up up and away

 

Value are going up

By now, all property owners in Goochland should have received notice of their 2024 assessed valuation. Most had a robust increase.

Deputy Goochland County Assessor Christi Hess presented the annual assessment report to the supervisors at their February 6 meeting.

She explained that annual assessments are made as of January 1, and were mailed out on January 12. Property owners have until February 15 to appeal. (Information about appealing is on the notice.) As of February 1, Hess reported, 24 appeals, all non-commercial, had been received by her office. Last year, 114 total appeals were made.

Property values are established by reviewing actual sales for accuracy by appraisers and field inspections and are then sampled for statistical relevance. Using an assessment to sales ratio to measure the quality of the assessment. She then went into detail about how the “coefficient of dispersion measures assessment uniformity. The tighter the curve, the better our numbers are.” The International Association of Assessing Officers’ technical appraisal standards should be the median between 90 and 110 percent. Then she discussed coefficients of dispersion, a level below 15 percent is desirable. (To view the presentation, go to the “watch county meetings” tab on the website, select BoS February 6 then video. Hess’ remarks start around the 36-minute mark.)

Long story short, in 2023, Goochland had 570 sales of residential properties, and nine commercial properties. The total taxable value of all property in the county increased by 9.9 percent to $8.62 billion. Of that, $392 million,  was new construction—45 percent commercial 55 percent residential— accounting for five percent of the overall value increase. The fair market value of property in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District is $2.46 billion. Land use assessments were $791 million. A projected increase in revenue for next year is projected to be between four and five percent.

Hess attributed the higher assessments to increases in construction costs, and lack of improved properties that created a seller’s market.

Property actively engaged in agricultural, forestall, or horticultural activity is eligible for land use taxation whose rates are determined by the State Land Evaluation and Advisory Council comprised of a tax commissioner, the Dean of Virginia Tech, the Commissioner of Agriculture and  Consumer Services, the State Forester, and the Director of Conservation and Recreation. Goochland Assessor Mary Ann Davis serves on the land use value committee of the Virginia Association of Assessing Officers.

Per acre land use rates for 2024 are $800 for horticulture and agriculture, and $583 for forestry. Land use is considered deferred taxation, this year equating to $4.91 million.

District 2 Supervisor Neil Spoonhower said that citizens often call him contending that they are unable to sell their homes for the assessed valuation. “It is my understanding that we look at assessments and houses that have actually sold to see if they are close to the assessment. According to this, we are underassessing homes by about 2.8 percent so we’re in line with the market,” said Spoonhower.

Hess said that the state requires that property be assessed at 100 percent, which would over assess property. Goochland, she said, tends to be over on half of assessments and under on the rest. She confirmed that about half of the property in Goochland is in some form of land use taxation.

The percentage ratio of residential to commercial property—the county’s long-term goal is a 70/30 split to bolster overall tax revenue and tax some of the tax burden off of homeowners—is currently 81.35 residential and 18.65 commercial.

To appeal their assessment, property owners must contact the assessor’s office before February 15, next Thursday, which will trigger an investigation into the accuracy of the 2024 assessment. Should the property owner not be satisfied with the outcome of that action, property owners have 30 days to make a formal appeal to the Board of Equalization. If that does not resolve disputes, the property owner’s final step is to make an appeal to Goochland Circuit Court for resolution.

Tax rates for calendar year 2024 will be set by the supervisors in April. County Administrator Vic Carpenter will present his recommended budget for fiscal year 2025, which begins on July 1 to the supervisors at a special meeting on the afternoon of February 20, which will also include budget workshop discussions.

The proposed budget and tax rates will be posted on the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/  after February 20. This is the time to review budget recommendations and submit comments to your supervisor rather than complain about tax bills in May.

District specific town hall meetings will be held in March to explain the plan to spend tax dollars. Please pay attention and take the time to make your views about the budget known to the supervisors.