Charlotte, North Carolina
Mecklenburg County commercial property tax appeals
Appeals start with the Mecklenburg County Assessor's Office and go to the Mecklenburg County Board of Equalization and Review (BER). Here is how commercial evidence is built, filed and heard in Mecklenburg County.
- Assessor
- Mecklenburg County Assessor's Office
- First-level board
- Mecklenburg County Board of Equalization and Review (BER)
- Filing deadline
- Written request for BER review filed with the Assessor's Office before the Board adjourns (G.S. 105-322(g)(2)); the adjournment date for the 2026 tax year was May 4, 2026. In a revaluation year an informal review is generally requested within 30 days of the notice of value date
- Commercial assessment level
- 100% of true value as of the most recent revaluation date (G.S. 105-284)
- Value standard
- True value in money, meaning market value (G.S. 105-283)
- Valuation date
- January 1 of the revaluation year (G.S. 105-285(d)); the value set for January 1, 2023 carries through the 2026 tax year, and the next value date is January 1, 2027
- Assessment cycle
- Countywide revaluation every four years by county election (2019, 2023, next effective January 1, 2027); state law requires at least every eight years (G.S. 105-286)
- Notices mailed
- Notices of value go out in the first quarter of a revaluation year (2023 notices began mailing March 17, 2023; 2027 notices are scheduled for early 2027); in other years a notice is mailed only when a value changes
How Mecklenburg County assesses commercial property
Mecklenburg County revalues every property on a four-year cycle, faster than the eight-year maximum North Carolina allows. Values set for January 1, 2023 stay on the books through the 2026 tax year, and the next countywide revaluation takes effect January 1, 2027, with notices of value scheduled for early 2027. For a Charlotte commercial owner, that makes the 2027 notice the single most important assessment event of the decade: whatever value survives the appeal window generally holds for four tax years.
The process has two county steps. The informal review lets the owner and a county appraiser review the property together, and errors can be corrected there without a formal hearing. If that fails, the appeal moves to the Board of Equalization and Review, which hears taxpayers who file before it adjourns under G.S. 105-322. For the 2026 tax year the BER adjournment and filing deadline was May 4, 2026. Filing is free, and an attorney is not required at either step.
Above the county sits the North Carolina Property Tax Commission in Raleigh, which hears appeals filed within 30 days after the BER mails its decision. The legal standard is demanding: the county's value is presumed correct, and the taxpayer must show both an arbitrary or illegal method and a value that substantially exceeds market value. In the years between revaluations, G.S. 105-287 blocks reductions based on general market movement, which is why office owners who saw values fall after 2023 have had to wait for the 2027 reset.
Major commercial submarkets
- Uptown Charlotte
- South End
- SouthPark
- Ballantyne
- University City
- Airport and West Charlotte industrial (I-85 and I-485)
Uniformity authority
N.C. Const. art. V, §2(2) (taxes levied by uniform rule); G.S. 105-283 and 105-284 (all property assessed at true value)
Appeal statute
G.S. 105-322(g) (Board of Equalization and Review); G.S. 105-290 (Property Tax Commission)
After the board
North Carolina Property Tax Commission, sitting as the State Board of Equalization and Review in Raleigh, by written notice of appeal within 30 days after the BER mails its decision (G.S. 105-290(e)); further review in the North Carolina Court of Appeals (G.S. 105-345)
Official forms ATALI ELECTRIC fills for Mecklenburg County
| Form | Filed with | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Formal Appeal Form (Board of Equalization and Review) | Mecklenburg County Assessor's Office for the BER, 3205 Freedom Dr., Suite 3500, Charlotte, or by mail or email | Requests a BER hearing on value, listing or taxability; one form per parcel with an authorized signature |
| BER Notice of Decision | Mailed by the BER to the appellant | Records the Board's action on the appeal; its mailing date starts the 30-day Property Tax Commission clock |
| AV-14, Notice of Appeal and Application for Hearing | North Carolina Property Tax Commission, Raleigh, with copies to the county assessor and county attorney | Perfects the state-level appeal after a written notice of intent to appeal; returned within 30 days of the Commission's acknowledgment letter with a copy of the BER decision |
Filing system: Assessor's Office online informal review in revaluation years; BER Formal Appeal Form by email, mail (P.O. Box 31127, Charlotte, NC 28231) or in person at the Valerie C. Woodard Center
Hearings and evidence
In-person hearings before BER panels at the Woodard Center on Freedom Drive, scheduled after the informal review closes; the appellant presents first, an assessor's office appraiser responds, and the BER mails its written decision within 30 days after it adjourns
- 01Supporting documents are due with the Formal Appeal Form or no later than 45 days after it is submitted; an incomplete file can be dismissed before the hearing.
- 02The assessment is presumed correct. Under In re Appeal of AMP, Inc., 287 N.C. 547 (1975), the taxpayer must show the county used an arbitrary or illegal method of valuation and that the assessment substantially exceeds true value.
- 03In a year between revaluations, G.S. 105-287 bars value changes for inflation, deflation or other economic changes affecting the county in general, so evidence must point to a property-specific error, physical change or a value that was wrong as of the last revaluation date.
- 04Evidence must speak to value as of the revaluation date (January 1, 2023 for tax years 2023 to 2026), not to the date of the hearing.
Income evidence
Mecklenburg values commercial parcels from the schedule of values the Board of County Commissioners adopts for each revaluation under G.S. 105-317, and income models drive most office, retail, multifamily and industrial values. A credible income case uses actual rent rolls and operating statements for the years leading up to the revaluation date, normalized to stabilized occupancy with market vacancy and reserves, and a cap rate supported by Charlotte sales around that date. Because AMP requires proof that the county's method was arbitrary or illegal as well as excessive, the strongest exhibit shows where the county's rent, vacancy or expense assumptions depart from the property's actual market position, not just a lower final number. Challenges to the schedule of values itself go straight to the Property Tax Commission within 30 days after the order adopting it is first published (G.S. 105-290(c)).
Practitioner notes
- The 2027 revaluation resets every value at once, and the county's September 2026 update to commissioners pointed to commercial increases well above residential ones, so expect a heavy informal review volume in early 2027.
- A sale of the subject below its assessed value in a non-revaluation year is not by itself a ground for change under G.S. 105-287; time the evidence to the revaluation year.
- Uptown and SouthPark office towers with large vacancies need lease-by-lease support: show the absorption period and leasing costs the market would price as of January 1, 2027.
- Industrial parcels along I-85 and around the airport often include excess land or outdoor storage; split that land out before comparing to bulk distribution sales.
Mecklenburg County appeal questions
Last verified October 2026 against the assessor, board and statute.
When is the next Mecklenburg County revaluation?
January 1, 2027. The Board of County Commissioners set that date and a four-year cycle going forward. New values are scheduled to be mailed in early 2027 and will apply to tax years 2027 through 2030 unless changed on appeal.
Is the informal review required before going to the BER?
No. It is optional, though most commercial cases settle there. The BER deadline still applies, so file the formal appeal before the Board adjourns if the informal review has not closed.
Can I appeal in a year between revaluations?
Yes, but only on grounds such as a listing error, a physical change to the property or a value that was wrong as of the last revaluation date. General market decline is not a basis under G.S. 105-287.
What happens after the BER?
You have 30 days after the BER mails its decision to appeal to the North Carolina Property Tax Commission in Raleigh. Commission decisions can be appealed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Nearby jurisdictions
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