Assessments
Goochland County Assessor Mary Ann Davis presented the
results of the 2026 county land assessments to the supervisors at their February
3 meeting.
Assessments reflect the fair market value as of January 1,
2026, said Davis. Notices were mailed to all landowners on January 15. Property
owners have until February 17 to appeal their assessments. A call to her office
at 804-556-5853 will start the process. This begins with a review of
characteristics with the property owner followed by an interior inspection. A
review of sales and equalizations is conducted after which the property owner
is notified of the results by letter. If the owner is not satisfied with this
investigation they have 30 days from the date of the letter to appeal to the
Board of Equalization. If the landowner is not satisfied with that ruling the
next step is an appeal to Circuit Court.
Davis explained that Goochland uses a mass appraisal
approach, valuing “the forest and not the trees”. She went into a detailed
explanation of coefficient of dispersion to describe the accuracy of methods
used to value property whose results must fall into a narrow variance between
assessed values and actual property sales. She opined that this means that 97
out of 100 property sales sell for at least their assessed value. Davis
contended that property values in Goochland are the result of a sellers’ market
because there are few resales, and new construction costs continue to increase,
The total taxable value of land, excluding new construction
and land use, in Goochland increased about five percent from 2025; 81.98
percent residential, 18.02 percent commercial. (The supervisors have a goal of
a residential to commercial tax base ratio of 70/30. In 2025, according to a
chart presented by Davis, the ratio was 82.2/17.8)
The total taxable value of land in Goochland is $10.3
billion, of which three percent, or $294 million is attributed to new
construction—77 percent residential and 23 percent commercial. Fair market
value of land in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District is $2.8 billion. Land use
(engaged in active agriculture, sylviculture, or horticulture use is taxed on
per acre rates established by the state land evaluation council for each county
rather than the rate per $100 of valuation that applies to other parcels) $832 million,
or $4.7 million in deferred revenue. When property in land use is rezoned a “clawback”
consisting of the difference between the land use rate and fair market value
rate for a number of years before the rezoning applies. Davis said that the acreage
in land use fluctuates year over year but is significant.
To hear the complete assessor’s report, go to the county
website https://www.goochlandva.us/
click on “watch county meetings” select BoS Feb 3. It begins around the 34-minute
mark and is well worth a listen.)
VDOT
These are the times that try the souls of those charged with
clearing roads. Philip Frazier, administrator of the Ashland VDOT residency, reported
about his agency’s role in snow and ice removal from county roads. VDOT is responsible
for snow removal on roads in Goochland that are part of the state system.
He said that on the weekend of January 25, the area received
about three inches of snow followed by about eight continuous hours of sleet,
which packed the snow down and turned it to ice, or as some are calling it,
snowcrete. Blessings to all who battled the mess.
“My team has been on a 13-day venture to brine, pretreat, do
snow removal in the midst of the storm and do storm cleanup for about a week,”
said Frazier. Minor conditions were established on the interstate and primary
road system by noon on January 26. Primary routes, 6,250, 522, were clear by
Tuesday, the 27th. Secondary
roads remained in a moderate condition for an extended amount of time.
Historically prolonged cold temperatures complicated VDOT
efforts to make all roads passable. Daytime melting led to overnight freezing
that made the ice tighter and harder to treat, explained Frazier. Efforts were
shifted to applying abrasives—10 parts sand one part salt—to secondary roads to
help provide traction for those trying to get out of subdivisions. Though most
VDOT resources were shifted to daytime operations, smaller crews worked overnight
treating slick spots to prepare for the morning rush hour.
He said that subdivision roads can still expect to see snowpack,
but that VDOT crews will “fight it and push at it as long as its slush” through
the weekend.
VDOT forces and hired resources worked wide by side throughout
the event and continued to work to clean up the ice pack, said Frazier. Resources
include heavy construction equipment including motor graders, tractors, and
loaders to deal with the ice.
They are restocking salt and sand in anticipation of more
winter forecast later this week. Frazier urged caution when traveling as snow
piled on road shoulders that melts during the day will refreeze in the cold and
dark to create patches of treacherous black ice. He commended his Goochland
maintenance leadership team Mark Harlow, Joe Terry, and Bobby Knight and the “unsung
heroes the operators, contractors and all of the folks who have partnered with us
and supported the residency in the snow removal operation.”
Frazier thanked Goochland for helping to field calls about
road conditions and explain VDOT procedures and pass on folks with concerns and
complaints.
The supervisors commended VDOT for its efforts.
Public Engagement
Jessica Kronberg, Director of Strategic Communications, shared
highlights of communication activities between July 1 and December 31, 2025,
the first half of the current fiscal year.
Mechanisms used to share information about county operations
include social media, press releases, media relations, and emergency
communications. There were more than 1,000 posts on the county’s main platforms,
not including parks and rec and animal protection. Goochland County has pages
on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
These pages direct viewers to the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ for detailed
up to date information about things going on in Goochland. Between July and
December, the county website had 1.8 million hits. Kronberg said that it was
recently redesigned to improve navigation and continues to be tweaked to
increase user satisfaction.
The most searched topics were energov (land use and
permitting software), pet adoptions, TOD, GIS, board of supervisors, and dogs.
A weekly newsletter, Goochland at a glance is
currently distributed to 194 subscribers with a 76 percent open rate. The
county also has mobile apps available at both the Apple and Google Play stores for
download to receive push notifications and other alerts. Go to https://goochlandva.us/list.aspx to
sign up for delivery to your inbox.
Last year Kronberg collaborated with Director of Emergency
Management Robin Hillman, and Paul Drumwright, Community Affairs Manager, to
implement a new crisis communication system that as 20 different preapproved,
predesigned emergency scenario templates to enable rapid dissemination of
information to citizens. “Goochland Alerts Powered by Everbridge”, the system went
live on January 16. It was used during the water main break in Lower Tuckahoe
to communicate with affected homeowners and to message county employees during
weather closings.
Kronberg’s department provides high quality photographs available
to media outlets (thank you Jessica!) Strategic Communications maintains displays
on the monitors in the administration building, print materials and mailers,
and an internal employee newsletter.
An engaged citizenry is vital to good government.
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