Some February Board highights

 

 

Government at all levels has many moving parts. Goochland County government, which perhaps has more impact on our daily lives than those higher on the food chain, is no exception.

Routine matters were addressed at the Board’s monthly meeting, typically held on the first Tuesday of the month. The most recent was February 7.

Recognition

Any organization is only as good as its people. Goochland is blessed to be served a county staff that strives to provide the best service possible to all citizens.

The supervisors recognized Wanda Tormey, Director of Purchasing since 2012, who will retire on March 1 to begin the next chapter of her life.

“It was my honor to serve the county in many different roles for the last 30 years. I am going to thank Becky Dickson (County Administrator 2009-16) for taking a chance on me for the director position in 2012. I made a promise to her and to the county that this is what I wanted to do, and I wanted to prove myself.” Tormey teared up at the mention of Dickson, who passed on in 2017.

Holding up an armload of name tags and badges Tormey said “this represents every single training conference and educational opportunity you allowed me in the last 30 years. Goochland supports its employees at work but in so many other ways.”

Wanda Tormey holds memories of her service to Goochland

She thanked the county for supporting her in cancer walks, corporate run events, Christmas Mother programs; the Presidency of the Capital Area Purchasing Association;  representation at the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing and many others.

Tormey also thanked other county agencies including public utilities and its Director Matt Longshore, the Sheriff’s Office and Fire-Rescue, which holds a special place in her heart. She gave a shout out to General Services, which is rarely mentioned but keeps “the place running.”

“It’s hard to leave a job you love and the people who became family.”

Assessments

Real Estate valuations for 2023, as of January 1, were mailed out mid January. Assistant Assessor Christie Hess presented the latest numbers to the board.

Total assessed valuation of all real property in the county increased by 9.6 percent over 2022. Hess attributed the increase to a rise in construction costs and dearth of improved properties for sale, creating  a ”seller’s market.” Looking ahead to next year, a further rise in values between four and five percent is expected.

As of February 7, said Hess, the assessor’s office has received 51 appeals so far, 8 of which are for commercial property. The deadline to appeal assessments is February 15. (Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/336/Appeals for details about appealing a property assessment.)

The total taxable assessed 2023 value for Goochland County is $7.84 billion. Of that $230 million is new construction, representing about a 3.3 percent of the value increase. Of this 18 percent is commercial, a significant portion of which is completion of two budlings in Avery Point; and 82 percent residential. Fair market value for land in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District is $2.03 billion, of that seven percent is new construction, 11.23 percent from increases in valuation. Land use assessment, for parcels engaged in agriculture or forestry are $734 million. Property in land use is taxed on a per acre basis whose rates are determined at the state level. Owners of parcels in land use must recertify that their land meets criteria for inclusion every year. Non compliance removes land from the program and land is assessed at the higher fair market value.

County Assessor Mary Ann Davis gave a brief history of the department, which was created 20 years ago. Before that, property was reassessed at four-year intervals by an outside vendor retained by the county. The annual cycle began in 2010.

Davis explained how property is valued. (go to https://www.goochlandva.us/318/Real-Estate-Assessments) for details about the Assessor’s Office. Her presentation included a chart showing the number of residential sales by price. For 2021 and 2022, 301 and 262 homes respectively were sold in the $500k to $800k price range. There were 425 closed sales. The average single family home price in 2022 for Goochland was $550 up 17.6 percent and the median (half below, half above) was $637,421 according to the Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service.  Davis observed that these values are comparable to Loudon, not our surrounding counties.

Sales are reviewed for accuracy by research and field inspections then sampled for accuracy. Davis shared requirements for compliance with statutory mandates for appraisals. (Go to https://goochlandva.new.swagit.com/videos/207184 beginning at the 2:05 minute mark to hear the presentation in its entirety.) Assessors are historians, said Davis, because the valuations for 2023, for instance, are based on sales for 2022.

Board Chair Neil Spoonhower, District 2, thanked Davis for the presentation. “We (the supervisors) get accused all the time of raising taxes because we’re monkeying with the assessments.”

If a home sells for $500k the assessor checks to see how close the sale price is to the assessment. A 3,000 square foot home in District 1 might sell for a different price than one in District 5. “We look at them all  different ways to validate the assessment, all based on actual sales to keep the variance within three percent. Davis cautioned that homes are valued from the outside and failure to maintain  the interior of a home can have an impact on the sales price. That, she said, could be basis for an appeal.

Davis said that people who believe the assessed value of their home is excessive may not be aware of the state of the local real estate market. We work with those people to explain why this is what the market is saying.”

 

FY2023 second quarter projections

Director of Finance Carla Cave gave the supervisors an update on county finances for the second quarter of FY 2023. (Goochland operates on a fiscal year that runs from July 1 to June 30. Tax rates, however, are set on a calendar basis in April of each year.)

Cave expressed optimism that revenues will exceed expenses by approximately $5 million at the end of the fiscal year, which is a bit less than last year, due to lower projections for personal property tax revenues.

She opined that the excess is the result of assessed valuations coming in higher than anticipated when the budget was crafted. About 70 percent of personal property taxes for the fiscal year had been collected by the end of December 2022.

Expenditures said Cave are now expected to come in right around target. In spite of inflationary pressures, Cave expressed optimism that the end of year fiscal picture will be “rosier” with fingers crossed at the halfway point.