Few sound off at hearing about tax hike

By Mike Morell

Published: April 23, 2008

Both the public turnout and the number of speakers at the county’s recent proposed real estate tax hearing was relatively light.

About 60 people attended the April 16 hearing at Amherst County High School and of the 12 speakers, only nine expressed opinions on the proposed raise in the tax.

When a county goes through a reassessment of real estate, state law requires that the tax rate be adjusted. In the case of Amherst County, the lowered tax rate was set at $0.43 per $100 of assessed value. The board of supervisors is proposing a tax rate of $0.58 per $100 of assessed value, a $0.11 or 27 percent increase.
All of the speakers directly addressing the rate increase at the hearing spoke against it. Most were natives or long-time residents of the county and a chief concern was the higher assessments combined with the falling real estate market.

“I have lived in the county all of my life,” Monroe resident Barbara Stokes said. “This raise is unnecessary and it will put a squeeze on retired citizens living on a fixed income.”

She also said that with the current real estate market county residents would not be able to get the assessed value for their land when selling it.

Larry Wolfe, a Temperance resident, said the county should hold the budget to a cost of living increase. “My home was assessed at $200,000 with a falling real estate market,” Wolfe said. “What this increase does is to punish achievers in the county.”

The citizens of this county put their trust in the elected officials to do the right thing, Amherst resident Gary Jennings said.

“The county does not need the additional proposed staff and building improvements at this time,” he said. “What the county needs to do is to focus on attracting new industry.”

Jennings said he felt there were too many new regulations being passed by the board and that the regulations were counter productive.

“I issue a challenge to the board to reduce taxes,” he said. “Let the county tighten its belt.”

“It was high taxes that drove me out of Northern Virginia 20 years ago and now it may be driving me out of Amherst County,” said Longbranch Drive resident Scott Brown. “If the county’s budget is only increasing by seven percent, then why is the tax increase 27 percent?” he said. “I don’t understand the math.”

Amherst resident Barry Thompson, while commenting briefly on the reassessment, focused his comments on the county’s agricultural land use program. Thompson maintained that the program benefits a few residents at the expense of all the rest.

He maintained that, if the program were abolished, the tax rate could be adjusted much closer to the $0.43 equalized rate and still provide the county with enough income to cover its needs.