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Well, we lowered a whole lot more property than we raised...If you hear any complaints, tell them to come in and look at the records to see what we've done,” the Equalization Board chairman suggested to the supervisors.
The Rappahannock News did just that last week, pulling assessment records both at random and for members of the Equalization Board, other government officials and some of the larger landowners.
Of a total of 36 pieces of property reviewed by the board on May 6, assessments were lowered on 20 and raised on 16. The same ratio applied to handfulls of alphabetized cards examined in a random sampling. “We lowered more than we raised.” said Barksdale in an interview last week. "It was about a 60-40 split," he said, meeting agreement from his fellow board members.
In general, open land throughout the county is valued it $1,000 to $1,200 an acre and forest land between $600 and $800 an acre, according to the Equalization Board. They noted that per acre worth is set slightly lower for land in large tracts, a practice that Forberg said is proper. “If you look at sales, you'll see that a small piece of land will bring more per acre than a large tract." he noted. The assessed value is determined on the basis of the plat on record for a particular piece of property, Forberg added. "A large tract is evaluated as a large tract, not what its worth would be if it is divided into smaller parcels.”
Supervisor chairman Dick Latham asked how appraisals are handled for separate but contiguous parcels under the same ownership.
Consolidation Possible
“They're valued separately but if you want them considered as one 1,000 acre parcel instead of ten 100 acre parcels, you can petition the Commissioner of Revenue to consolidate them.” He noted, however, that the Commissioner of Revenue has authority only to consolidate, not to change the values on the land. “She shouldn’t even consider changing the value...She has no authority to change the value at all." Once several small parcels are consolidated into a large tract, the action can be brought to the attention of the Board of Equalization with a request for reevaluation of the assessment on the property, he said. “If you find an injustice (in assessments) after the Board of Equalization has disbanded, you can petition
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