LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Next week, dozens of property owners who live in Lincoln County will become Catawba County residents.
North Carolina officials are shifting the Lincoln-Catawba county line 500 feet to the south. Because of the shift, Lincoln County will lose about 386 parcels of land. Some of them have homes or businesses on them, meaning Catawba will gain some of Lincoln County’s residents.
“It’s beyond frustrating that this is all done behind closed doors with no notice,” said Karren Taillon.
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Taillon is one of dozens of soon-to-be Catawba County homeowners, who came to a meeting Monday night to express their concerns about the county boundary line change.
“I bought at a premium in Lincoln County so my kid could have an excellent education,” she said. “I paid that premium for my home and I’m expecting to lose at least 10% of my home value throughout this.”
She and several others in attendance own some of the hundreds of parcels, which come February 3 will no longer be considered Lincoln County.
“There was no official notice,” said Corey Cornacchio, a homeowner. “Lincoln County, this has been going on for a year they didn’t let us know and we elected them to represent us and they’re really not representing us at all.”
A Lincoln County spokesperson said the shift comes after the North Carolina Board of Elections found discrepancies in voter locations.
“There was voters that were living in Lincoln County that they received votes for Catawba County and vice versa,” said Vanessa Leon, public affairs officer for Lincoln County.
Many people are worried about their home values dropping.
“On average our houses are going to go down between $50 and $100,000 in value because of this change of the line,” said Cornacchio.
Another big concern is how this will affect school districts. Lincoln County School Board members said for the rest of the current school year, things will stay the same. But it’s not clear if district lines will change for the 2025-2026 school year.
“Every table you go to says we don’t know we hope to know more in two to three weeks,” said Taillon. “By that point, it’s done and it’s just really disheartening.”
There will be another information meeting in Lincolnton on January 29 at the James W. Warren Citizens Center from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.