‘Don’t panic’ county staff urges citizens about coming real estate reassessments

As noted in our overview story on the January 3rd Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting, during the report of County Administrator Ed Daley discussion turned toward coming real estate assessments county citizens will receive within the next month. Daley noted that accompanying tax rate projections would be based on the current County real estate tax rate. He added that the board of supervisors is likely to adjust its real estate tax rate down in response to the higher real estate valuations in order to keep its revenue stream under state-prescribed levels at which municipalities can benefit revenue-wise from higher assessments without further action.

“But until that time everybody’s going to get this sticker shock,” Daley observed of real estate tax estimates based on the existing tax rate as opposed to what the supervisors may do in adjusting the rate down in response to higher real estate valuations due to various economic factors.

Following the meeting County Attorney Jason Ham offered some additional clarification. “By law we have to send notice out that shows what the new values of folks’ properties are. And they’ve got to multiply it by the current tax rate, about 65 cents (65.5 cents per $100 of assessed value),” he began. “But that tax rate is probably going to go way down. But by law you’ve got to show that calculation (at the existing tax rate), and so everyone’s going to see this enormous tax levy, which in reality almost certainly is going to go down.”

The common message from both County Administrator Ed Daley and County Attorney Jason Ham, buoyed by meeting comments from supervisors, is that your County Real Estate Taxes will not go up, at least not by the amount showing on your reassessment notice slated to hit your mailbox by month’s end.

Ham noted he was making an educated guess and is not an elected official who makes the final call on where the County will set its tax rates for the coming year. However, it is likely a good guess with a board majority (Cullers, Oates, Mabe) that has publicly noted on more than one occasion that it has not raised taxes during its three-year term in office despite the inflationary national and world economies. And Ham’s guess was bolstered when North River Supervisor Delores Oates observed during the meeting discussion that the board’s goal was not to hold the current real estate tax rate so the county government could realize a revenue windfall from the higher real estate assessments.

Ham pointed out that, “If this 65.5 cents times the current value of all Warren County property, all aggregate, gets more revenue to the County than 101% (of what it was getting prior to the reassessment) we’ve got to have multiple public hearings. So, in all likelihood they’re going to reduce it so that it’s revenue neutral or it’s at 101%.” The county attorney’s reference is to State-required public hearings that would keep the tax rate at a level by which the County would realize more than the allowed 1% revenue increase from higher assessments. The applicable state code can be found online, Ham pointed out, by searching: “LIS 58.1-3321”

“Again, I’m not elected, so they can do whatever they want,” Ham said of the often fluid political landscape. For the supervisors that landscape includes maintaining an acceptable level of County services without thus far raising the County’s tax revenue stream to match increasing costs of providing those services or dipping too deep into reserve funds.

Ham added that while he didn’t know by what percentage the County’s Real Estate Tax revenue would increase above the allowed one-percent as a result of the reassessment values, but that it was likely to be significant in the current economic environment where “everything has gone up”. And he observed that information is that residential real estate has increased in value more than commercial properties during the current inflationary cycle.

“But I highly doubt that Warren County’s going to then go ahead and actually impose that big tax increase. I suspect the rate will be lowered. So, taxpayers are going to see something that’s going to be really unpleasant but it’s likely to be reduced,” the county attorney reiterated of the tax-based numbers county citizens will see attached to their real estate reassessments based on the existing 65.5-cent real estate tax rate.

So, remember when you open that County of Warren return-addressed envelope headed your way by month’s end on the reassessed value of your real estate and that assessments impact on your real estate taxes in the coming fiscal year, stay calm. It’s just an illusion – probably.