January Surpirse Greets Many Property Owners In Washington County, Va.

ABINGDON, Va. – Startling news has come in the mail these past few days for some residents of Washington County.

Folks like Jody Murphy, who is retired and lives with a handicapped daughter, and W.K. Harley, an 80-year-old cattle farmer and retired railroad worker, say skyrocketing real estate assessments – and therefore taxes – are a threat to their American dream.

“I just paid in December; I was paying [taxes] on $121,500. This year, I will be paying on $254,700,” Murphy said after receiving a letter Tuesday on the new assessed value of her home, which sits on a little more than two acres just south of town. “I live in a modular home. It looks like a double-wide.”

Countywide, the average assessment increase for all property was between 15 percent and 20 percent, said David Henry, the county’s commissioner of revenue. He attributed the increase to a growing demand for land.

“Land, it’s a depletable resource,” Henry said. “It’s just like an animal on the verge of extinction. Every time a house goes up, that land will never be open again. Everyone wants a piece of the American Dream … and there’s only so much land in the county.”

Henry also said this year’s increase in assessed real estate values is nothing out of the ordinary. In some previous reassessments, he said, Washington County has seen average increases of more than 30 percent.

That hasn’t stopped the complaints.

Murphy said when she went to see the officials responsible for the assessment, which applies to the 2009 tax year, about 40 people were lined up outside the Henry’s office across Main Street from the courthouse – all seeking to do the same.

“I just can’t believe it. How can people afford to live?” Murphy said. “I was paying over $1,000; now it’ll be $3,000 a year, and it’s [the house] paid for. I could go somewhere and rent cheaper and not have upkeep. … Who would want to live in Washington County?”

Murphy said with the pressure of increasing food and energy costs she’ll likely have to sell her home – and she doesn’t think she’s the only one.

Harley’s assessment notice shows that the farm his father bought in 1944 in the western part of the county has more than doubled in value. Four years ago it was assessed at $79,000; its value is now assessed at $181,000.

He said the only change is that in the past four years the roof of a neighboring house has fallen in, creating an eyesore that should make his property less valuable – not more.

“I’m in opposition to it,” Harley said of the reassessment. “You would be if you owned it.”

He said some subdivision lots he owns – the remnants of the farm just west of Bristol, Va., that he bought in 1972 – have risen in value from $6,500 each to $20,000.

Harley’s daughter, Linda Hartsock, said her lots, two of which are undesirable because of drainage from the road above, also have been assessed at the higher value.

“It’s just incredible,” she said. “These lots were developed in the ’70s, and they’ve never sold. … If I could sell these lots for the assessed value, I definitely would do that in a heartbeat.”

Hartsock, who lives in Piney Flats, Tenn., said she was considering moving back to Washington County, Va., but the taxes will be a deterrent, not just to her but to others with a desire to live here.

Henry said Washington County’s taxes are much lower than in other parts of Virginia – and programs exist that reduce taxes for farmers, senior citizens and the disabled. Farmers don’t have to pay taxes on the full assessed value of their land as long as it remains in the land-use program, he said, and a property tax exemption exists for low-income people who are disabled or over the age of 65.

Even as the price of land has risen, some home values in the county have actually decreased, Henry said.

“Homes have not gone up as much, land has gone up more than normal. … I would say that we are seeing fairly normal re-assessment values in a very un-normal time economically,” Henry said. “We are in hard times, so if you get normal averages in real estate and then you crunch the economic times and add those into it, then the overall reaction is going to be more severe because people have no idea if we’re headed into a depression or if Washington County is going to be booming again in two years.”

Still, he said, real estate is selling as people continue to move into Washington County; 415 land transactions have been made in the county since August.

“If they put a sign on their property for assessed value, a lot of people would be shocked because it would disappear,” he said.

Those who believe their assessment is unfair can bring their complaints to the Board of Assessors, which is made up of people from the Blue Ridge Appraisal Co., which has employees who live locally and is doing the re-assessments. Property owners have until Jan. 16, at 4:30 p.m., to make an appointment with the board.

If they are still dissatisfied, they can take their complaint before a Board of Equalization, made up of people in the real estate business. Beyond that, the recourse is in circuit court.

Meanwhile, Harley, who blames a bulging county budget and high-salaried public officials for the increase in the assessed value of his property, said he’s just not going to pay.

“The way I feel right now, I don’t want to pay the taxes. I’m on a fixed income,” he said. “What I’ll do is let the taxes go, and when I die it’ll be up to my children or grandchildren to get it straightened out.”

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