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Will the reassessment
be perfect?
Thank you for “Wherefore Cometh the Taxman” in your
October 27 issue. I hope every Rappahannock taxpayer has read it carefully.
I personally would like to stress a few points made by the author, Bill Kossler, and add a few comments of my own.First, I appreciate that Mr. Kossler made clear that the current reassessment is required by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that neither Blue Ridge Appraisal nor the Board of Assessors plays any role in setting the future tax rate.
Our joint role is to make the reassessment as equitable as possible — a difficult job in the face of rising property values. State law requires that real estate assessments be closely consistent with actual sales prices. The tax rate will be set next year by the Board of Supervisors, which is where property owners should state their views about tax policy. (Since about 3/4 of Rappahannock land is in the “land use” tax system, the reassessment may turn out to have little impact on tax bills.)
As reported, the Board of Assessors and Blue Ridge’s Mike Didawick have been spot-checking field work done by the paid staff.
We have paid particular attention to assessments of properties owned by members of the Board of Supervisors, the Planning Commission, the Board of Assessors, and other County officials.
We have wrestled with sales records that seem to demonstrate that property values of neighboring properties can differ markedly, while similarly-sited properties can sell for similar mices wherever
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