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Bath property up 33%
BY CHARLES GARRATT • STAFF WRITER
WARM SPRINGS - David Hickey of Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal told Bath supervisors Tuesday landowners should receive letters with their new appraisals beginning Thursday.
The overall increase is about 33 percent for properties in what Hickey characterized as the lower end of the Bath market, basically building lots under $40,000. The increase in the upper end market, lots ranging from $250,000 to $1million, averages 92 percent.
"Notices will be mailed tomorrow (Wednesday)," Hickey said, and all should be received by the end of the week. Starting next week, BRMA personnel will hold meetings with landowners who wish to discuss or contest the value placed on property. The phone numbers to call are on the notices. The meetings will be held in the courthouse and are the first of two stages landowners have to contest the value placed on property. The board of equalization will meet beginning in April.
Covington City Manager Claire Collins said, "People should reach out to those in the community who have expertise. Make a case for what the market place is really like." Collins owns two properties in the county.
Hickey said there was "a lot of property being bought or sold in the more modest price ranges." He noted the appraisers found a divergence in trends between the high end and the typical home site value ranges.
Even so, the wide range between upper property values and lower end properties was a challenge. "We struggled throughout the entire project with values," Hickey said. The impact of high dollar subdivisions on property values was a concern, he said.
The good news for Bath County government revenue is the significant increase in the value of Bath County land on the tax rolls. Four years ago, Bath property was valued at $752 million. This year, Bath property is worth more than $1 billion.
BRMA must complete the property value update, including meetings with landowners, and sign off on the records in the commissioner of revenue's office by March 31. "We have moved mountains to get this job done," Hickey said.
Supervisors and county landowners grilled Hickey on how he accounted for the impact the slumping housing market, the slowing economy, and the Homestead Preserve had on local values.
Chairman Jon Trees told the nearly three dozen citizens at the meeting, "We have become dependent
on 100 percent value from Dominion." Under state tax regulations, Dominion Power's Bath County Pumped Storage facility pays a percentage of value based on the estimated percentage the local property is assessed compared to fair market value. The new assessment will bring that ration to 98 percent, said Hickey.
Trees said the county budget has gone from $6 million to $20 million over the past two decades. In that time, Dominion has paid approximately $134 million in taxes, according to Trees.
The Code of Virginia allows localities to access every six years. Bath has been on a four-year cycle, driven by the rising value of property and the need to capture 100 percemt of the value from Dominion.
If the taxpayers don't like what they are paying, "we can cut services," Trees said. "It is up to the taxpayers."
"The board of supervisors has to adjust the tax rate to reflect the change in value," Hickey said. Under state law, a reassessment cannot by itself result in a tax increase. If property values go up, the tax rate must come down by the same percentage. The board can then increase the tax rate in a separate action if necessary to increase revenue.
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