Chainsaws is not a long-term professional career option…….. Ken Joyner

Juggling Chainsaws is not a long-term career

CAMA/Appraisal is a perfect science?

Additional Proverb for the Day This stuff is really hard…. Ken Joyner

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project What is SL 362? Enacted in July 2013 Section 1 identifies the counties that are required to follow SL 362 Section 2 identifies the requirements of SL 362 (i) Conduct a reappraisal within 18 months (ii) have a qualified appraisal company conduct a review of all values in the county by neighborhood Option chosen by Mecklenburg County (ii) Pearson Appraisal Services MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Refunds SL 362, Section 2 (1) Adj. to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having a significantly overstated value Refunds for SL362 Statutory changes Software changes Procedural changes MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Refunds SL 362, Section 2 (1) Adj. to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having a significantly overstated value Process Timeline After BOCC approval, notices are mailed 30 days to appeal (we allow some extra time for mail to arrive) If no appeal, refund process begins (add ’l 30 – 45 days) MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Refunds Who gets the refund? The owner of record on the date the taxes are paid. What is the interest rate paid on the refunds? 5% How many have been mailed to date? As of September 24th, 83,762 How many refunds have been generated by SL 362 to date? As of September 24th there are 161,530 Historical refunds counts (annually) 2010-11 630 2011-12 5,568 2012-13 5,406 2013-14 (SL 362 only to date) 161,530 MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Refunds What is the total amount refunded to date? As of September 24th, $9,162,391.12 including interest What is the total amount of refunds remaining? As of September 24th, $8,673,148.95 including interest Month Approved Total Processed October 2013 195 November 2013 6,063 6,050 December 2013 3,745 3,554 January 2014 13,882 11,488 February 2014 13,503 11,360 March 2014 10,441 7,703 April 2014 16,253 9,437 May 2014 16,154  10,619 June 2014 19,021 11,883 July 2014 21,150  11,454 August 2014 20,362   September 2014 20,761 Totals 161,530 83,743 MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Refunds Automation process beginning to catch up with the project needs As of Sept 24th CAO has processed 84% of the refunds MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Discoveries SL 362, Section 2 (2) Adj. to parcels with errors that resulted in the parcels having a significantly understated value Discoveries for SL362 Statutory changes Software changes Procedural changes MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Discoveries How many discovery bills have been generated by SL 362? As of September 24th, 34,073 What is the dollar amount of discovery bills? The total of all discovery bills to date is estimated at over $5,000,000 Note that there is no penalty included on discovery bills for the 2011-2014 years MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Discoveries Who is responsible for the discovery bills? Current owner of record Why the current owner? NCGS 105-312 (d) directs the assessor to mail to current owner. Effectively it is because the tax lien goes with the property. Like refunds the volume of discovery bills is a significant increase over previous years. Last year we did 1,373 discoveries MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Appeals BER and PTC Issues PTC appeals in 2013 – over 2,300 parcels PTC appeals in 2014 – 124 parcels remaining (now under 100 cases) BER appeals for SL362 – over 1,863 to date MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Appeals Financial Issues Appeals were not included in the original scope of work for Pearson Appraisal Services Original contract is for $3,892,000 We have added $ to the contract to pay for the appeals Based upon PTC cases worked (approx. 2,000), current appeals (1,863 unique parcels), and estimates for the remainder of the project MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Lessons Learned REAPPRAISAL Field Canvassing is important 2011 Reappraisal – Publically discussed that it had been 17 years since last visited You must physically walk your properties to ensure accuracy IAAO Standards state once every six years Don’t rely items that are not completed Appeals module wasn’t ready Communication is crucial No response speaks volumes, just not the message you want conveyed MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Lessons Learned SESSION LAW 2013-362 No one cares that it hasn’t ever been done before Refunds Start-up periods Everyone wants their property to be completed early in the process 18 month project with18 monthly reports Communication is crucial Citizens Elected Officials County Administration Media Contractor CAMA/Software provider MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Lessons Learned SESSION LAW 2013-362 Multiple Years bring on new issues and problems Data Entry/Notices Refunds Appeals Workflow/Business Processes are going to change Think about the process prior to starting Determine who is going to handle what processes Include you CAMA/software provider Manage expectations Proactively work with Legislature on minimum refund amount MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

SL 362 Revaluation Review Project Lessons Learned SESSION LAW 2013-362 Define role and chain of command with the contractor You do not want line staff making decisions on the fly Space was a big issue for us 40-50 contractor’s for 18+ months Know the contract and who is responsible for each item Cost can escalate quickly You will not think of everything Stay ready for change If it happens once it will happen again MecklenburgCountyNC.gov