Group lacks basis for NK assessment appeal, county says
No legal precedent exists to back up a New Kent citizen group’s appeal of the county’s recent real estate reassessment, the county’s attorney is claiming in a response filed last week to a challenge by the New Kent County Citizens Coalition.
“I’m saying there’s no basis for them to go forward with the suit,” County Attorney Jeff Summers said on Monday. “Part of that basis is they have no standing.”
Meanwhile, the county commonwealth’s attorney, who filed the appeal on behalf of the coalition, is seeking to withdraw from the case. Linwood Gregory entered a motion to withdraw on July 8, a day after he filed the group’s appeal in circuit court.
The coalition is seeking to overturn New Kent’s recent real estate reassessment and subsequent tax levy, although county officials insist nothing illegal transpired and are labeling the appeal as lacking in merit.
State law requires a commonwealth’s attorney to file an appeal, provided petitions are received bearing signatures of one percent of a locality’s registered voters. Coalition members collected over 400, well above the 116 required to equal one percent of New Kent’s 11,621 voter total.
Gregory filed the appeal on July 7 in county circuit court. The group alleges that the 2008 reassessment, conducted by King William County-based Tri-County Appraisals, is illegal. They charge real estate assessments violated state constitution requirements for uniformity and fair market value and contain “large numbers of gross inaccuracies,” which render the assessments invalid.
“We’re objecting to the assessments and resulting tax rate because of a lack of uniformity and not meeting requirements of fair market value in most cases we’ve looked at,” George Slemp, chairman of the New Kent County Citizens Coalition, said in a July 7 interview.
“Our ultimate objective is to correct what we feel is an unfair and unreasonable assessment and unfair taxes on the citizens of New Kent,” he said. “This involves all aspects of New Kent and not any specific locale. All we’re looking for is fair and equal treatment for everybody.”
Summers moved quickly to file a response last Friday, asking the court to dismiss the appeal. In his six-page brief, he claims state law cited in the coalition’s appeal relates only to tax rates and cannot serve as basis for attacking an assessment.
Voter petitions submitted by the coalition are insufficient to challenge the county’s tax levy, he wrote. Assessment challenges must go through channels established by law, he said, which require appeals to be heard on an individual basis by the county’s Board of Equalization.
“I think they’re wrong on the law,” Summers said on Monday. “And even if they’re right on the law, this is the wrong group to be doing this. You can contest your assessment, but you can’t contest my assessment.”
The coalition is also challenging the legality of the assessment since Tri-County Appraisals’ state license for conducting assessments had lapsed. But Summers counters that the appraiser who performed the task in New Kent possessed a valid license.
Summers said he plans to file motions in court later this week, but has not decided on content. He plans to discuss the county’s legal approach with Board of Supervisors members in closed session on Thursday night.
Gregory, meanwhile, is requesting a July 21 circuit court hearing on his motion to withdraw. In his brief, he agrees with Summers that state law cited by the coalition as basis for their appeal is inappropriate for assailing an assessment and pertains only to tax rates. The challenge could be deemed frivolous, he wrote.
Gregory also cites a potential conflict of interest since his office receives financial support as outlined in the budget passed by supervisors. If the coalition’s appeal prevails, he wrote, his office’s budget could be adversely affected.
District 5 Supervisor Ray Davis, whose motion to throw out reassessment results failed by a 4-1 vote in May, signed the coalition’s petition. He is the only supervisor to do so.
Davis, meanwhile, opposed the county’s $54.5 million budget and accompanying 73-cent real estate tax rate that passed by a 4-1 vote on June 9.
Slemp said his group began its petition drive shortly after the budget was adopted. A 12-member steering committee guides the coalition, which began actively meeting this spring shortly after reassessment notices were mailed to county property owners. Meetings have attracted well over 100 people, Slemp said.
The citizens group, apparently, is following the lead of residents and town council members in Chincoteague who have filed a similar appeal over real estate reassessments, also conducted by Tri-County, in Accomack County on the Eastern Shore. The Accomack case has yet to be resolved.
For now, the New Kent appeal blocks the county from imposing the tax levy approved on June 9. Should a circuit court judge uphold the coalition’s appeal, the court would reverse the county’s action, placing county officials in the position of revisiting the real estate tax matter. The county could appeal an adverse ruling to the state’s appellate court.
If the county loses, officials would then have an option of reverting to last year’s 93-cent rate or lowering the tax rate thus cutting county services, County Administrator John Budesky said last week.
Sticking with the 93 cents would mean supervisors must impose a hefty tax increase to fund services provided for in the budget that went into effect on July 1, he said.
“The rate would be well in excess of $1.13 at minimum to maintain the current level of services in the budget,” he said. “That would place us at the highest tax rate in the Richmond region.”
Lowering the tax rate would lead to a substantial reduction in county services, Budesky said. Funding cuts would be necessary in several areas including school services and parks and recreation, he added.
“Unfortunately we were not able to resolve this amicably in meeting with the citizens group,” he said, “but we look forward to a successful resolution and moving on with the operations of local government.”