Meck. Co. to start refund process for over-appraised homes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hundreds of Mecklenburg County homeowners will soon be getting checks in the mail but some could get stuck with a bill.

The county took some much-anticipated action Tuesday on property revaluations and checks are in the mail for hundreds of families across Mecklenburg County.

But some will also have to pay.

Families have been complaining for years Mecklenburg County over-valued their homes in 2011, and charged them too much in taxes.

The county took those complaints seriously so on Tuesday night, county commissioners got the ball rolling to start sending refunds to homeowners.

"Not only making sure the values are correct for various neighborhoods throughout the community but we get the refund process going," said Trevor Fuler, Mecklenburg County commissioner.

They approved new property values more than 5,000 in 35 different neighborhoods, mostly across north Charlotte but the assessor has to check 385,000 homes before that is done.

"So this is really the beginning of the process this month. So we are now in the stage of trying to ramp up the numbers," said Ken Joyner, tax assessor for Mecklenburg County.

Some property values stayed the same while others were off by thousands of dollars.

Families whose homes were over-valued will get refunds in the mail, but homes that were undervalued means will receive bills regardless if they appealed their tax bill.

In the end, more families will gain than lose and county leaders said it's going to cost them millions before it's all done.

"We are going to get your tax rate right," Fuler said. "So the big question is 'when do you get your money?'"

County leaders said if you are due a refund, you should receive it within 75 days.

WSOC