Uncategorized Archives - Page 2 of 2

Category: Uncategorized (page 2 of 2)

Sales Tax Considerations During the Pandemic

November 20, 2020 / Whitney Afonso / Comments Off

I have been having a great deal of conversations with folks across the state about what is going on with their sales taxes (and occupancy and food and beverage taxes). What has happened versus what was expected for FY21 and what they are thinking about for FY22 now that local governments are starting to begin their budget processes. I thought it might be useful to share some of the questions I have been getting and my answers to them and some of my broader thoughts about sales taxes and the pandemic, though it is no crystal ball. I am going to structure it like a q&a. I am not covering everything here and please reach out if there is more than I can help with.

Q: Our sales taxes are recovering quickly, what are you seeing other places in the state?
A: We are seeing that sales taxes have recovered more quickly than most people anticipated. That is great news, but I think a dose of caution should accompany it. First, we see a bump starting in in the June collections (so sales for the month of May) where it went from down 13.3% year-over-year to down 4% year-over-year and then by July (so June sales) it was up year-over-year by 10.75%. So that is all really promising, but we have to keep a few things in mind. 1) That is right when the state moved into Phase 2 and there may have been pent up demand. 2) That is when we have more generous unemployment benefits and federal stimulus, so people had more disposable income than they might otherwise have had. 3) Some people were deferring payments on rent and/or utilities, so they had less income than it looked like from their spending in that period. Also, that trend is not universal. Some areas are doing much better and others are having a slower recovery.

Webinar: Budgeting in the Pandemic

May 7, 2020 / Whitney Afonso / 0 Comments

As governments are nearing the end of budget season in these uncertain times we want to make sure you all are aware of some of the resources available from the School of Government and our partners. There are many COVID-19 resources at the UNC SOG dedicated Microsite.

A New Collection Available from an Old Resource

In this post, I wanted to share that the School of Government’s Knapp Library has a new collection for North Carolina’s assessment community. This is a short post because I anticipate most of the reading will occur as you explore the links in this post. In January, IAAO announced the availability of their new collection of informational books on assessment, Apendium.

North Carolina Assessors and Disaster Recovery

September 11, 2018 / Kirk Boone / 0 Comments

The county assessor’s office has a role in damage assessment.

WHY?

For a 12-minute video overview of why local governments and the assessor should talk about this topic every year, watch this.

Damage assessment is a required process in North Carolina local government after a disaster for reasons in two categories.

First, the county assessor has the legal requirement to assess property for tax purposes. Part of that requirement includes recognizing a change in the January 1 value of land or improvements resulting from physical change such as damage, destruction, or construction.

Second, to estimate damages for other, non-property tax-related purposes.

See additional damage assessment resources from the second category on our SOG resources page, here.

Since the assessor’s office maintains property data, is required by law to have appraisal experience, and assesses January 1 physical characteristics due to damage and construction even in years without a disaster, the assessor’s office should probably be part of a local government’s damage assessment plan.

In November 2024, The NC Association of Assessing Officers hosted a one-hour 45-minute presentation at their conference providing an overview of the damage assessment process and the assessor’s role in Onslow, Craven, Dare, and Ashe Counties. See that presentation here.

WHO?

After a disaster, individuals in local governments who are tasked with the damage assessment process have suffered loss themselves. With that in mind, assessors can offer assistance to one another and share expertise with affected counties. Hosea Wilson in Dare County is no stranger to disasters and the damage assessment process. He and others offer their assistance along with the support of the NCAAO/NCTCA.

Hosea Wilson, AAS, PPS, Dare County Assessor, 252-475-5938

Kevin Turner, AAS, Onslow County Assessor, 910-937-1230

Wes Wilson, RES, AAS, Onslow County Appraisal Supervisor, 910-937-1271

Justin Deese, RES, Craven County Chief Appraiser, 252-636-6640

Chris Lambert, Ashe County Assessor, 336-846-5553

If your office can spare help with damage assessment or otherwise, make sure your county emergency manager is aware that you have staff that can assist impacted counties so it can be coordinated through the webEOC system. And if you’re an impacted county, consider asking for this type of assistance so your staff can be at home with their family and friends as much as possible.

Together will will get through this. Together we can discover better ways to support one another through these times.

Dare County Disaster Assessment Guidelines / FEMA Damage Assessment Matrix

Note documents under this header are examples used in Dare County for prior damage assessment and may be modified for use in other counties. Hosea Wilson, Dare County Assessor.

DA_Guidelines Dare County guidelines – A quick reference guide to have in the field.

FEMA_DamageMatrix Dare County modified these for their jurisdiction and damage types

FEMA Damage Descriptions with photos

Dare County found that besides a field reference, review of these pre-event is helpful for consistency of reporting.

IAAO Resources provided October 7, 2024 in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Jeff Neibauer, Brunswick County NC, Managing a Tax Office and Revaluation During a Natural Disaster Post Hurricane discussion begins at the 19-minute mark

Property Assessment in the Wake of Natural Disasters 2024

The importance of imagery- Disasters happen 2022

IAAO resources provided September 11, 2018 as Hurricane Florence was approaching NC.

Disaster_Recovery_Subject_Guide_Updated2018

GilreathDec06

GilreathJan_07

Disaster_Help_A_Resource_for_Diaster_Control_and_Prevention_Initiatives

Disaster_USA_A_Perspective_on_the_Aftermath_of_Hurricane_Katrina

Katrina

The_Mississippi_Disaster

FE_June_2014_Boulder

The_Wildfire_Summer_of_2003

BrownSpears

Many thanks to the IAAO Paul V. Corusy Memorial Library.

New Technology for Demand Related Challenges?

September 7, 2018 / Marcus Kinrade / 0 Comments

Introduction by Kirk Boone

Maybe the assessment stars were aligned two weeks ago when PTEP held IAAO 300, Fundamentals of Mass Appraisal, in Rocky Mount, NC.

On August 20, the first day of class, WRAL, our local NBC affiliate, published an article about leading edge statistics software used to support Wake County mass appraisal. Marcus Kinrade, AAS, Wake County Revenue Director, shared the following article with me.
WRAL is a pioneer in technology. In 1996, WRAL provided the first public high definition television broadcast in the United States. In 2016, they became the first US station to broadcast a full time service using standards for 4K ultra HD content.
SAS Institute, the company providing the statistical technology, is leading-edge. The world’s largest privately held software company, right here in Wake County, is used by Google as a model for some of their own workplace development.
Mr. Kinrade was attending IAAO 300 that week. The course introduces statistical techniques used in mass appraisal. Although IAAO 300 topics such as clustering and regression analysis have been in use for hundreds of years, it is the same mathematics combined with today’s technology and local government leadership that allow for what you’re about to read. This is an impressive collaboration between a leading-edge company and a leading-edge county.