John A. Cocklereece, Jr. concentrates his practice on property tax appeals, general business law, tax controversy law, and estate planning and administration law. John has practiced law in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for more than 35 years. John worked with several other Winston-Salem firms before joining Bell Davis Pitt in 1998.
John has been involved in property tax cases in North Carolina since the mid-1980s. In his property tax practice, John handles appeals of real and personal property tax values with County tax offices; the North Carolina Property Tax Commission [the court of record for property tax appeals in North Carolina]; and on appeal to the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the North Carolina Supreme Court. While most of these appeals are valuation appeals, John is also involved in exemption or other non-valuation-related appeals. John's property tax practice extends throughout the State of North Carolina.
John authors The NC Property Tax Law Monitor, a blog dedicated to property tax issues in North Carolina.
Some of John's representative cases are:
- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. Durham County, et al., 107 S. Ct. 499 (1986)
- In re Winston-Salem Joint Venture, 144 N.C.App. 706 (2001)
- In re Lane Company-Hickory Chair Div., 153 N.C.App 119 (2002)
- In re Eagle's Nest Foundation, 194 N.C.App. 770 (2009)
- In re Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, 208 N.C.App, 457 (2010)
- In re Blue Ridge Mall LLC, 214 N.C.App. 263 (2011)
- In re Parkdale America, 212 N.C.App. 192 (2011) ("Parkdale I")
- In re Parkdale Mills, 225 N.C.App. 713 (2013) ("Parkdale II")
- In re Hull Story Retail Group, 231 N.C.App. 514 (2013)
- In re Parkdale Mills, 240 N.C.App. 130 (2015) ("Parkdale III")
- In re Kimberly Park II, LLC, et al., 18 PTC 0029 (2019)
- In re U.S. Food, Inc., 18 PTC 0398 (2020)
- Matter of Lowe's Home Center, LLC, 269 N.C.App. 221 (2020)
- Matter of Harris Teeter, LLC, 2021-NCSC -80 (2021)
- In re CW12 Charlotte Hotel LP, 20 PTC 0161 (2023)
Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A.
100 North Cherry Street, Suite 600
Winston-Salem, NC 27101