NEW KENT COUNTY 2012 BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
12003 New Kent Highway
P O Box 150
New Kent VA 23124
(804) 966-8754

 

Boards of Equalization

Local boards of equalization are made up of a majority of local citizen freeholders appointed by the circuit court or by the governing body. Members must be broadly representative of the community, and at least 30 percent of the board must be comprised of current or former professionals in the real estate, construction, financial or legal fields.  This includes commercial or residential real estate appraisers, other real estate professionals, builders, developers, or legal or financial professionals.  In addition, at least one such member shall sit in all cases involving commercial, industrial or multi-family residential property, unless waived by the taxpayer. 

The board of equalization has specific powers that are limited to the review of real estate taxation. Chapter 32, Article 14 of Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia, delineates the powers and responsibilities of local boards of equalization. An understanding of these statutes will assist the board member in the proper performance of his or her duties.

A board of equalization must:

1)   hear or receive complaints concerning the fair market value or uniformity of real estate assessments from any taxpayer or his agent, (the taxpayer may be the owner or a lessee of the property);
2)   hear or receive all complaints concerning objections to the real estate assessment of any taxpayer from the city or county attorney or the appointed representative of the city or county;
3)   make public advertisement of its meetings;
4)   keep minutes of its meetings and notify the property owner, the commissioner of the revenue or director of finance or real estate assessor of any assessment change;
5) correct any known duplication or omissions in the assessment roll;
6) hear complaints concerning special assessment for agricultural, horticultural, forest and open space land use assessment (land use values are set by the commissioner of the revenue or permanent assessor, rather than by a board of assessors);
7) conduct its meetings in public;
8) prepare an annual written report of their actions and make such report available, upon request, to the public, the local governing body of the respective county, city or town and to the Tax Commissioner. 

In order to facilitate the performance of its duties the equalization board may:

1)   summons before it any taxpayer or any other person to furnish information relating to the real estate of any and all taxpayers; to answer, under oath, all questions touching the ownership and value of such real estate and to furnish books of account or other documents containing   such information;
2)   require the commissioner of revenue or assessor of the locality to attend its meetings (without additional compensation) and to inform the board of such inequalities in assessments as may be known to him;
3)   enter and inspect any real estate subject to  equalization by the board; and
4)   increase or decrease any      assessment so that the ends of justice will be served in that the burden of taxation will rest equality upon all citizens of the locality.

In the exercise of its duties the board of equalization cannot:

1)    void a general reassessment or annual assessment;
2)    order a new reassessment;
3)    make overall (blanket) increases or decreases in assessments for the locality;
4)    increase any assessment without first notifying the property owner and giving him an opportunity to show cause against such increase, unless such property owner has already been heard;
5)    make assessment changes that are either retroactive for past years or prospective for future years;
6)    alter assessments on any real estate assessable by the State Corporation Commission or the Department of Taxation;
7)    classify property, (determine if the property is to be assessed as real estate or personal property);
8) exempt property; and
9) change the method of valuing a class of property.

In all cases brought before the board of equalization, the valuation determined by the assessor is presumed to be correct.  The taxpayer bears the burden of proving that the property is valued at more than its fair market value, that the assessment is not uniform in its application, or that the assessment is otherwise not equalized.  In order for the Board to award relief, the taxpayer must produce substantial evidence that the valuation determined by the assessor is erroneous and was not arrived at in accordance with generally accepted appraisal practice.  Mistakes of fact, including computations that affect the assessment are deemed not to be in accordance with generally accepted appraisal practice. It is not necessary for the taxpayer to show that the assessment is a result of manifest error or disregards controlling evidence. 

Under Virginia law, substantial evidence is more than a mere scintilla.  It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.

(Excerpted from the Va. Dept of Taxation Manual for Local Boards of Equalization)