Pyles should follow the process
Published: February 15, 2009
Updated: March 12, 2009
The News Virginian reported Feb. 13 that Augusta County Supervisor Tracy Pyles will review the methodology used by the company that provided the disputed property reassessments that have attracted much attention from the residents and local media.
While it is interesting to have a county supervisor so involved in the reassessment dispute and separate from the rest of the board members, it is odd that Pyles has not allowed the established process of challenging the reassessments to conclude before calling for action.
It is also interesting that Pyles has also been a very vocal part of an organized task force of county residents against the required property reassessments that happen every four years. He has spoken out and against the other members of the Board of Supervisors and has become a focal point of the residents’ task force. While this can be beneficial, it has also been discovered that this task force did not invite or request any of the numerous Republican supervisors to address or speak to the task force and present their knowledge or viewpoints on this process.
Even with the recent downturn in the economy and land values, many properties have improved or increased in value during the past four years. Property reassessments are required by law and are part of the process in establishing the county operating budget.
Once the reassessment process has finished, the supervisors will have the data to review and decide on an appropriate tax rate for the current economic environment. Pyles has jumped out in front of this established process and now can also be the first to pledge to the residents that he will not vote for an increase in the tax rate if it comes to that.
Steve Kijack
Stuarts Draft
Editor’s note – The News Virginian reported Jan. 26 and several times thereafter that Pyles favors lowering the tax rate to make the reassessment revenue-neutral.
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Reader Reactions
Chris,
Thank you for your quick comment to the letter. Please note that I did point out that none of the “Republican” members of the Supervisors had been contacted or asked to talk to the group gathered at the rally and that the local media should have asked that question and reported the same. Instead it appears that the remaining board, all other members no matter what political party, were not asked as Pyles was. Instead it appears that only one Supervisor cares for his constituents and the rest are ignoring theirs.
It is you that is drawing party lines and casting the appearance that the “Republicans” dont care “for the little guy” when in fact it is the remaining board that is allowing the process to complete before any possible solution can be decided on or made…
Let the process conclude. If at that time the BOS fails to do what is right in the current economic times then we have a battle to fight with them. Until that point we have one “Rebel” supervisor who is trying to influence the process before it is allowed to take it’s course. Right now its nothing but one BIG soapbox with media coverage…
I wouldn’t want to be one of the local Republican leaders standing in front of 600 people who know that they’re getting whacked already trying to explain that the whacking is something that they’d better accept.
Government needs to be more commonsensical. It is us, after all, not some them, that runs it. The reassessments are clearly out of line with economic reality. So fix it. And no, “equalizing” the tax rate isn’t going to fix the problem, not when the process of “equalizing” means a 28 percent tax-rate cut for everybody across the board that leaves the third or so of those whose reassessments are well above that average holding the bag for the two-thirds whose reassessments fall below that average.
Mr. Kijack seems to want to make this a partisan political battle, so let’s consider ... it’s a Democrat leading the charge to protect the taxpayers here, and Republicans taking the stance that the government is in the right here. So much for Republicans being for the little guy. As if we didn’t know that one already.
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