Death and Taxes

Page 9 of 9

Are all North Carolina County Property Tax Appraisers Subject to USPAP?

November 14, 2016 / Kirk Boone / 0 Comments

This is the exact question that I was asked recently.

“Are all North Carolina, county, ad valorem, real estate appraisers subject to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)?”

This could be a very short blog post. The answer to the question is, “no”. But a different question, “Should all North Carolina county ad valorem appraisers comply with USPAP?” leads to a more in depth discussion. The answer to that question is, “yes”. I believe if you act as an appraiser, you should comply with USPAP.

LOST: Finally explained! Mysteries Solved! Secrets Revealed! Part 3

October 24, 2016 / Whitney Afonso / 0 Comments

Previously on Death &Taxes, we learned that LOSTs and North Carolina’s local governments have a complicated relationship and that LOSTs favor some counties more than others.

There are many important characters in the story of LOSTs and North Carolina. There are the earmarks, the revenue that goes to the municipalities, the revenue that is distributed on a per capita basis, and the tax on food. I will let you decide which is Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Locke. However, I am going to just come out and say, the black smoke monster is the issue of equity across the counties. Continue reading

The Increasing Difficulty in Financing Cities

October 17, 2016 / Chris Nida / 0 Comments

It’s getting harder to fund city government in North Carolina.

On the one hand, that might seem hard to believe. People continue to flock to many cities and towns across the state. More than half of the state’s population lives in a municipality. One recent projection from American City Business Journals sees the Raleigh and Charlotte metropolitan areas alone adding nearly 3 million people in the next 25 years. Those newcomers who choose to live in city limits will join existing city residents in paying city property taxes, and join all those who shop in North Carolina in paying sales taxes that cities receive a share of. Continue reading

Are You Sure We Don’t Have Tax Abatements?

October 10, 2016 / Gregory Allison / 0 Comments

Tax Abatement, visual by Ruth Lerner

I’m here to help alleviate fears. In August 2015, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued GASB Statement No. 77, Tax Abatement Disclosures. The guidance, which if it were applicable to North Carolina governments, would be effective for fiscal year end June 30, 2017. The requirements are relatively simple – if a government has any tax abatement agreements, as defined in the standard, there are certain note disclosure requirements that must be made regarding the agreement(s). A tax abatement in is defined in the standard as follows: Continue reading

Speaking the Same Language with Data

It is comforting to know that as assessors and appraisers, we speak the same language. We had a great learning experience last week in IAAO 331, Mass Appraisal Practices and Procedures. Our instructor was David Cornell, CAE, MAI. David is from New Hampshire and brought fantastic discussions to our group of 23 North Carolinians. The discussions and examples we experienced can be used for improving appraisal equity and uniformity in individual jurisdictions throughout our state. One of the items that we discussed was a worthy repeat from other mass appraisal courses: The importance of data in the assessor’s office. Not only do we need to collect the right data for model specification, but we have to collect it accurately.

At the upcoming NCAAO Fall Conference, the NCDOR will be conducting sessions on their new reappraisal standards, to be published later this year. Continue reading

LOST: Finally explained! Mysteries Solved! Secrets Revealed! Part 2

September 26, 2016 / Whitney Afonso / 0 Comments

Previously on Death &Taxes, we learned that LOSTs and North Carolina’s local governments are important to each other, but dare I say it, have a complicated relationship.

LOSTs are an important source of revenue and some of that revenue is earmarked, but that is not why they have been receiving so much attention. The reason they have suddenly been a part of the tax reform discussion is the perceived inequity of the revenue raising capacity of different counties across the state. Continue reading

Budgeting in Local Government Course

September 21, 2016 / Whitney Afonso / 0 Comments

Registration is open for the School of Government’s Budgeting in Local Government course!

This is a great course that is designed for anyone who has responsibilities regarding local government budget preparation. It also counts towards the Local Government Finance Officers Certification Program and the North Carolina Budget & Evaluation Officer Certification Program.

I am always excited to teach in this course, but I am particularly excited this year because Bill Rivenbark and I are co-directing it (before I take the reins next year).

Some of the topics include: economic development, tax efficiency and equity, financial condition analysis, revenue forecasting, citizen engagement, budgeting for schools, budgeting for enterprises, and the revenue-neutral property tax rate.

I hope to see some of you there this November!

Here is the link to register: https://www.sog.unc.edu/courses/budgeting-local-government

Dark Stores

September 6, 2016 / Kirk Boone / 0 Comments

There are many worthy assessment-related questions posed on PTAX and elsewhere that I hope we can address during the life of this new blog. But given our blog title, Death and Taxes, and a topic looming around us that some have coined Dark Stores, it seems like a dark and creepy coincidence to start right here.
Continue reading

LOST: Finally explained! Mysteries Solved! Secrets Revealed!

September 6, 2016 / Whitney Afonso / 0 Comments

Lost Season 6 Cast, Source: Indie Wire

If you were like me, then you were not satisfied with the series finale of Lost and you are hoping that this blog by a faculty member at UNC is somehow is going to put it all together for you and redeem the show. Sorry, I am here to blow your mind with revelations about LOSTs or local option sales taxes. Wait, wait, do not be too disappointed. LOSTs are actually a hot button issue these days and are vital to financing local government in North Carolina…and spoiler alert the blog is called “Death and Taxes” so hopefully you saw this coming (more than the lame conclusion of Lost).

Welcome!

August 19, 2016 / Gregory Allison / 0 Comments

Benjamin Frankin, (1706-1790) , North American printer, publisher, writer, scientist, inventor and statesman. Source: Wkipedia

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789