More on the Augusta County Reassessment Debacle To search for your friends or neighbors' assessments, try the Virginia Mass Appraisal Network.


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Supervisor Tracy Pyles recommended holding at the 2005 assessment values but the that was rejected.

Please note the following:

"In July, the values produced by Blue Ridge Mass Appraisals were up 54 percent, lowered then to 42 percent in October and lowered again to 27 percent in January," Pyles said. "These are not anomalous, insignificant evaluations. Instead, they are a series of calculations reflecting a devaluation of property at a velocity unseen since the Great Depression of the 1930s."

My mother's assessment is up 48% overall, 100% on land alone. That belies the 27% increase reported. I know of one individual whose property assessment increased by 175%!

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Further review of my mother's assessment and her neighbors shows that the major increase has been in LAND value. Apparently, the appraisal company felt that all land was equally available and usable for development. Frankly, this isn't true as most of my mother's land is unavailable because it doesn't meet the requirements for building for one reason or another. Further, it is poor agricultural land with an A horizon of only 1-2 inches over some 6+ acres and a lot of rock over another 6+ acres. This land is only useful for some grazing. Even the trees grown thereon have little value as timber. In short, it is good for what it is, a 16 acre plot for one house and not much more. Yet, this land was assessed at $10,000 an acre.

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The appeal process puts the burden on the tax payer and is loaded in favor of the government.

APPEALING YOUR ASSESSMENT

Appealing Your Real Estate Assessment:
The first step is to appeal to the Board of Assessors (BOA). The BOA consists of seven (7) individuals, one from each magisterial district, appointed by the Board of Supervisors. They work with the appraisal company during the assessment period, and then serve on the assessment hearing teams. The BOA is responsible for reviewing assessment questions relating to accuracy, fairness, and equitability. Most issues are resolved at this stage.

If you are unable to resolve your issue with the BOA, another step is an appeal to the Board of Equalization. Augusta County’s Board of Equalization (BOE) consists of five (5) members who are appointed by the Circuit Court of Augusta County to determine if the assessed value is true to market value and equitable to similar properties.

The final level of appeal is to the Circuit Court of Augusta County. The taxpayer may apply directly to the Circuit Court of Augusta County without appealing to the BOA or BOE

Important:
When filing a formal appeal, the burden of proof is on the property owner to show that the assessment is incorrect by providing evidence that the assessed value does not reflect market value and/or uniformity. Evidence should consist of sales and/or assessments of comparable properties in the area or information on conditions of the property not previously known to the assessor. If the appeal is based on conditions of which the appraiser was not aware, adequate documentation is required to support the claim.

What we know is that there does appear to be uniformity to some degree as all land was equally if unreasonably elevated in value. What I find interesting is that smaller lots, even if used as farm land or having been purchased and now used with contiguous farm land, were valued/assessed as if they were building lots. Therefore, it would be very difficult to prove that one's land was inequitably assessed, everyone having been equally shafted.

True market value is equally difficult to prove. There being no sales of precisely comparable lots the appraisal company apparently went down the road to a farm which had been subdivided. That farmer had gone into bankruptcy and the court apparently directed that a portion of the land be sold to satisfy the debt. That land was bought up and immediately subdivided (in violation of a verbal agreement) for sale as building lots. While not ideal farmland, it has been used for grazing and is somewhat better than Mom's place and much less rocky. Lot sizes ranged from 5-27 or so acres. Based on the sales of that land and the construction of houses thereon, the appraisal firm valued land over a mile away with different soil profiles and other characteristics.

Thus the remaining avenue for "proof" of the taxpayer's position is to have an appraisal done. Despite the cost, there is no guarantee that the appraisal will even be accepted by the Board of Assessors or Board of Equalization.

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment, Politics

  ¶ posted by Hobie 6:25 PM