Surry County Tax Administrator Penny Harrison recently addressed the county board of commissioners to discuss ongoing foreclosures, outstanding debts, and for the board to conduct a public hearing regarding the 2025 Proposed Schedule of Values ahead of a period of revaluation.
The revaluation is required by law, and it sets the tax value of all residential and commercial land and structures. County officials said property values do not all go up or down at the same rate, so revaluations are meant to ensure property’s assessed value reflects its fair market value, or the most probable price a property would bring at sale in a competitive and open market.
The county explained the Schedule of Values is a manual providing rates, value ranges and guidelines for appraising property at fair market value. It includes adjustments that may be used for various types of construction, adjustments for market conditions, and valuation schedules for land.
It also provides summaries and broad ranges of the parameters in the county’s Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal System. The rates and ranges found in the schedule stay in effect until the next revaluation. Any changes or improvements made to properties during this time frame will be appraised in accordance with the standards in the schedule.
The current revaluation date is effective Jan. 1 and notices of assessed values will be mailed to all real property owners in February.
All property owners have the right to appeal the appraised value of their property and can request an informal review of their value from the tax department or appeal formally to the Surry County Board of Equalization and Review. Taxpayers are encouraged to submit documentation as to why the assessed value does not reflect reasonable value or provide additional information about property characteristics that may influence their assessed value.
Harrison also presented a request to schedule four foreclosure sales on five properties; one sale would include two properties. She informed the board that there was a preferred bidder on one of the properties and the rest of the properties have proposed opening bids that need board approval.
“The reason I think there’s a proposed bid, there must be surrounding owners that are interested and they’ve already given the Kania Law Firm money to initiate the first bid,” Harrison explained.
“What this action would do would approve the proposed bids and give you permission to proceed with Kania Law Firm to finalize the foreclosure,” Tucker stated. Commissioner Larry Johnson made a motion to accept the proposed bids and move the property sales forward; Commissioner Bill Goins seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
Commissioner Eddie Harris noted that there had been quite a few properties placed into the foreclosure process in recent months and asked if Harrison had any success in selling any of those. She replied her office had some recent success in selling off foreclosed properties; she said her office sold six properties in the past week.
Harrison informed that several properties the county has in the foreclosure process are still receiving bids during the upset bid period. She was told by Rick Kania of the Kania Law Firm that late upset bids were becoming more common. “He told me that was the strategy now, to wait until for an upset bid to come through and then (interested parties) start bidding on it.”
The tax office also granted approval to set Jan. 22, 2025, as the day the county will mail out a debt setoff letter to taxpayers who are delinquent in their taxes. Taxpayers have 30 days to respond to the notice if they feel that they have been included on the list in error.
The tax due date, Harrison explained, is Sept. 1 and taxes are considered delinquent beginning on Jan. 6. Tucker said, “We’re giving a little bit of mercy, a little bit of grace, so the letter won’t go out until Jan. 22.”
In other board news,
- The board gave approval for Horne Creek Living Historical Farm to use money provided to it through the Invest in Surry Program to cover the cost of a new orchard building. It had been approved for $12,915 in funding to purchase audio interpretation equipment and an interpretive brochure and used part of the allotment for that purpose but had a large portion remaining unused. The board was informed that the reallocation of funds toward capital improvement would still adhere to the guidelines found in county’s program and would not be counter to state regulations.
- Parks and Recreation Director Daniel White informed that The Lady Knights softball team from Surry Community College would like to construct a batting cage at Fisher River Park. He said there would be two cages which would have a concrete base covered in astroturf and eventually the college hopes to place a shelter of some sort over the cages.
White said Parks and Rec had laid out the size and location of the proposal and found it to be agreeable. Furthermore, all costs associated with the project would be incurred by the college
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