Friday, October 30, 2026
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Gaston County, NC (WNN) - The Gaston County Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting was held on October 27, 2026. While the agenda included many proclamations, grant discussions, and other routine general business, Item A on the non-consent agenda is something that heavily affects everyone in Gaston County. This is the adoption of a new schedule of values for Gaston County real estate in 2027.
After Commissioners Tom Keigher and Chad Brown moved to approve the 2027 Schedule of Values, the discussion began. Commissioner Shehan opened by discussing some of the numbers in the new schedule and comparing them with the 2023 schedule. “I’ve got some serious concerns,” was Shehan's comment while beginning to discuss the large tax increase on the residential schedule. Single-family residential will increase by 29.4%, multi-family homes by 30.4%, and apartments by 41.1%. General Retail is up 52.3%, and he is concerned that the supporting data for these increases are proprietary. He then called Tax Director Chelsea Tarbush to speak on this issue.
Scott Shehan - Special Meeting Gaston County Board of Commissioners - October 30, 2026
Gaston County Board of Commissioners
Tarbush explained that this is determined by market data and that the research continues throughout 2026, so the final effective rate has yet to be determined. She also explained that the rate is a range, not a flat value. She then noted that they have released information, invited citizens into the office, and held public meetings with little to no attendance. At this meeting, the process was explained by a vendor, but no citizens were there to receive the information. Tarbush says she would be happy to have a meeting to discuss the process and answer questions, and can be reached at chelsea.tarbush@gastongov.com. The tax office can be found at 128 West Main Street, Gastonia, NC.
She then explained that their CAMA (Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal) system extracts the data, which is then transferred to text and Excel files through human interaction. This results in a living document with typos and errors that have not yet been corrected. The tax office had attempted to reduce document size. Citizens and commissioners then expressed that they wanted it to return to the full explanation, so two different documents had to be merged. The data itself is proprietary due to being from subscriptions from private companies like Marshall and Swift, Co-Star, MLS, and other sources. If these reports are distributed, then it can spell major legal trouble for the country.
Commissioner Jim Bailey then brought forth citizen concerns he had been asked about. According to him, one citizen who lives on a gravel road has been told by the tax office, “It didn’t matter if their house was sitting there or if it was sitting in Timberlake with an HOA and sidewalks and lights; it will still be the exact same value.” Tarbush responded that she couldn’t specify exactly when or by whom the property was visited, but she would be happy to provide the information available if Bailey could provide more specifics about the property. She then went on to state that, yes, location and amenities do matter for property values. So, while the exact same house placed at two locations may have the same value for the home itself, other factors could raise or lower the value.
Bailey then followed up with a question about his own issue. He was told by a realtor, “You missed the bubble,” and told that if he had sold it four years ago, he could’ve gotten the sought value for his own potential house sale. So if he can’t get the value from 4 years ago, how can a tax increase be justified? Tarbush responded by first noting that the market was unstable in 2023, with homes listed and sold within 24 hours. Now they sit for one to two months. They also say they look at it in terms of overall real estate values while considering different property types. He then mentioned the deteriorating quality of new homes, saying they are not well-built and instead meet only the minimum standard, with day-one defects being mentioned. Tarbush brought up how homes are graded by location and construction materials, and that the average home is a C-grade, at $185 per square foot. A quick rundown of the value combines information from the grade, age, and fixtures to determine the proper depreciation. They are also assessed from the outside, so interior issues that would lower the value won't be caught without an appeal. She also mentioned that these day-one issues, such as leaking water lines, are more of a code issue than a value assessment one.
Commissioner Cathy Cloninger then asked County Manager Matthew Rhoten if they have any choice in the re-evaluation process. Rhoten stated that after adoption, there is a 30-day period for an appeal that anyone from the public can do. This means that if it were adopted next month and an appeal were filed then, it couldn’t be fully adopted before the January 1st deadline, rendering the re-evaluation invalid. NC requires a re-evaluation every 8 years, but Gaston County chose to do one every 4. There are also percentage changes in market value that can trigger a reevaluation. The January 1st deadline means that not approving the schedule at this meeting could result in the re-evaluation not going into effect. Cloninger then asked if the constitutional tax amendment would affect Gaston County, but Rhoten was unsure of the full ramifications.
Tom Keigher then asked whether there would be much change to the schedule if it were delayed by 2 to 4 weeks. Tarbush said no. Bob Hovis then asked about the differences in tax value per square foot on the different grades. Tarbush explained that, yes, there are many different grades, but she does not know the value of each off the top of her head. Commissioner Chad Brown asked when Gaston County went revenue-neutral and about the tax increases at that time. Tarbush then explained that the value is assessed on one schedule while the tax rate changes yearly. Meaning, yes, yearly changes are possible outside of re-evaluation. Other factors that affect it are the county, city, and fire district tax rates. Appeal forms are mailed out in February or can be obtained online.
After this discussion, the motion failed to pass, leading to the special meeting on October 30, 2026.
After opening the motions, Commissioner Allen Fraley opened with questions due to missing Tuesday's meeting. He asked if the entire process was redone, would the number remain the same? Tarbush feels that the same numbers would apply if reappraisal were possible. He then asked Tarbush to expand on anything she feels was missed. She added a comment on the 2023 commercial and industrial values. Citizens have mentioned these values were low, and she claims that if this is true, we should see a reset here. The Hovis asked about the window for reappraisal. They are currently 1% away from a mandated reappraisal, meaning that if this one doesn’t pass, they will likely be required to do so next year.
Cloninger is concerned about the financial burden the process creates. She feels it should not be every four years. Shehan then spoke about the access he was granted to the proprietary data. He feels he does not currently have the confidence to say the data is fair and equitable. He then asked Rhoten what issues might arise if this were delayed. He first mentioned whether the commercial and industrial rates would remain the same and be left undervalued, placing a greater tax burden on residential. He is also worried it could damage public trust. It could also result in lost revenue next year and cost more to continue the appraisal.
Hovis then outlined that the schedule of values acts as a template. Once this is used in conjunction with the appraisals, the notice is sent out for each property in February. The numbers are not exact, as appraisal is “an opinion of value." Hovis then argued that it is the board's job to understand the impact on citizens, and while values may go up, if enough capital is gained, they could lower the tax rate, which has remained constant since the 2023 reappraisal. He feels confident in the appraisers and tax office. The vote was 4-2, with Cloninger and Shehan voting against, meaning that the motion passed and the schedule of values was approved.
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