Local and National Politics, What's Similar? You might have noticed our continuing imbroglio with the Augusta County government over my mother's property taxes vis-a-vis the reassessment. My appeal got about $20K deducted from the value of Mom's property. However, all that was in the value of improvements not in the value of the land. They aren't budging there. Moreover, the Board of Supervisors (BOS) are allowing the appraisal firm, Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal, to speak for them. The head honcho there has made some statements you can read in an earlier article that pretty much call us dolts for rejecting this overreaching attempt to increase revenues to the county.

That's not to say that most members of the BOS, Republicans by the way, haven't acted directly as well. One way that they have done this is to ignore a 10,000 citizen petition and 1,000 citizens turning out for a BOS meeting to OPPOSE the reassessment. Mob rule isn't what we're after here but they actually derided the petitioners. They had options. Unfortunately, they've chosen the statist approach. Instead of rejecting the assessment, instead of acknowledging the rightfullness of the complaints and trying to find a legal way out, they've said from the start they "might" reduce the tax rate to mitigate the increase resulting from the 33-300% increase in value (and they only acknowledge a 27% average value increase). The suggested reduction hasn't been much of one either as they do wish to increase revenues immediately to make up for shortfalls in State support of education and lack of sales tax revenues. Rather than cut the budget for unnecessary spending, they've chosen to continue the spending but not for education AND to increase our taxes. This isn't serving the community well.

You see, they believe that instead of working to provide the critical needs first, instead of the luxuries first, and taxing us to do so is preferable.

That's the national view as well. The national politicians have forgotten or no longer care the why and what of their purpose as our representatives. Preservation of place rather than country is their goal. Party rather than country is their allegiance. They have abandoned principle for privilege. They have chosen power over posterity.

In light of the inattention to the tea parties, the question rapidly approaches, what shall we do?

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment, Politics

  ¶ posted by Hobie 4:56 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Assessment Firm Says the Public are Dolts So much as says in this News Leader report...

AUGUSTA COUNTY — The president of the appraisal firm entrenched in the middle of Augusta County's reassessment controversy defended his company's work and fired back at what he called misinformation from critics of the reassessments.

Dave Hickey, owner of Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal, said recent sales of homes and property justify the firm's and the Board of Assessors' work. He said of the 93 post-reassessment sales, 74 have sold at a price higher than the new assessed value. In addition, he said the sales ratio, which is the value of the reassessments divided by the sales price, is more than 93 percent. The state's threshold to certify a reassessment is 75 percent or higher, he said.

"The market seems to be validating our reassessment," he said. "Not only is our ratio in line with the sales, but our measure of uniformity is within the standards of the International Association of Assessing Officers."

Hickey reiterated that the appraisal firm largely relied on sales in forming its reassessment formula, and he said the group worked to adjust the figures starting last year when housing prices began its free fall. He blamed the public uproar mainly on the falling economy, because he said the methodology has been consistent with the seven other reassessments that Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal handled for the county.

"Four years ago, in the 2005 reassessment that everyone touts as so good, the (appeal) hearings were holy hell. They were 10 times worse than they were this time," he said. "Everyone came in with the same crap, saying that this is a flawed reassessment and that these guys don't know what they are doing."

Hickey said another factor that led to the ongoing controversy is the public's lack of education on the topic. He said he was disappointed that there was such poor attendance for three public presentations on the reassessment process, which were conducted before the notices were mailed out. However, he shot down the prospect of holding another meeting because he said the vast majority of the public are beyond listening to him at this point.

"It wouldn't do much good," he said. "It would probably just turn into an appraiser public hanging."

Responding to critics
Hickey's comments come as Churchville attorney Francis Chester prepares a legal challenge that would require the county to throw out the reassessments and as Supervisor Tracy Pyles continues his fight to convince the majority of the board to agree to revert back to the 2005 reassessment values. Pyles will host a public informational session at 9:30 a.m. today at the Government Center to lay out his case of why the reassessments are "substantially flawed."

Hickey said Chester and Pyles, who are the two most public faces of the reassessment attacks, have only confused and misled by making their arguments without correctly analyzing the facts. Hickey said Pyles, in his opposition, stated many of the facts out of context. An example, he said is how Pyles distorted the facts when the supervisor argued that the reassessed value of Hershey's Stuarts Draft plant fell by several million in just the few months before the process was completed.

"The number he got was just a very initial projection that it was a $41 million value, but it had not been adjusted or whatever," he said. "And when the notices came out, it was $33 million, and he said, 'Oh my God, how can these guys lower something like that.' Well, it was never supposed to be $41 million to begin with."

Hickey also sharply attacked Chester's critique of the process and laughed when asked about the attorney's view questioning the validity of the contract between Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal and the county. Although Chester has argued that it was a "sweetheart deal," Hickey said he probably would have proposed charging more for the work if he'd known his company was the only firm that placed a bid.

"Everyone has to recognize that this guy is a crank," he said. "Whenever you Google his name, it comes up as 'Churchville attorney Francis Chester, but it should say 'discredited Churchville attorney Francis Chester.'"

Tax rate
Hickey said he sees the public uproar coming to an end soon when the Board of Supervisors discusses altering the tax rate, which all members have publicly stated they intend to lower for the first time in more than two decades.

"It will be like extinguishing a fire," Hickey said.

If the tax rate is lowered, Hickey said residents will realize that many in the county, especially those in land use, will actually face lower taxes. He said those that would pay more taxes, despite a lower rate, still wouldn't see an extreme increase in the actual amount they pay.

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment

  ¶ posted by Hobie 3:44 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

  More on the Augusta County Reassessment Debacle Yes folks, the saga continues. It seems that the County Board of Supervisors is determined to not serve the citizens of the county. While it is possible that there is no legal way to disregard the recent reassessment values it is possible to immediately reduce the tax rate to $.39 per $100 value from the current $.58 rate.

This article from the local Gannett owned Daily News Leader, "County sticks by reassessments" mentions several cogent points.

More than 800 Augusta County residents united Wednesday to oppose recent property reassessments, but it was not enough to sway the majority of the Board of Supervisors.

and

"I am voting against this because I took the oath of office to uphold our laws," said Supervisor David Beyeler, drawing boos from the crowd. "That is what is wrong with this county, that we only agree to obey the laws if it draws our fancy."

and

Chester detailed examples of how he claims Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal performed a shoddy job and suggested the Board of Assessors might have committed perjury by improperly signing the appraisal book last week. Reading from the state Constitution and evoking Thomas Jefferson, he said the board must take notice of the citizen uproar and take action to fix the situation.

"Who is the master here? According to Thomas Jefferson, we the people are the master," he said. "You are our servants and we intend to take our government back. We want justice and we are not going to stand for it."

WHSV TV News also covered the meeting. They quoted "Speedy" Hite

Ninety one year- old D.E. Hite came to stand alongside more than 700 people in Augusta County who want their property taxes rolled back to 2005 numbers

"The message is the appraisals are clear out of line," says Hite.

Hite has been buying and selling real estate for seventy years, and says he has never seen anything like this. The board is going to hear from him.

"Maybe people disagree with me. Maybe they think I'm an old man and think I don't know what's going on. But I think I basically know the value of real estate," Hite adds.

I know that I personally see a disconnect between the data to which Blue Ridge Mass Appraisals (BRMA) refers justifying their assessment and the number of properties I see selling or the prices I've paid. While BRMA says that properties in the county sold during the last quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 to date sold for above the new assessed value, I don't see this. I think it also speaks to the POTUS continued reference to a financial and/or lending crisis. These folks have to be borrowing the money for these purchases from somebody. This seems to me to show that one or the other of these people is lying. A disturbing aside to the issue, isn't it?

Anyway, I still haven't heard anything from my appeal on my mother's assessment. While I was treated politely, I (or rather my mother) hasn't been treated well. I've heard a number of people state that nobody complaining actually appealed their assessment but that is untrue. Many, many did but they weren't given even token satisfaction. It is ridiculous that land of no use is valued the same as good farm land or actual PRACTICAL building sites.

Now this whole thing pretty much ignores another issue. The reality of property taxes is that one is renting one's property from the government. You see, they can and will seize the property and sell it for even small amounts of tax "due". They will use force to remove you. So, they can, at the point of a gun take your property from you. This is NOT individual property ownership.

Why is that important? Well I know one woman who will have to pay 1/12th of her income for the INCREASE (above what her current property tax is) as a result of this assessment. As it is she has an income of only about $560 per month and her home and land is her only asset. She lives off the land, food bank aid and the generosity of her friends. She is dependent on others for transportation. Her situation makes me wonder how many will be robbed of their homes via the property tax and collection enforcement.

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment, Politics

  ¶ posted by Hobie 10:07 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  The Appeal I am not happy with Mom's 2009 Reassessment. Most people I know aren't happy with their reassessments. The reassessment does NOT seem to be grounded in reality and I'm wondering why.

In order to try to understand what I was looking at I went through a process of evaluating my mother's and her neighbors' property assessments in 2009 and 2005. I did this in a number of ways by breaking out the house lot, by averaging the rate to obtain a per acre value, etc. "Experts" told me that road frontage was important and that 2007 sales were used to set the rates. In my research I decided that, although I've heard a couple of Augusta county employees and or Board of Supervisors members had received preferential treatment, the rates were applied equally to all residents.

To sum up the appeal process I can say that they were ready for us, processed us in a pleasant and efficient manner. In the waiting area there was a slide show of Augusta County properties sold throughout 2008. I was more than a bit surprised to see so many properties had sold for more than the assessed value. In my experience, having bought a Staunton city property for less than the assessed value, and having looked at a couple of those shown, those prices were a bit excessive.

Each person was taken care of by a team consisting of one member of the Board of Assessors and one person from Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal (BRMA). Of my duo, the rep from Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal did most of the talking. Both gentlemen were pleasant and treated me respectfully. The BRMA rep tried to explain how they had done their work. All he really convinced me was that they had screwed everybody equally. At the end of our meeting I was convinced that some combination of ancient divination and voodoo was used to come up with the formula by which the assessments were made. Seriously, it is impossible to transcribe what I was told.

Towards the end of our conversation, I was shown a list of January 2009 sales. You could have knocked me over with a feather. LOTS of sales, all above the NEW assessed values at a time when supposedly there is NO money for loans available.

This takes us to another question. If all this money IS available and IS being loaned for real estate and real estate IS selling for above assessed rates despite the many, many properties still sitting unsold, what exactly is this CRISIS the POTUS is spending trillions of dollars to fight? Somebody somewhere is lying and the only thing these folks have in common is that they are in government.

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment

  ¶ posted by Hobie 3:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  The big meeting in Verona went off without a hitch... Yep, 450 some folks got together at the end of a day of bad weather (schools closed) and expressed their displeasure with the Board of Supervisors and Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal. Did it make an impression? I doubt it.

VERONA — More than 450 upset county residents filled the pews and packed an overflow room of Verona United Methodist Church to plan a fight against the 2009 reassessments.
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"I'm surprised so many people showed up, but I'm encouraged by seeing this crowd," said county resident David Delker as he watched the long line wait to enter the church Tuesday night. "I'm here because this is simple extortion by assessment, and borrowing a line from a movie, we are mad as hell and we're not going to take this anymore."

The large turnout arrived for an organizational meeting of the newly formed Augusta Citizens Against Unfair Assessments and heard speeches from Churchville attorney Francis Chester and Supervisor Tracy Pyles on their plans to roll back the assessments to the 2005 rates.

Chester detailed his threat to take the county to court with a formal suit if the supervisors do not take action. He said a massive petition, which already has been signed by thousands, will be presented to the board following a March 11 meeting and will be used as evidence in a county circuit court if the board ignores his request.

"This could be one of the largest plaintiff lists that Augusta County has ever seen," he said. "By signing the petition, which is a legal document, you are entrusting me to recognize your concerns in court. This will cost you nothing, too, so you have nothing to lose."

Chester also unveiled a new legal route the group can take by suggesting they seek a writ of mandamus for the county to sue Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal. He said after reading the contract between the county and the company, he believes there are legal grounds to overturn the company's work because of negligent procedures they performed while assessing properties and for not taking into account the full effect of the economic downturn.

"Folks, we got them just like a chicken, right by their necks," he said as the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. "They had the time to change it, but they still had the gall to submit the figures to the Board of Supervisors."

Pyles, who has repeatedly called for a roll back to 2005 reassessments, said it is crucial county residents let the rest of the supervisors know their concerns by showing up enmass to the supervisors' meeting, especially the March 11 session, where supervisors will conduct a hearing on Chester's petition

"If a crowd like this shows up every time we have a board meeting, they are going to get sick and tired of each and every one of you standing up for two minutes and saying 'this isn't right,'" Pyles said. "If we fight this as an organized group enough, they will have to back down."

Following the meeting, county resident Richard Armstrong said he's not optimistic the group will be able to change the rest of the supervisors' minds, but he said he still intends to follow Pyles' suggestion and continue to voice his concerns.

"I'm definitely planning on going to the supervisors' meetings," he said. "I've been sick of what they've been doing for a long time, and we need to do something about it."

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment, Politics

  ¶ posted by Hobie 10:41 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Are you outraged over your 2009 real estate assessments? ~ The meeting tonight will be held as scheduled ~

Attention Augusta County Residents

Are you outraged over your 2009 real estate assessments? Together ... we can make a difference! Show up and speak out!

Augusta Citizens Against Unjust Assessments will have an organizational meeting
TONIGHT Tuesday, February 3, 2009 7:00 pm at the Verona United Methodist Church
Fellowship Hall (Rt. 11 in Verona beside Burger King - additional parking in rear; enter in front door)


Info: Lynn Mitchell (LynnFromVa@aol.com)
www.swacgirl.blogspot.com - updates


Over 600 signatures collected in first 48 hours!

News coverage by WHSV TV-3 News, News Leader,
and Waynesboro News Virginian.

1) Attorney Francis Chester will discuss his plan to ask the Board of Supervisors to roll back assessments to the 2005 value.

2) Supervisor Tracy Pyles has been invited to speak.

3) Petitions will be available to sign & circulate in the community.

4) Mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 11, 2009, to attend the Board of Supervisors meeting.

5) Check www.swacgirl.blogspot.com for updates.

6) THIS FRIDAY is the last day to protest your assessment. Call the Government Center: 245-5600.


Forward this email to your friends ... invite your neighbors!


Petitions can be found at the following locations:

Tractor Supply (Staunton)
Eavers Tire (Fishersville)
Obaugh Pontiac-Buick-GMC (Staunton)
Obaugh Chevrolet-Buick (Waynesboro)
Mark Martin's Auto World
Middlebrook General Store
Junction (Buffalo Gap)
T-Bone Tooter (Churchville)
Churchville Library
Jake's Convenience Store on Rt. 250
Riverside Grocery (Churchville)
Jiffy Mart on Grubert Ave (Staunton)
Memorial Baptist Church (Staunton)
Eavers Tire (Stuarts Draft)
Eavers Amaco (Stuarts Draft)
Greenville Country Store
Greenville Trading Post (Greenville)
Bookkeeping Management (Waynesboro)
Deerfield Convenience Store
West Augusta Convenience Store
Ace Gift Store - Acedemy of CE, Inc (Waynesboro)
Zelma's (Staunton)

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment, Politics

  ¶ posted by Hobie 1:19 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

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


* * * * * * * * * *

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%!

* * * * * * * * * *

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.

* * * * * * * * * *

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 0 Comments Links to this post

  Augusta County Reassessment Fight Continues The Augusta County Board of Supervisors will meet at the Government Center tonight at 1900 (7:00 PM). If you can't make the meeting to make your voice heard, you may e-mail the County Administrator or contact them by phone or mail.

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment, Politics

  ¶ posted by Hobie 6:19 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  The local fight against unreasonable taxation continues... Attorney threatens to sue county officials Churchville lawyer says reassessments are not accurate By Trevor Brown/staff • tbrown@newsleader.com • January 28, 2009

VERONA — An area lawyer is considering filing a class-action lawsuit against Augusta County if officials do not roll back the 2009 reassessments.
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Churchville attorney Francis Chester said the assessments, which were mailed last week, are unfair and do not represent the actual market value of many properties. He called on county residents to join his petition and lobby county officials to disregard the reassessments, which increased an average 27.7 percent for home prices and 42.3 percent for commercial values, and return to the 2005 values.

"This is insane and the assessments are absolutely unreliable," he said. "If people don't stand up for their rights, they will be lambs to the slaughter."

Chester said he was "floored" when he received his assessment, which reflected an increase from $19,200 to $53,800 for the value of one of his properties and a 120 percent increase for another he owns. He said his initial research convinced him many others also think their new assessments are not legitimate.

He said he will begin circulating a petition in local businesses throughout the county and encourage residents to appeal their reassessment to qualify for a possible lawsuit. He said his law office is prepared to take legal action if the Board of Supervisors does not repeal the reassessments.

County Attorney Patrick Morgan said he is skeptical Chester's strategy is the best route to find tax relief, noting that the Board of Supervisors does not set the reassessment values.

"The board does have the authority to set the tax rate to make the taxes equal to what it was before the reassessment," he said. "I think if there is to be any relief, that is the best way to achieve that."

A further legal obstacle for Chester will be the state law that requires localities with the population of Augusta County to conduct reassessments every four years. In October, Supervisor Tracy Pyles argued the board ignore this law, which would cause the county to forfeit $38,000 from its share of net profits of the operation of the alcoholic beverage control system. However, the rest of the board unanimously rejected the proposal.

Chester argued his legal action would not violate the state law, because he said the reassessments do not reflect the actual market values as they are required to do. He said he can produce a line of real estate experts that can testify that values are much lower than the assessed figures.

Board of Assessors co-Chairman Walter Brown encouraged those, like Chester, who are unhappy with their reassessments to appeal the values with the Board of Assessors. He also said Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal, which conducted the county's reassessment work, performed its job properly.

"I believe the methodology used by Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal is solid," he said. "They met the standards to be fair, and I'm comfortable with the results."

I'm glad the co-chair of the Board of Assessors is comfortable with the reassessment. Ii suppose he is also comfortable with incompetence...

There is no way that my mother's property increased in value from $214,000 to $314,000 in 4 years. The building has deteriorated, the pasture land is marginal, it won't support another construction and the woodland is on rock. Clearly, the appraisal company never bothered to look at the property.

I must note that some folks claim it isn't the assessment that's the problem but the rate. To maintain Mother's tax payment amount, the rate would have to be reduced to $.39 per hundred. I don't see that happening. I don't see the property being valued at $314,000. The combination of tax rate and assessment amounts to a tax increase. I believe that it is an UNFAIR tax increase. Theft by the government.

Oh, there is an appeals process. The burden of proof is on the victim (tax payer) not on the government to show that the assessed value isn't correct. To do that one must either compare to other assessed values of comparable properties or show that actual sale prices of comparable properties don't reflect assessed values. That is a losing proposition for the property owner/taxpayer. Why? Well, in the first case ALL assessed values have been increased a like amount and second there are no recent sales because the market is very depressed. In other words, there's nothing to which a valid comparison can be made. The deck is stacked in favor of the government (which looks less and less to be "by, for, and of the people" every single day).

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment, Politics

  ¶ posted by Hobie 10:51 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Local Taxes - Augusta County, Virginia They say all politics is local (was that Tip O'Neil?) and right now, mostly it is.  We're fighting some fights at the state level.  Some folks seem to think that with the new President they have a mandate to control people.  At the local level, they seem to think that taxing people to death is financially responsible government. 

You see, here in August County, we've come due for re-assessment of real estate for tax purposes.  Amazingly, in a time of deflationary pricing on real estate my mother's property has been assessed at half-again as much as previously or $314,000 as opposed to $214,000.  This only 4 years after the last assessment.  This in a time of the burst housing bubble, at a time when I was able to purchase property in the city at below the old assessment value, on very poor farm land good only for grazing and some small amount of hay production (on part of it) or some poor timber growing on very rocky ground.  There is no place else on "the place" to put a dwelling.  The land is what it is but it has been assessed as if one could sub-divide and build.  So, Mom's taxes have risen by about $580 per year, or about 2 months social security payments. 

The tax rate will have to be reduced from $.58 per hundred to about $.39 per hundred to avoid an actual tax increase.  Given the value of services, there is no reason for a tax increase.  Yes, there is an appeal process.  Yes, I will be appealing.  I don't hold out much hope for relief.

Already various members of the Board of Supervisors have been whining about needing more revenue (money out of our pockets).  Just doing their part to help the economy I guess.  Following the great leader I suppose.  In Staunton, a recent reassessment of like consequence was likewise arrogantly treated with a token decrease in the tax rate but the end result was a tax increase. 

By the way, both Augusta County and the Staunton City Council has made up a begger's list for the Governor and Federal government hoping to suck off some money from the "stimulus" package for all sorts of stuff we don't need if we can't afford it including tennis courts.  Tennis courts!

Labels: AugustaCountyReassessment, Politics

  ¶ posted by Hobie 12:31 PM 0 Comments Links to this post