Dare County’s Tax Appraisal department dealt with several unique challenges in their workflow. The most significant was the process of the 2020 countywide reappraisal for real property. Reviewing parcels in person during the summer was already difficult because of the volume of vacationers in the area and on the roads. In the summer months, the year-round population of 30,000 could soar to over 300,000 in any given week. However, there were other issues with field visits. “If I’m doing the review from an automobile, I can’t see all sides of the house or focus on the neighborhood,” said Hosea.
By happenstance they also found the imagery was very useful in identifying and discovering unlisted and underlisted personal property. With the ocean on one side and sounds and canals on the other, they realized a major area where the listings could use the help—the boats that taxpayers own. Running statistics on the data for vessels in the system brought up some inconsistencies that led to a deeper review.
In reviewing watercraft assessments on file, they found inequities in valuations of watercraft. Some were substantial with entire vessels being undervalued at rates as low as $20. As Hosea said: “You can’t buy a Fisher-Price boat for that much!”
The area also has a high demand for vacation rentals, which don’t always get listed as taxpayers may not realize the need to self-report. Temporary rental platforms like AirBnB and VRBO don’t submit lists of their rentals and locations to local government, and matching listings for personal property appraisers is “very difficult and time-consuming.” Using imagery, they created layers cross-referencing advertisements for rentals with known rentals, allowing appraisers to easily find unreported vacation rentals.