Union County board upholds steep reassessments after Monroe rezoning; landowner disputes market value

The Union County Board of Equalization and Review on an administrative hearing on property appeals upheld the county’s 2025 reassessments for five parcels owned by Mitchell and Kathleen Barbee along Concord Highway near the bypass. The taxpayers challenged large percentage increases in assessed value that followed a City of Monroe rezoning and recent development near the bypass.

The dispute centered on five adjacent parcels totaling about 16.425 acres. The county presented maps, traffic counts and recent sales near the bypass to argue the parcels’ “highest and best use” had shifted after Monroe rezoned the corridor to RCMX (regional corridor mixed use), a designation the county said became effective 01/01/2024. “When the zoning changes, it’s a permitted-use change,” Union County staff told the board, adding that nearby…