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Home values put on the Web

Web site offers Stafford residents a chance to check out reassessments on their homes--and their neighbors'

By RUTH FINCH

Date published: 2/20/2004

By RUTH FINCH

Are you a Stafford resident and want to know whether your house came in higher or lower than the average 34 percent increase under the county's new property assessments?

You can check your mailbox for a notice of reassessment. Commissioner of Revenue Scott Mayausky mailed about 43,500 of them on Wednesday.

Or you can log on right now to co.stafford .va.us/commrev and click the Real Estate Online link in the page's left margin.

That's the Web site Mayausky launched yesterday to help taxpayers understand reassessment notices.

You can search by street address or by the alternate PIN that appears in bold type on your reassessment notice. Enter a range of house numbers and you can find out how your neighbors' reassessments stack up against yours.

Don't like what you see? There's an online appeal form included on the Web site.

If you're not Internet-savvy or prefer filing an appeal the old-fashioned way, you can call Mayausky's office at 658-4127.

"We are expecting our phones to be very busy," Mayausky said. "If you cannot get through, be patient. You'll get a voice-mail recording and we'll get back to you as soon as we can."

Mayausky said the assessment appeals process will last through the third week in March, but appointments for appeals need to be set up by March 8 at the latest.

The notices going out reflect the largest jump in real-estate assessments Stafford has ever seen.

At the last reassessment in 2002, the average value of all the houses in the county was $175,000. The average on the notices going out this week is $240,000. Subtract the new construction that wasn't part of the 2002 reassessment, and the average increase for homes that existed in 2002 is 34 percent--more than double the 14 percent to 15 percent increase seen between the 2000 and 2002.

Despite the big jump this year, County Administrator Steve Crosby has proposed keeping the real-estate tax rate steady at $1.14 per $100 of assessed value. Unless the Board of Supervisors changes that, the average homeowner's real-estate tax bill will increase by $741.

Some supervisors have pledged to lower the tax rate. The board is expected to officially set the rate April 20.

Senior citizens with modest incomes might also be getting additional tax relief. Supervisors are slated to hold a public hearing March 2 on a proposal that would make more seniors exempt from real-estate taxes.

Right now, Stafford residents 65 and older and those who are permanently disabled qualify for full tax exemptions if their net worth is less than $75,000 and their yearly gross household income is less than $25,000.

Those with a net worth between $75,000 and $95,000 and income between $25,000 and $35,000 are eligible to have their bill cut in half.

The board is considering bumping up the net-worth requirement to the state limit of $195,000 for both full and half exemptions.

ON THE WEB: co.stafford.va.us/commrev (click the Real Estate Online link in the left margin)

To reach RUTH FINCH: 540/720-1622 rfinch@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 2/20/2004