Request to the Commissioner of Revenue to reduce the tax base in line with current Kelly Blue Book

To Commissioner of Revenue – Warren County, VA

I have once again, as I have every 6 months, paid my Warren County and the town of Front Royal vehicle property tax, which has been inflated and without any “common sense” tax base for several occurrences.

The county and the town are currently the undeserved beneficiaries of a drastic and punitive backdoor stealth tax on a population struggling with a 40-year high inflation rate that is crippling so many of our fellow citizens living paycheck to paycheck. This looks to be Warren County’s and the Town of Front Royal’s policy for vehicle property tax assessments both now and for the undetermined future.

The town and the county have not been satisfied with holding the line on vehicle property taxes and have created a new non-transparent “back door” tax by incorporating “artificial” inflationary values on vehicles that heretofore would have seen a decreasing tax liability because of the added wear and tear caused by the yearly aging and the increased mileage.

The town and the county should be concerned with (and focused on) avoiding placing an additional unnecessary and unwarranted financial (tax) burden on its citizens (families) in a time of rapidly rising costs on everything necessary to sustain a living above the poverty level… for those families that are struggling paycheck to paycheck, the current unnecessary additional tax burden is especially hard to bear.

Note: While so many are struggling to deal with increased costs of food, fuel, medical bills, transportation, etc., they should not have to generate additional funds (in many cases from savings) for taxes that result from artificially inflated vehicle values. Anybody thinking rationally knows that most vehicles become less valuable as they age until they become an antique or collector car/truck.

The tax base for the referenced Vehicle has increased in the amount of $6,730 in just one (1) year since it was purchased 22 months ago. The value of the vehicle has been shown to increase, far in excess of its purchased price, despite the fact that it has been driven an additional 20,000 miles and seen almost two years of additional day-to-day usage. The County has increased the tax bill, not on any intrinsic added value but based on the inflation each citizen of this region (and throughout the country) has been contending with as they seek to balance a weakening dollar against the increasing costs of living.

The Commissioner of Revenue’s office uses a bogus “MSRP” tax base from the JD Powers vehicle valuation book that is at least $10,000 higher than comparable valuations by Edmunds, Kelly Blue book, MMR (Manheim Market Report), Car Max, Car Guru, AutoNation, Consumer Reports and even JD Powers own online valuation for this very same vehicle.

Note: There is no such thing as an MSRP on a used vehicle, and the MSRP on a new vehicle is rarely if ever, the selling price of the vehicle… No car manufacturer issues a “suggested retail price” on a 2-year-old used vehicle.

I do not have access to other tax bills in the community, but the information pertaining to the vehicle I purchased (locally), a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse (24,121 miles), is a strong case in point. The vehicle was purchased on Jan 23, 2021, for $34,500.00 and, for 2021, was taxed at a value of $34,300.

 2021 Tax Bill:
County = $1,126.77
Town of Front Royal = $164.05
Total tax liability = $1,290.82

This Year (2022), the same vehicle is being taxed at an artificial (and greatly inflated) value of $41,030. (An increase of $6,730)

2022 Tax Bill:
County = $1,300.74
Town of Front Royal = $224.87
Total tax liability = $1,525.61

In less than two years, there have been a sales tax ($1,435.86) and four property tax payments, the grand total being $4252.29 in vehicle tax.

In less than two years, after adding almost 20,00 miles, the tax on the vehicle has increased from $1,290.82 to $1,525.67…Does this increase of $234.79 appear logical (or, more importantly, for every citizen in Warren County, is it even warranted)?

The taxation base for this vehicle should show depreciation but has instead increased unjustifiably as the vehicle has accumulated almost 20,000 miles and an additional model year (an additional two years in just two more months).

In all cases, vehicle value should be based on the price the vehicle owners can expect to receive through the sales channels available to them… that is, either trade-in value or private sale.

As a matter of reality and just plain fairness, what vehicle owner can expect to receive the “manufactured and imaginary MSRP” price that the Commissioner of Revenue assesses as the value of the vehicle? Please tell me.

I’m requesting that the Commissioner of Revenue for Warren County utilize a tax base at a rate more comparable to the Kelly Blue Book average wholesale value for the vehicle, which is $26,500 (see attached) and/or the MMR value (Manheim Market Report – an indicator of wholesale prices which are in a similar range), or the trade-in value or private party sale established by Edmunds ($25,872/$28,953), or Car Gurus ($27,515/$33,259), or Consumer Reports ($27,450/$33,259), or JD Powers own online value $31,825, or the Car Max buy offer of $28,600, or AutoNation’s buy offer of $28,000, or any one of many other “real life” pricing methods that show what the actual value is… certainly not the “artificial, made up and ridiculous MSRP” currently utilized to further penalize the Warren County taxpayers.

Any rational thinking adult can see that the current method for establishing a “real world value” for an individual (or business entity not in the automotive resale business) is “totally flawed.”

It would seem reasonable that the elected representatives of Warren County and the county employees paid with the taxpayers’ dollars should be focused on and committed to correcting this flawed process.

Supporting documents are attached:

Some Used Car Value Sources
JD Powers online Average Wholesale Value
Kelly Blue Book Value
Edmunds Value Report
Car Max Purchase Offer
Car Gurus Price Report
Consumer Reports (Black Book) Trade-In Value of Your Vehicle
AutoNation – Certified Offer

I did not even address the necessity for this tax (most working, tax-paying citizens use their automobile for the most basic necessity… getting to work and back). It’s a shame our elected officials and our taxpayer-supported employees do not do more to help the citizens of this county deal with their cost-of-living challenges, especially in this period of high inflation. Instead, they seize the opportunity to extract another pound of flesh to support their burgeoning bureaucracy that has entrenched itself behind bulletproof glass.

By the way, if the Commissioner of Revenue is so concerned about what is on the other side of that bulletproof glass that stands between their employees and the general public, should the taxpayer that is standing in line on the other side be equally concerned?

If commonsense were the guideline, we wouldn’t even have this tax.

Dale Carpenter
Front Royal, VA

AutoNation – Purchase Offer 221212
Car Max – Purchase Offer 221212
CarGurus Value Range 221212
Consumer Guide (Black Book), private party
2020Traverse 221213 Edmunds, private party
2020Traverse 221213
Edmunds, trade-in 2020Traverse 221213
JD Powers online average wholesale value
KBB Cover 2020 Traverse 221213
KBB Private Party 2020 Traverse 221213
Some Used Car Value Resources