"Eighty-One" magazine looks at Augusta reassessment battle

Churchville resident Larry Ernst weighs in on the Augusta County real estate assessment battle in the March edition of Eighty-One Magazine. Writing in "Out of Control: Real power over local property assessments resides far away," Mr. Ernst provides insight from a personal point-of-view and offers some sage words of advice. He begins with his own experience:

I returned home, vexed, from my appointment with Augusta’s Board of Assessors. The young man representing Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal (BRMA) had been polite, listened to my appeal. At his side, a senior county resident added a local touch, an air of legitimacy. But the outcome of my appeal will be dictated by BRMA parameters, not market realities. The game is fixed. In March, the assessors will mail revised number crunches. Supervisors will then conduct a burlesque of due process, offering “hearings” to a still-irate but smaller number of victims. Form without substance: an exercise in futility.

Bemoaning the fact that local government is not "local" in many issues, he continued:

Today, the barriers to wielding influence over local matters are far higher than ever. Virginia officials have abdicated. Ginning up political pressure against them in a county the size of Augusta would require a full-scale campaign, with phone banks, printed flyers, ads in papers, mass meetings and mobs at the Government Center, bearing tar buckets and feathers. Supervisors would be intimidated by such a show. Class action litigation would also get their attention. Such drastic (albeit well-motivated) efforts would be popular. but futile. Remedy is urgently needed, but equity for taxpayers will not be thus achieved. The supervisors, those artful dodgers, are not the real culprits. The focus is wrong. The assessment problem, as horrendous as it is, is the tip of the iceberg.

True enough ... it's the tip of the iceberg ... but at least Supervisor Tracy Pyles, Churchville attorney Francis Chester, and Augusta Citizens Against Unfair Assessments are all trying to do something by standing up for their fellow citizens and going up against the Government.

After giving background on how local power was taken away, Mr. Ernst added:

Locally, the market began to tank in 2007. Large tracts and homes wouldn’t sell, even at 2005 assessments. Instead of smelling the coffee and squelching higher 2009 assessments, Augusta County hired BRMA.... When the 2008 real estate implosion could no longer be ignored, contractor benchmarks were reduced for homes, but land revaluations were allowed to soar. 2009 assessment notices were delayed.

Now, property owners are being asked to stick their heads in the sand with the supervisors, pretend fair market values are higher, be thankful assessments aren’t more astronomical and accept the illusion of well-managed county government. Verona can’t look us in the eye, or itself in the mirror. It hopes to get blood out of a turnip or (Plan B) delay our trip to the poor house. It has shrugged off complaints, figuring eventually we’ll give up, go away and pay up. We’re in thrall to a regionalized Ponzi scheme.

Ending the article, Mr. Ernst offers words of advice to some of those involved in the battle:

As our influence over our lives decreases, as our independence diminishes, as the web of rules and regulations tightens around us, as we have our pockets picked at quadrennial intervals (extortion under color of law), our heritage, our prosperity and our constitutional freedoms have gradually, unnoticed, become things of the past.

Augusta taxpayers: Recognize that you have been regionalized and federalized.

Francis Chester: If you do litigate, include CSPDC and Federal Region 3 defendants in your suit.

Supervisors: The political reality is that you have been marginalized. However, you are the elected representatives of the people of Augusta County. They still look to you. Start being honest with them. Admit that none of us has the answer. But we can begin by looking to our County motto: Redeant In Aurum Secula Priscum. “Let us return to that first golden age,” to a good time, when we governed ourselves.

Petitions asking the Board of Supervisors to roll back assessment values to 2005 levels will be turned in at the supervisors meeting this Wednesday, March 11, at 7 pm at the Government Center in Verona. All residents who are concerned about real estate assessments are encouraged to attend.

Click here for more information about Augusta Citizens Against Unfair Assessments, to sign the petition, and information about Wednesday's meeting.

Together, Augusta ... we can make a difference!