Augusta supervisors address 54% average assessment increase
VERONA – The Augusta County Board of Supervisors have yet to set a tax rate.
Coming on the heels of the 2024 Augusta County reassessment, the two most recent supervisor meetings have been full of tax rate and assessment discussions. The new assessments are available online at www.AugustaCountyVA.gov/RealEstateDatabase.
On average, the new Augusta County assessments are 54% higher than the last assessment five years ago, according to Augusta County Commissioner of Revenue George Price.
Commercial properties were up, on average, 52%.
“I know its exorbitant,” said Supervisor Michael Shull. “I don’t know how the people are getting the money to buy these homes that they’re getting. I just hope that we don’t have a crash like we did in ‘08 and we have all these houses sitting on the market. It’s unfortunate that everything is priced out of reason. It is what it is right now. We’ll have to deal with it in the way that we can deal with.”
The tax rate has not been set
In February, Supervisor Gerald Garber found out his home assessment was up by 78%. Not long after he found out, he started hearing from other county residents.
“Apparently I have a lot of new best friends as a result of the reassessment,” said Garber in February. “I would just like to simply remind you of what I’ve told every one of you individually. This board does not set that number and this board cannot change that number. The only thing we can do is set a tax rate.”
Each supervisor told a similar story in the Wednesday meeting – they’ve been approached in the grocery store, gotten phone calls, and been swarmed with emails from constituents concerned about the tax bill due this June. Several public speakers criticized the assessment in the past two meetings, both in how it was conducted and how the increased assessments were noticed.
Assessment forms were mailed out in February. The county’s previous tax rate, 63 cents per $100 of assessed value, and the new assessment were then used to calculate the tax rate listed on the form.
Last year’s tax rate is not this year’s tax rate.
Let’s emphasize that – the 2024 tax rate has not yet been set.
According to Price, Virginia State Code requires the new assessment forms to show the calculation with the previous tax rate.
“Having to show that tax levy, at the new value plus the old tax rate, has definitely worked a lot of people up, but it’s a requirement,” Price said. “It wasn’t that we were just trying to shock people, it’s a requirement.”
The assessments are based on sales data, not just assessor inspections of property. For more information on how this is calculated, see The News Leader's previous coverage of the assessment.
“It’s based on fair market value,” Shull said in February. “When you talk to any of the realtors around, about how houses have been selling, most old houses that are around 100 years old have been selling for three hundred and some thousand dollars.”
When will we know the tax rate?
As of the Wednesday meeting, next year’s budget is not ready for review. The supervisors have a meeting at the end of the month to review the budget. A public hearing will be held in mid-April for the public to give input on the budget before the supervisors vote to finalize it.
The supervisors do not currently know the equalization rate, the lower tax rate that would keep the county revenue neutral with the previous assessments and tax rate. The assessments are higher, so keeping the tax rate the same would mean residents are paying more in taxes.
“We’re going to be mindful of that and try to adjust the tax rate accordingly to try to give everybody the relief that they need but also to pay the bills we have incurred,” Shull said in February. He echoed this on Wednesday, saying, “Our plan is to look at the tax rate and to lower the rate to try to help people out.”
Here's the timeline for determining the tax rate:
The 2024 assessments were mailed out in February.
The supervisors will meet all day in late March to discuss the budget. After this, there will be an expected tax rate from the board. The 2024 equalized rate will be advertised around the same time as the budget is advertised, after the initial assessments have gone out.
Public hearings on the tax rate, the budget, and the equalized rate will all occur in April.
The budget is historically approved by early May, so tax bills can go out before taxes are due on June 5.
Appeal your assessment if you don’t like it!
Nearly every supervisor responded to their constituent’s questions and feedback in the same way – if you don’t like your assessment, appeal it. If it says you made home improvements or added a shed you didn’t make or add, tell the assessors. If you go on Zillow.com or realtor.com and see comparable homes selling for less, bring that information to the assessors.
“If you have a question or you think it’s not fair or equitable, appeal it,” Supervisor Pam Carter said. “That’s your responsibility to do that. I know that the assessments weren’t perfect. We don’t live in a perfect world, but I think they tried to do the best they could. Now is the opportunity to try to have an impact on that as a property owner, to appeal it.”
So far, over 800 people have appealed their assessments. Price explained there were 415 in person, 178 over the phone, and 211 who either wrote in or emailed comments.
“By the afternoon, they’re not terribly busy,” said Price. “I think folks that need to talk with them about values, talk with them about how they got where they got to, there’s an opportunity right now to talk to the people who actually did the assessment.”
The deadline to appeal is March 18, fast approaching.
The 2019 Augusta County assessment saw 341 appeals, with about 80% being successful. Some successful appeals saw as much as an 81% reduction of the initial assessment, while others saw as little as a 0.02% percent. The average was 3%.
A direct link to submit an appeal online is available using this link and in The News Leader's previous assessment coverage.
The Board of Equalization has been extended
Once the assessors work through the first round of less formal appeals, the next step is the Board of Equalization. The supervisors voted to extend the board’s work by three months.
The original deadline for applications to the Board of Equalization was the end of June. This has been extended to Sept. 1. The board was then expected to work through the applications by the end of July. This has been extended to Oct. 31.
According to Deputy County Administrator Jennifer Whetzel, residents with adjustments handled by the Board of Equalization will have to pay taxes on their current 2024 reassessed value by the deadline in June. Successful applications will have the difference abated and refunded through the Commissioner of Revenue’s office.
The supervisors held a public hearing with no speakers before unanimously voting to extend the board’s timeline.
Tax relief programs could be expanded
“The Board of Supervisors requested that I prepare a proposal to increase the maximum gross combined income and the maximum net financial worth qualifications for the county’s tax relief program for the elderly and disabled,” Price wrote in memo included in the supervisor’s agenda packet.
To currently qualify for Augusta County’s program for disabled or elderly residents, an entire household would have a maximum gross combined income of $40,000 and have maximum net financial worth to $100,000. The maximum net worth figure does not include the resident’s home and up to 10 acres of land on which the home is located.
The supervisors heard a presentation on different ways of implementing the program based on mathematical tiers or equations, allocating the most tax relief to those with the least amount of assets and income.
County staff examined different data sets to determine how high the maximums should rise. Cost-of-living increases for people taking Social Security income increased from $40,000 in 2019 to nearly $49,000 in 2023. Combine that with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s local threshold for low income, $54,000, and the board seemed to agree it was time for an increase.
Supervisor Bragg said she intended to introduce a motion to raise the maximum income threshold from $40,000 to $55,000 and the maximum net worth from $100,000 to $125,000. This change would require an ordinance and an advertised public hearing, so it will come back before the board of a vote in April.
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Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It’s welcome through email to lbordelon@gannett.com. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Augusta supervisors address 54% average assessment increase
