Property owners hit with high assessments in Danville

His College Avenue home, which he rents out, was valued at $140,000 during the city’s real estate assessment — a roughly 30% surge from the previously assessed value of $106,700 two years ago.

“I’m quite upset that it jumped like that,” Bailey told the Danville Register & Bee on Wednesday.

The increase in his property’s valuation adds $270 to his yearly real estate tax owed. That is more than double the $123 increase he has seen for the same property over the past eight years combined, he said.

“There have been no improvements or additions on that property, no real upgrades on that property,” Bailey said of the home he has owned since 1986.

Danville residents received the results of the city’s latest bi-yearly assessment the middle of this month.

Many were shocked to see astronomical increases in their homes’ values, with at least one resident seeing a spike of 182%. That property owner, when contacted by the Danville Register & Bee, would not speak on the record.

“I’ve heard numerous stories of 25%, 35%, 45% increases,” Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler said.

Before the assessment’s results, the City Council anticipated an increase in real estate valuations and voted to decrease the real-estate tax rate by a penny — from 84 cents per $100 of assessed value to 83 cents per $100 of assessed value — to offset the expected spike.

But the tiny reduction in the rate failed to make much of a difference for property owners who saw their valuations skyrocket.

“A lot of people have ended up seeing their bill go up because of the assessments,” Vogler said. “We didn’t know what the assessments were going to be when we were going through that process. You’re playing kind of a guessing game when you’re setting the rate.”

Vogler said he will push to lower the rate further.

“We should at least drop it down to 80 cents,” he said.

The goal with lowering the real estate tax rate among rising property values is “not just to soften the blow, but to actually lower the bill,” he added.

Mark Gibson, an assessor with the city of Danville, would not comment for this story when approached by the Register & Bee at a residence. He said he was told by the assistant city attorney not to talk to the press.

The city’s assessment for 2024 was performed by city staff. Assessments are done every two years in Danville.

City Manager Ken Larking pointed to higher demand for housing as the main factor in the elevated assessments. City officials have also seen an uptick in homeowners renovating their dwellings, he said.

Not every property owner saw high increases in their valuations, with the average jump being much lower than the larger spikes experienced by some, Larking said.

“There are circumstances about each situation that could make them unique,” he said, adding that his assessment went up by just 1.96%.

According to the latest figures from the city, there are 24,141 parcels in the city at a total of about $2.75 billion in taxable value. That is a roughly $315.78 million increase over the $2.44 billion in value in 2023, or a 12.9% increase in overall assessment.

Taking into account — or subtracting — about $279.1 million in new construction and repairs and renovations to properties reduces that increase in overall valuation to 11.4%, according to the figures provided by Larking.

Factors taken into account when a property is assessed include its appearance and condition, the surrounding neighborhood, what types of improvements or expansions have been performed, whether there have been homes sold in the neighborhood and current market trends, Larking said.

“At the end of the process, the actual values applied to the real estate are lower than what they could get if it were sold,” he added.

Bailey said properties closer to the upcoming Caesars Virginia casino resort in Schoolfield were assessed much higher than those farther away from it.

“It seems to me if you’re in the vicinity of the casino, you’re being hit with a large tax increase,” he said. College Avenue, located across from Averett University on West Main Street, is less than a mile from the casino.

“It just seems that this was more subjective than objective,” he added, referring to the assessment process. “It would be fairer that everyone gets a similar increase.”

With the increase in his valuation and those of his neighbors, as well, Bailey said he expects improved city services, including a stronger police presence where there have been break-ins and gunfire in the area.

But Larking said home values near the casino, including those in Schoolfield, were “very low” before the most recent assessment.

Low-value homes that saw large hikes in assessments percentage-wise still see relatively low tax dollars paid for that property, he said. For example, one home near the River District increased from $12,600 to $35,400, a nearly 200% increase for a property that remained cheap.

“There were a lot of properties people neglected over time,” Larking said. “Now, with demand going up, they could be renovating it to put it on the market.”

As for land values, some lots assessed at $500 during low demand increased to $3,500, he added.

“It’s really still pretty cheap,” Larking said.

Higher valuations is good thing for a city that has long experienced low property values, he added.

“Home values in Danville rising has reversed a long-term period of decline in values, which is a positive and is evidence that we are doing the right things,” Larking said.

The city offered citizens a three-day period — Wednesday, Thursday and Friday — for informal appeals of their assessments this past week.

Larking said the city’s real estate assessor’s office has received about 30 calls through Thursday afternoon from residents with questions or wanting to informally appeal.

Property owners can also schedule an appointment for the formal appeals process through the city’s board of equalization from 1 to 6 p.m. Aug. 14 and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 15.

The formal process will be advertised, Larking said.