Commissioners discuss property tax inequity | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    McRoy reveals astounding ignorance or deception

    At their regular monthly meeting Monday (2-6-12) the Beaufort County Commissioners discussed an interim property tax revaluation. State law requires revaluation of all real property at least every eight years. Commissioner Stan Deatherage has proposed that the Commission consider moving that up to a four or five year cycle this time.

    His reasoning is that property values have gone down for some people since the last revaluation two years ago and that fairness demands that a re-valuation be done to insure the taxable value is closer to the current market value.

    Commissioner Jay McRoy opposed the idea, and Commissioner Al Klemm had some questions which insinuated that he too opposes the idea.

    You can listen to the discussion in the videos below. In the end they took no action, but decided to wait on the renovation of the tax department's software before deciding whether to proceed.



    Commentary

    In this discussion we were treated once again to a remarkable display of either ignorance or an attempt to mislead the public by Commissioner Jay McRoy. You can hear him explain that he thinks the current system is fair because the state has determined that the current values are 102% of the actual market values.

    On the surface that sounds like a compelling argument. But as a CPA Mr. McRoy surely knows that what he is saying is totally irrelevant to the discussion. Here's why:

    The average current assessed tax value compared to the average current market value has nothing to do with the issue they were discussing. The issue raised by Mr. Deatherage is equity. That is, the relative difference in the value of some people's property, compared to its true market value and that of other taxpayers.

    So even if the county's average is only 2% different from the true market value, to use a hyperbolic example, if I own a piece of property that is overvalued by 100%, (twice as high as its market value) the average countywide value ratio is completely irrelevant. And if Mr. McRoy's property is valued at half of its true market value then the relative equity between my property tax burden and his property tax burden is certainly something an honest and honorable person would want to take a look at...if indeed they held a position that they could do something about it.

    The issue is not the average. The issue is how many tax parcels are assessed at a value that is significantly different than current market value. He either understands this but is using the 102% smoke screen to try to deceive people, or he is woefully ignorant of a subject that he imposes on every taxpayer in this county. Either way that is an abomination.