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Iredell's property taxes stay low
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Published: August 3, 2009
In terms of taxes, Iredell is currently the 17th least-expensive county in the state in which to own property.
That's good news for property owners, but during the 2008-09 fiscal year that ended June 30, Iredell ranked 15th on the list.
A study compiled by the N.C. Association of County Commissioners shows that despite holding the line on its tax rate at 44.5 cents per $100 of valuation, Iredell County actually fell two slots.
The movement was caused by two counties that had been further down on the list, Mitchell and Transylvania, lowering their property tax rates. Mitchell County went from 52 to 44 cents and Transylvania County from 54 to 39.49 cents.
But those numbers should come with an asterisk as the decreases came following a property revaluation.
"A lot of times when that happens it can be misleading," said Iredell County Board of Commis-sioners Chairman Godfrey Williams. "I think most counties, especially in this economy, want to have a revenue-neutral rate or as close to that as possible."
Revenue-neutral involves refiguring the tax rate in a way that it negates any hike taxpayers would have experienced as a result of an increase in the value of their property. Iredell residents are slated to have their property revaluated next year.
Williams said that if the economy stays the way it is, he cannot imagine the board voting to raise it much above the level of revenue-neutral.
"It's at 44 and a half cents now, and let's say revenue neutral comes in at 40 cents," Williams speculated. "I would say we would probably take it to 40 or maybe go to 41 cents."
Williams said that Iredell's bargain rate is not simply the result of having tight-fisted commissioners on its board.
"We don't have the expenses a lot of other counties have," Williams said. "There are all kinds of reasons we can keep our rates as some of the lowest in the state. It's not just because we are conservative."
Of North Carolina's 100 counties, 72 maintained the same tax rate for the current fiscal year as last; seven cut the tax rate; and 20 raised it. One county, Harnett, adopted an interim budget.
A total of 20 counties had revaluations this year. Of them, 11 increased their rates; four decreased them; and five were revenue-neutral.
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