Tax Reassesment drew crowd to Supervisors meeting

Plenty of folks upset with the increase of their property value gave the Board of Supervisors an earful of concerns during the February 27, 2024 meeting. The Board met at the Botetourt County Administration Center at Greenfield in Amsterdam.

But the amount of taxes people have to pay on their property has yet to be determined. Supervisor Chairman Steve Clinton noted that the county budget committee has not yet determined a tax rate, and probably won’t until the end of March. The amount of the tax rate ultimately determines how much individuals pay for their real estate taxes.

The Supervisors first held a phone conference with a PowerPoint presentation with Gary Eanes, a principle in Wampler-Eanes Appraisal Group, Ltd., which performed the reassessment for Botetourt County.

Eanes noted that Botetourt County as been on a four-year reassessment cycle for many years. By state law, values assessed to real estate must be at 100 percent of market value, he said. According to him, field inspectors visited every accessible property and talked to homeowners if someone was at home. They also viewed property records and used GIS information to view property lines, open land, woodland, and waterfront property.

He explained that the county was divided in 112 market areas to compare sales, so that homes within one subdivision were not compared with homes in another.

Currently, his company is holding hearings to that landowners can appeal the assessment. If they disagree with the company’s values, they can then appeal to the Board of Equalization, which is appointed by the Botetourt County Circuit Court. Landowners can also appeal directly to the Circuit Court for tax relief.

Eanes said the market trends for increased land and home values are nationwide. He said that in 2019, the average sales price of a home in Botetourt was $259,872. In 2023, the average sales price was $386,862, Eanes said. He also noted that real estate sales dropped from 490 in 2019 to 313 in 2023.

“The key point is the reassessment is not done by the Board of Supervisors,” Clinton said. “We had nothing to do with those valuations.”

Deputy County Administrator David Moorman explained how Wampler-Eanes came to be chosen to do the reassessment. He said in 2022 the county advertised for bids for the reassessment project and received only two responses. Both applicants were reviewed by a committee who determined Wampler-Eanes was the best company to do the reassessment.

Eanes said so far 648 people have appealed, representing 691 parcels. “Out of 21,000 parcels, that’s not bad,” he said.

Some people are sending in photos and written details, while others are sending in appraisals they’ve had performed by someone else. Some folks send in estimates from services online such as Zillow. “Anything they feel would help their case,” Eanes said.

Valley District Supervisor Mac Scothorn wondered if the county should change its appeals process from every four years to every two years because of the high increases in values. The county’s land values went up an average of 35 percent, but some real estate parcels had their values increase as much as 100 percent or more.

Eanes said some localities were considering biennial reassessments, “just to keep the sticker shock down.”

Eanes went on to explain that what Fincastle District Supervisor Brandon Nicely called an “historic price increase” occurred because of supply and demand. Eanes said land prices began rising in 2018 and have continued to climb. At times, he said, there have been 10 buyers for every piece of property sold.

About 10 people spoke about the real estate assessments, with all but one expressing frustration at the process and expressing concern about paying a higher rate of taxes. Queries ranged from “What benefits are we going to get,” for any tax increase to concerns about an artificially inflated real estate market.

Clinton noted that citizens have the right to appeal. “The intervening factor is the tax rate, which has not been addressed yet,” he said.

Citizens have until March 4 to mail or email an appeal to Wampler-Eanes. The Board of Equalization will take appeals applications until May 10. See https://www.botetourtva.gov/859/Reassessment for more information on appealing real estate assessments.

                                                                        — AJFirebaugh, Special to The Botetourt Bee