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Board upholds county value for Stallings mayor’s home after limited documentation from appellant
Summary
The Board of Equalization and Review upheld a $639,400 assessment for a Stallings property owned by Matthew White (mayor of Stallings), after county staff presented comparable sales and the board found the county reduction reasonable; the appellant provided limited documentation and new material that the county had not yet reviewed.
Matthew White, mayor of Stallings, appealed his property’s assessed value and questioned the county’s mass appraisal methodology, but the Board of Equalization and Review voted to uphold the county’s adjusted value of $639,400.
White told the board he researched nearby assessed values and online estimates and said Zillow’s estimate listed his property at $605,000 around the time he received the county notice. He argued his property’s per-square-foot assessed price appeared higher than neighboring homes and submitted a brief summary of comparables shortly before the hearing. County staff said they had analyzed nearby sales and lowered the original notice to $639,400 based on neighborhood comparables; the board upheld that value by vote.
Appellant’s argument: White said the county’s original notice of value was $650,000 and that his own check of nearby properties and Zillow suggested a lower value. He noted some nearby homes had more square footage but lower price-per-square-foot figures and pointed the board to a specific nearby comp the county provided that had a lower per-square-foot figure he believed should have been used.
County response: County appraisal staff said they performed market analyses using recent comparable sales in the immediate neighborhood, including several comps similar in age, exterior construction (all-brick ranch), condition and square footage. Because the neighborhood is subdivided into golf/non-golf and lake-front categories, staff said they used comparables from the appropriate subdivision segments and had reduced the appellant’s value from the initial notice to $639,400.
Board action: After brief discussion and acknowledging that White had supplied some materials only at the hearing, a board member moved to uphold the county value of $639,400; the motion was seconded, and the board approved the county figure by voice vote.
Why it matters: The case illustrates how mass appraisal and neighborhood segmentation (golf course, lakefront, non-golf) can influence assessed values and why taxpayers should submit timely, detailed evidence of comparable sales when appealing revaluations.
Next steps: The board recorded the decision to uphold the county’s valuation; the transcript shows the vote passed by voice and no further action on this parcel was scheduled.
