PROPERTY VALUES TO COME IN MAIL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 1, 1992                   TAG: 9202010319
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
PROPERTY VALUES TO COME IN MAIL
Roanoke property owners, take note: Despite the recession, property values continue to increase in the city.
And nearly half of all property owners will receive notices this weekend confirming that.
Friday, the city's Real Estate Valuation Office mailed notices of new assessments to 20,000 property owners: 19,000 homeowners and 1,000 commercial and industrial property owners.
"Property is still appreciating" in value in Roanoke, said Nadine Minnix, acting director of the Real Estate Valuation Office.
For most property owners, the increase in value is smaller than in recent years, Minnix said. But more than half of the residential property continues to show a gain, she said.
Minnix declined to estimate the average increase in assessments, but values have increased less than 15 percent in most cases, she said.
The city has 34,000 residential properties and 10,000 commercial and industrial properties.
Notices have been mailed only to property owners whose values have changed. If property owners do not receive a notice, it means their assessments will remain the same for another year, Minnix said.
Last year, assessments increased by 25 percent on some houses.
Minnix said the values on most commercial and industrial properties remined the same because there have been few sales in this category in the past year.
Roanoke is on an annual assessment cycle, and state law requires properties to be assessed at 100 percent of market value.
The impact of the new assessments on tax bills will not be known until City Council sets the real estate tax rate in the spring. The rate now is $1.25 per $100 of assessed valuation.
Minnix said several factors are considered in setting values, the most important being location. Other factors are structure type, size, age, quality of construction and amenities.
Owners can appeal their assessment if it exceeds market value, or if the valuation is not equitable with other similar properties. Appeal forms may be obtained at all city fire stations, libraries or the Real Estate Valuation Office.
The deadline for appeals is Feb. 24.
During the appeal process, assessments may be increased or decreased as a result of an inspection and further analysis of the property, Minnix said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB