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August 26, 2009
New property tax law offers relief to working waterfronts
By SUSAN WEST
A property tax relief law that went into effect July 1 could help North Carolina hold on to its coastal working waterfronts.
The law designates waterfront land used for commercial fishing
operations or fish processing as a special class of property that can
be assessed and taxed on a present use value basis, rather than on its
market value as developable land.
The tax break is also available for property supporting public fishing piers.
Greta Skeen, tax assessor for Dare County, said her office has received
some inquiries about the law, but no county property owners applied for
the working waterfront tax classification during the Jan. 15 to Feb. 15
tax filing period.
Skeen said the difference between present use valuation and assessed value as developable land could vary tremendously.
“In some cases, there could be very little or even no difference,
but in cases where the property is located in a commercially developed
area with condos or homes, the difference might be quite
significant,” she explained.
In Carteret County, three waterfront properties have been approved for
present use valuation. Those properties range from $471,099 to
$923,252 in assessed value. Present use valuation as working
waterfronts will allow the owners to pay taxes on anywhere from 30 to
60 percent of the assessed values.
Twelve properties in Brunswick County have been approved, with present
use valuations running around 60 percent of assessed value, according
to the Wilmington Star News.
Tax administrators said no property owners applied for the tax break this year in Currituck and Hyde counties.
Under the property relief law, deferred taxes plus interest for the
last three years would become due if the working waterfront was
converted to another use.
The law was modeled after tax breaks afforded agriculture, horticulture, and forestry lands in the state.
Jeff Aiken, seafood wholesaler in Hatteras, said the preservation of
working waterfronts is another key link in protecting North
Carolina’s economic diversity and heritage.
“The significance here extends beyond the immediate financial
savings to property owners. The property tax relief will have a
positive, long-term effect on the future of coastal communities,”
he said.
The working waterfront property tax option became law in 2007 and went
into effect this July. The measure was one recommendation in a report
prepared for the legislature by the NC Waterfront Access Study
Committee, a committee created by state leaders to address the decline
in the number of working waterfronts and public access facilities on
coastal waters.
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