County reassessment certified

VERONA — Members of the Augusta County Board of Assessors chatted casually about assessment appeals, value adjustments and recent land sales Friday afternoon before certifying the Augusta County reassessment.

Five of seven board members signed the assessment books shortly after 1 p.m., with the remaining two expected to sign later.

The certification comes just five days before petitions calling for a rollback are to be presented to county supervisors during a meeting Wednesday at the Government Center. The timing of Friday’s certification antagonized some property owners, but supervisors maintain it is part of the process and still allows for appeals with the board of equalization.

“I’m downright mad,” said Richard Armstrong, of Staunton, who appealed the assessment on a Pastures District property that increased in value by more than $5,000, or 12.2 percent. “I’m gonna be [at Wednesday’s meeting], I’m gonna be there early, and I’m going to tell the crooks exactly what I think.”

Armstrong said he takes issue with the certification because he and many other property owners have not received adjustment notices by mail.

Assessors board co-Chairman Walter Brown said adjustment notices do not affect certification and should be sent within three weeks. He said more than a third of 2,100 appeals resulted in adjustments.

“People are inflamed about this,” said Churchville lawyer Francis Chester, who launched a petition drive seeking a rollback to 2005 values. “[Assessors] are submitting an incomplete assessment. That’s why I’m calling for the supervisors to fire the board of assessors for incompetence. ... They are short-circuiting this thing so they can bamboozle the public, and the public is not going to fall for it.”

Property values increased by an average of 27.7 percent under the reassessment, completed last fall by Staunton-based Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal Co. at about the same time local real estate agents say the nationwide housing collapse began rippling into the area. Values in Staunton and Waynesboro increased by less than 5 percent over two years compared to more than five times as much in Augusta over four years.

Pastures District Supervisor Tracy Pyles has lobbied the remaining six Augusta supervisors to extend the reassessment cycle by an additional two years, taking advantage of a bill sponsored by state Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, and awaiting the signature of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. Hanger’s bill allows supervisors to extend the reassessment cycle from four years, as currently mandated under state code, to five or six years.

Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal President Dave Hickey spoke briefly Friday with board members before their signing and emphasized that of 83 property sales in the county since Jan. 1, about 78 percent sold for more than the assessed value.

“So we’re right there,” Hickey said of assessed values.

Assessors board members said they are confident their numbers are right and that the appeals process worked as it should. Pyles has alleged the board of assessors rushed to certify before next week’s meeting, which Hickey said he likely will not attend.