Letter to the Editor: Property owner empathizes with letter writer’s tax assessment plight

Published 8:38 am Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Theresa Schneider, Publisher:

It was most interesting to read Dorthy & Russell Rutan’s Letter to the Editor in Coastland Times November 11 edition. I could feel the despair in their correspondence and understand the Rutans’ frustration in their futile attempt to comprehend the new property assessment increase.

Our small cottage for over twenty-five years in Kill Devil Hills, located between the highways, has become our “retirement villa”; we have witnessed the mega homes constructed surrounding us, leaving me to feel like Gen. Custer! We also experienced those houses in our neighborhood that have fallen into disrepair; homes that were once the summer centers of family renewals and children’s laughter now lie vacant!

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I am sure my assessment is fair, but the “real neighborhood comparison” in true value is lacking and without years as currently practiced: an increase of 31% is difficult to manage in a new year.

Ross Kearney

Kill Devil Hills

(Hampton, VA)

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Letter to the Editor: An open letter to the Kill Devil Hills and Dare County tax departments