The board voted to uphold the county's assessment for an industrial building near the Charlotte airport after a contested appraisal presentation by the taxpayer's consultant.

Cameron Meadows, who presents appraisal work for the taxpayer, told the board his sales-comparison study supports an opinion of value near $86 per square foot, or roughly $13 million for the 149,126-square-foot property at Airport Road and Corporate Center Drive. "Our overall opinion of value was at $86 per square foot," Meadows said, explaining he selected manufacturing sales closer in size and type to the subject building and adjusted for time and leasehold considerations.

County staff presented a larger set of industrial comparables drawn from the region and said their analysis yields a county value higher than the taxpayer's figure; the county summarized its market data and concluded a value around $16,000,004.48 (representative figure presented in the hearing record). County staff noted industrial sales are sparse in the immediate market and that some comparables required adjustments for age, conditioning and functional differences.

The board discussed the difficulty of finding truly comparable manufacturing sales and the need to adjust when using sales farther afield or properties with active tenants. One board member noted the county had included several county and regional sales given the limited number of like-kind industrial sales nearby.

After deliberation the board voted to uphold the county's assessed value for parcel 09369007E. The clerk recorded the motion and the board directed county staff to file written notice of the decision with the taxpayer.