Movement to preserve values east-side neighborhoods springs back to life

Virginia K. Newell and John Burgiss

Carolyn Highsmith, president of the Konnoak Hills Community Association, received a boost from the Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem & Vicinity in her quest to build pressure on the county to revise property assessments that drastically reduced values in predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods along the eastern rim of the city.

The Ministers Conference rallied residents in a press conference that highlighted homeowners who have experienced substantial markdowns in neighborhoods such as Slater Park and Skyland Park.

The Rev. Willard Bass, president of the Ministers Conference, said he believes the process used by the Forsyth County Tax Department to assess values for neighborhoods that have seen significant reductions in value is flawed, but could not point to a specific cause.

"I think the flaw is there," he said. "We want to know what the matrix is." He added that the tax department should not have used the same approach as it did in the 2009 revaluation, considering that the housing market has demonstrated a significant degree of instability since then.  


Highsmith suggested the decrease in property values found in Forsyth County Commission District A, which covers an urban area of Winston-Salem whose voters are primarily African-American and Hispanic Democrats, might constitute a 21st-century version of redlining. The term refers to a practice by banks in the 1960s to draw a line around certain African-American neighborhoods where they refused to loan capital.

"In 2013, community leaders in county commissioner voting District A are questioning whether their neighborhoods are being devalued so that large real estate developers at a later date can sweep in and buy up these devalued properties at rock-bottom prices," Highsmith said, "or that city and county governments in the upcoming years will not have to pay the actual market price as re-development projects such as major road changes and downtown gentrification projects continue to push east from downtown Winston-Salem."

The press conference took on surreal feel as Virginia K. Newell, a former Winston-Salem councilwoman, railed against the reduction in her property's tax assessment as Tax Assessor John Burgiss sat nearby and listened. Organizers of the press conference did not publicly acknowledge Burgiss or invite him to respond to various complaints, including that staff in his office used grades to arbitrarily reduce values in certain neighborhoods, relied on incorrect square footage figures and passed up the opportunity to inspect the inside of houses that are under appeal.

Community leaders expressed dismay that members of the Forsyth County Board of Equalization and Review said they believe the tax department did a good job on the reappraisal overall, and that they do not see a need for blanket changes to neighborhoods valuations. The board is charged with hearing appeals from property owners who believe that their valuations and incorrect, and has the power to make blanket changes across entire neighborhoods. The community leaders called for the 2013 tax revaluation to be set aside and for an outside firm to come in and review the process used to obtain values.

"We've lost confidence in the system," Bass said. "We'd like to have integrity returned to the system. We hope that the questions we've raised will leave the door open for the some justice and equity."

In the meantime, organizers are urging property owners to file individual appeals, both to address the problem on an individual level and to let members of the board of equalization know that there are systemic issues with how the revaluation was completed. Bass urged audience members to help get the word out that volunteers will be on hand at local libraries this weekend to help property owners file appeals.

Newell said some of her neighbors in Skyland Park are happy with their valuations because their tax bills will be reduced.
  
"But I don't feel that way," Newell said, "because if my property were to be sold I would have spent a lot of money and invested in it and then it's gone. And I don't think people understand that. Because if the houses on Pickford Court and that area [in Newell's neighborhood] are not raised the way we think we have improved them, then my property — though it might sell — it would still not be worth what we have put into it — the investment. And basically property, for poor people, your home is about the only thing you've got with any amount to leave to your legacy — your family and your children. And if you take that away, what's left?"

Mayor sides with east Winston-Salem homeowners in reval fight

Allen Joines

Mayor Allen Joines told a group of east Winston-Salem homeowners last night that there's nothing city government can do to help them, but signaled his solidarity in an election year when black voters are looking for reassurance that their interests are being addressed.

"I'm with you," Joines told about 25 people at a community meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church on Monday evening. "I understand the concern about this revaluation.

"Citizens and residents have worked hard all their life, paid off that mortgage," he continued. "Then, when they retire a little later on in life that piece of property is something that could help them in their later years. They have some asset that they could pass on to their children and things of that nature. So there's something just wrong, I believe, in this process." 


Virginia K. Newell, a retired alderman and retired math professor at Winston-Salem State University who is now a real estate agent, issued a test to Joines, asking him what effect he thought the reappraisal would have on a house that recently went up for sale in her neighborhood.

"Ms. Newell, I would have to believe that potential buyers are going to look at the tax value as some indication of what they believe the value would be," the mayor answered. "I've had some real estate appraisers try to tell me that it really doesn't impact it. But I believe it does. When I was looking to buy my house, I looked at what the tax value was and tried to make some decisions along those lines. I believe it would have a negative impact. You're in real estate. You probably know better than I do."

Joines said he supports legislation NC Rep. Ed Hanes Jr. has pledged to file that would freeze property values at their valuation before the recent reappraisal. Joines said he plans to take a resolution in support of the Hanes bill to city council on March 25, adding that he is confident his colleagues will support it.
  
Led by the Rev. Paul Lowe Jr., the residents also agreed to seek a meeting with the Forsyth County Board of Equalization and Review to address deep drops in property values in predominantly African-American neighborhoods at a systematic level.

Forsyth County Commissioner Walter Marshall, who represents District A, encouraged residents to get involved in the process of appointment for the board of equalization, which hears appeals to tax revaluations. He said there is one black member of the five-member board, Richard Davis. Marshall said the Republican-controlled county commission allows the two black Democrats to appoint one person to the board. Residents of east Winston-Salem should engage Davis to find out if he's sensitive to their concerns, Marshall said. If not, they should find someone else to request appointment and tell their District A representatives so they can lobby their Republican colleagues on the county commission. 

The deadline for applications is March 20, and the county commission will make the appointments on March 25.

Ruth Carter, a resident of the East Ward, articulated fears in the community that the significant depreciation in values sets the east side of Winston-Salem up for a wave of gentrification.

"Something is going to happen over here in east Winston that's going to take our homes, whether we want 'em to or not," Carter said. "This is what I'm looking at. Now, I don't know about you, but this is my gut feeling: They are lowering the tax [value] on our houses in order for us to give 'em up. I tell you: I'm going to fight it."

Joines is a strong supporter of the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, formerly known as Piedmont Triad Research Park, the Salem Creek Connector and other initiatives to make the eastern flank of downtown more attractive and vital.

"I can understand your concern," Joines told Carter. "That's the reason I think we all got to stick together here. There has been some discussion of class-action lawsuits and things of that nature."