Cornelius town board members are asking Mecklenburg County to stop hearing appeals of the 2011 property revaluation until officials can respond to citizens’ concerns about the fairness of the appeals process.
On Tuesday, Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte, on behalf of the Town Board, sent a letter to County Commission Chair Harold Cogdell and Mecklenburg Board of Equalization of Review Chair James Barnett. The letter comes more than a year after Mecklenburg County’s 2011 property revaluations, and Cornelius commissioners continue to hear from citizens who say they are are frustrated, concerned and confused by what they perceive to be a lack of county response to questions about their cases and apparent inconsistencies in the appeals process.
Cornelius property owners have appealed more than 1,000 county property revaluations, and though commissioners have no authority or control over those revaluations, they voted at their Jan. 23 meeting to draft and send a letter to county commissioners and the county assessors office expressing displeasure with the lack of communication and demanding answers to questions.
In the letter, Mayor Tarte writes on behalf of the board:
The Cornelius Board urgently requests that a moratorium be immediately put into place on processing further revaluation appeals until all affected citizens are assured of due process, fair and equal treatment and adequate information to make informed decisions and present meaningful appeal petitions.
Currently, citizens have only about 2 weeks to file their appeal after receiving their revaluation results.
The Mayor goes on in the letter to list specific concerns brought forth by residents, and requests that the county inform the town of its next steps by Feb. 6.
