LITTLE ROCK, AR -- On Kings Mountain Drive in west Little Rock, neighbors spruce up their homes to keep it looking nice.
"I love where I live and I don't foresee my building or moving any place else unless I'm forced too," said Danny Fletcher.
The constant remodeling and building are reasons the accessor says home values increased since the last assessment in 2009. That means folks like Fletcher will have to pay more in taxes, even if he doesn't want to.
"The market values have dropped and interest rates have dropped, so as far as I've invested in my home will not increase very much if I were to sell right now," Fletcher said.
"Do you all believe that in this economy these values have truly gone up?" I asked Pulaski County Assessor Janet Ward.
"We feel we have it as close as possible using our mass appraisal process and the sales that we have collected and we've checked and double checked and that's how we arrived at our values," Ward said.
The assessor gathers those numbers by judging the outside of your home. If you feel the assessment is too high, you can always appeal.
"I'd never tell you we've never made mistakes but we're hear to admit those and fix them if there's a problem," Ward said.
Contrary to other metro areas across the country, Ward said Pulaski County home values have been able to appreciate during tough economic times.
Meanwhile, Fletcher said he'll appeal if he has to but understands that money is needed for services.
"Our schools really need the resources and finances," said Fletcher.
