Welcome to Dare County

The Board of Equalization and Review is a 5 member committee of average Dare County citizens that meets once a year in order to hear grievances from any property owner who disagrees with the appraisal of their property. This includes real estate and personal property. The Board has the authority to increase or reduce the appraised value of any property, or may choose to support the current value. By law, the Board must meet for its first meeting no earlier than the first Monday in April, and no later than the first Monday in May. In non-reappraisal years, the board should complete its duties within 3 weeks. In reappraisal years, a longer time may be necessary. All meetings of the Board of E & R are “open meetings”.

The members of the Dare County Board of Equalization and Review are as follows:

Barbara Britt
Betty Gray
Michael Davenport
John Receveur
Bo Taylor (Resigned after last year – his replacement is still pending)

If the property owner is not satisfied with the Board’s decision, they may appeal to the State Department of Revenue.

We usually try to hear the taxpayer’s grievance on an informal basis each year before the Board of
E & R meets. Many times we are able to explain the valuation process or make an error correction which will prevent the need for a Board hearing. Taxpayers are not required to meet with us first; they may file directly with the Board of E & R if they choose. However, the taxpayer is required to file an appeal with the Board of E & R before they are allowed to file an appeal with the State Department of Revenue.

Just to give you an idea of how this works in a reappraisal year, here are the numbers from the Dare County reappraisal project, which we completed in 2005:

During the course of informal appeals, which lasted from January 2005 until March 2005, the appraisal staff handled 1078 in-person appeals and 2528 letter appeals. As a result of information obtained from property owners during the appeals, the appraisal staff voluntarily made changes to an additional 1210 parcels. In all, 4816 properties were reviewed during the appeals process, about 12% of the total file.

Only 110 parcels were appealed to the Board of Equalization and Review, and just 20 parcels have appeals pending with the State Department of Revenue.