Edgecombe County accepts assessor recommendation in Americold Logistics business personal property appeal

The Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners voted to accept the tax assessor's recommended valuation in an appeal by Americold Logistics after a county-contracted audit and subsequent exchanges between the company and county staff.

Tax Administrator Teresa Lewis told the board that county practice requires auditing roughly one-eighth of business personal property accounts annually; the audit of Americold began with an information request mailed Sept. 15, 2024. Lewis said the primary adjustment arose from reclassifying some items as real property rather than leasehold improvements. The audit and subsequent adjustment, she said, would reduce the discovery tax bill to the figure shown in the county packet: $29,157.15.

Representatives of Americold, including Martin Golden, attended and told the board they had worked with county staff to identify assets that should be classified as real property. Golden said he believed the parties had come to "a mutual understanding of where we stand today." Lewis explained that, because the discovery bill had been placed on the tax roll, the taxpayer's next step under state law is to petition the board to compromise under N.C. Gen. Stat. 105-312(k).

A motion to accept the assessor's recommendation as presented was made and seconded; the board voted in favor with no opposition recorded on the transcript. Commissioners did not read a roll-call tally in the record but approved the assessor-recommended valuation and accepted the lower discovery tax bill amount recorded in the meeting packet.

Lewis provided a brief timeline in her report: initial audit request 09/15/2024, assessment-consideration letter dated 02/14/2025, assessment decision letter mailed 05/16/2025, and appeal filed 06/10/2025. She said the auditor on the engagement was Martha Barber and that the county contracts with County Tax Services for business personal property audits.