Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 18, 1991 TAG: 9102180289
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Eight hundred and sixty-five property owners have asked city appraisers to review their assessments. Friday was the deadline for appeals.
Last year, about 1,200 property owners asked for reviews of their assessments. That was about 5 percent of the 25,000 notices of higher values.
Assessments were increased this year on a similar number of properties - 22,000 houses and 3,000 commercial and industrial parcels.
The city has about 44,000 pieces of real estate.
City appraisers will notify property owners of their decision on appeals in three or four weeks. If an owner is not satisfied with the appraisers' decision, an appeal can be made to the Board of Equalization, a three-member board appointed by the Roanoke Circuit Court.
The financial effect of the new assessments on tax bills won't be known until City Council sets the real estate tax rate this spring. The current rate is $1.25 per $100 assessed valuation.
Council members say a tax cut is unlikely because of a reduction in state aid for localities and a slumping economy that has slowed the growth in tax revenues.
Real Estate Valuation Director Von Moody III said assessments increased moderately this year. Values on many houses increased by about 5 percent, but some owners found their assessments had risen as much as 25 to 30 percent.
And not all the big increases were in affluent neighborhoods where real estate prices have climbed steadily during recent years. Assessments were increased substantially on many houses in Southeast and Northwest sections of the city.
Many homeowners were surprised by the higher values because of national news reports about declining real estate prices, bank failures and recession.
But Moody said the decline in property values that has been reported in some areas in Virginia and other parts of the country has not occurred in Roanoke.
Frances Bridge, a spokesperson for the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors, agreed that real estate prices are still rising in Roanoke, but she said their growth is smaller than in recent years.
Prices have risen by an average of 1.6 percent citywide in the past year based on figures compiled by the Realtors' group, she said. In some neighborhoods, the increase has been larger than 1.6 percent, she said, but prices have remained stable in others.
by CNB