Chapel Hill Real Estate Search

The new development on East Main Street got its official go ahead last night from the Carrboro Board of Aldermen.  Good thing too, since the developers of 300 East Main, led by Laura Van Sant have jumped through many hoops and don’t deserve to be held up any longer.

One criticism I genuinely don’t understand comes from the folks that say that area of town needs to be protected - we don’t want it to lose it’s Carrboro charm.  Have they walked around there lately?  Or driven through there??  What is charming about Surplus Sid’s or the KFC?   This development looks like a great addition to the town — architecturally and for our tax base!  

Demolition could start by the end of the year, with construction moving forward in 2009.  This Carrboro realtor says go, go, go!

Today I want to talk about a subject that is near and dear to our hearts!  Property Taxes!!!   I have been a member of the Orange County Board of Equalization and Review since 1993.  This is the appointed body that oversees the assessors numbers - our tax values.    The assessed value of your home and the market value are two very different numbers derived and used for different purposes. 

The Assessed Value:  The value of a property according to the tax rolls in ad valorem taxation.  May be higher or lower than market value, or based on an assessment ratio that is a percentage of market value. 

Market Value is a type of value, stated as an opinion, that presumes the transfer of a property (ie a right of ownership or a bundle of such rights) as of a certain date, under specific conditions set forth in the definition of the term identified by the appraiser as applicable in an appraisal.  

The assessed value will be established using market data.   The assessed value will be value from January 1, 2009 forward for the next four years and when applied to the tax rate will determine your taxes.  The tax rate will change annually thereby raising your taxes.   However, the tax rate drops after a revaluation.  In Chapel Hill from ‘04 to ‘05 the rate fell from 1.655 to 1.5484 and from ‘00 to ‘01 from 1.727 to 1.551.   In Carrboro the rates will be slightly higher (bummer) but the rates will also drop year to year in a revaluation year.   So your assessed value will go up but your tax rate will go down generating a modest, so to speak, increase in your taxes.  

Call me, Reg Morgan, your Chapel Hill realtor if you have questions on home values in your Chapel Hill neighborhood.