Hundreds turn out for Shenandoah Co. assessment meeting

"What do you do with all this money that y'all are taking from us?"
--Fred Parker, Shenandoah County resident, addressing Board of Supervisors (10/29/09)

Hundreds of Shenandoah County residents angry at huge increases in their real estate assessments turned out Thursday night for a meeting with supervisors in the high school gymnasium. From the Northern Virginia Daily:

At the largest supervisors meeting in years -- perhaps in history -- several hundred people filled Central High School's gymnasium seeking answers on the increased reassessments and likelihood of a tax increase as a result.

This takes place six months after Augusta County supervisors saw the largest crowd in history -- 1,000 strong -- turn out to protest their high real estate assessments. The paper continued:

With hundreds of people angry about the recent real estate reassessments present, the chairman of the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors conceded Thursday night that a meeting with the appraisal group to get justification of its findings was needed.

County Administrator Vince Poling offered a presentation to explain the reassessments:

In the presentation, [Poling] noted that the new reassessment does not necessarily mean a person's taxes will go up, which elicited laughter from the crowd and one person yelling, "Tell us another one."

Thursday's meeting was in place of the scheduled Tuesday meeting that was cancelled after residents showed up at the Government Center.

What is occurring in Shenandoah County happened earlier this year in Augusta County as landowners fear that higher taxes and out-of-control spending by electeds will cause them to lose their homes.

We have been involved with the Augusta assessment issue since the beginning in February 2009 when an overflow crowd of 600 people turned out on a snowy February night for a planning meeting of Augusta Citizens Against Unfair Assessments to hear from attorney Francis Chester and Supervisor Tracy Pyles.

Petitions were circulated throughout the county ... 30+ businesses allowed them in their stores including Tractor Supply, that farm equipment store that has a finger on the pulse of the rural community.

Signatures were collected from more than 10,500 residents and taken to Augusta supervisors ... over 1,000 residents turned out for the supervisor meeting in March, the largest crowd ever in the county's history ... over 50 speakers addressed supervisors at the meeting. In March 2009 this blog reported:

There is a groundswell of discontent among those who pay taxes and feel those taxes are increasingly being squandered by the government. Tough times have hit Americans, something that is evident in the SWAC area of Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County after local companies laid off hundreds of employees ... Invista, Mohawk Carpet, American Safety Razor, Gem Ply, Unifi, Hershey ... as home prices dropped 18% the last quarter of 2008, as housing starts dropped to their lowest level since 1959. Baby boomers have seen half their retirement savings disappear as the Stock Market dropped ... others lost their investments. Unemployment in Augusta County has been reported at over 9%.

Nothing has improved since that time ... in fact, the financial and job situation has become worse. Mohawk Carpet announced they will close down in December. Layoffs have been announced for McQuay in Verona as well as Western State in Staunton.

Yet there is a disconnect between the supervisors and the general population.

Instead of dealing with the assessment issue, Augusta County sued Churchville attorney Francis Chester asking for financial sanctions against him for having the audacity to represent pro bono 10,500 county residents in a lawsuit against the county.

Taking a cue from Augusta, Shenandoah County filed a lawsuit earlier this month against a county resident who is currently a supervisor candidate for having the audacity to ask questions of the board.

The electeds are there to serve the community ... they are paid by citizens ... they are not there to intimidate and humiliate those same taxpaying residents who ask questions and want answers and a transparent government. At what point do they realize Americans cannot shoulder much more of the government's debt?

Did Obama lie about not raising taxes?

I read Barack Obama's lips ... and he said he would not raise taxes on middle class Americans. Did he lie to the American people?

Investor's Business Daily wondered:

Trustworthiness: The media savaged President George H.W. Bush for breaking his tax pledge. Will President Obama instead get a pass for breaking trust on middle-class taxes and medical care?

Obama is spending this country into a debt that will saddle our children and grandchildren for generations to come ... so has he decided new taxes are the way to pay for his extravagant programs? IBD asked:

Could Obama have been elected president without promising not to raise taxes on the middle class? Would Americans have trusted him with the highest office in the land if he had proposed replacing all private health insurance with a Euro-style, socialistic, single-payer system?

As Ben Stein put it in his American Spectator diary, "The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust . . . wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith."

Did the president shrewdly mislead Americans last year regarding his true intentions?

"I can make a firm pledge," he said in Dover, N.H., in September. "Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes." He vowed: "You will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime."

Not one single dime, eh? Why do I not believe that?

DJ: "Tax increase rejected by voters in San Francisco"

Even Californians don't want tax increases. Is THE GOVERNMENT listening?

They had a tax protest ... and 8,000 showed up

Thousands of citizens came out in California last Saturday to protest taxes. According to the Orange County Register:

They're revolting. Families with children, bikers, seniors, pirates - by the thousands descended on a Fullerton bar Saturday to join talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of KFI in protesting tax increases recently approved in Sacramento.

Police estimated that some 8,000 people came to the Slidebar Café in downtown Fullerton to listen to The John & Ken Show.
...
Some wore buttons. ... Some of the demonstrators brought crayons in response to a column in the Los Angeles Times that called John and Ken's politics simplistic. Some children opted for something a bit more artistic.

Hannah Ross, 6, and her sister, Olivia Ross, 4, of San Diego, used squeeze paint brushes to express a message suggested by their parents: "Stop Generational Theft."

Americans, it would appear, are fed up.

Santelli video: "Are you listening, President Obama?"

Rush played it on his radio program Thursday. If you missed it, you've got to see the video.

Rick Santelli with CNBC issued a rallying cry on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade:

"Are you listening, President Obama? ... What we are doing in this country will make Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin roll over in their graves. ... It's time for another tea party!"

Listen and be inspired ... and remember this is going on right here in Augusta County as residents protest their outrageously high real estate assessments at a time of financial depression and job losses.

It's time for an Augusta Tea Party to protest higher taxes.

Here is an excerpt of the transcript of Rick Santelli's spirited words this morning:

Rick Santelli, on trading floor: "... Mr. Ross has nailed it. You know, the government is promoting bad behavior, because we certainly don't want to put stimulus forth, and give people a whopping eight or ten dollars in their check, and think that they ought to save it.

"And in terms of modifications, I'll tell you what, I have an idea. You know the new administration's big on computers and technology. How about this, (Mr.) President and new administration -- Why don't you put up a web site to have people vote on the Internet as a referendum to see if we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages, or would we like to, at least, buy cars and buy houses in foreclosure and give them to people who might have a chance to actually prosper down the road, and reward people that could carry the water, instead of drinking the water."

Trader sitting near by: "What a novel idea! What? Who thought of that!"

[traders in the pit start clapping and cheering]

Joe Kernen, in studio: "Rick, they're like putty in your hands. Did you hear --"

Santelli: "No they're not, Joe. They're not like putty in our hands! This is America!"

[turns around to address pit traders]

"How many of you people want to pay for your neighbors' mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills? Raise their hand."

[traders boo; Santelli turns around to face CNBC camera]

"President Obama, are you listening?"

Trader (sitting nearby, goes over to Santelli's mike): "How about we all stop paying our mortgage? It's a moral hazard."
...
Santelli: "... Cuba used to have mansions and a relatively decent economy. They moved from the individual to the collective. Now they're driving '54 Chevys, maybe the last great car to come out of Detroit.
...
We're thinking of having a Chicago Tea Party in July. All you capitalists that want to show up to Lake Michigan, I'm going to start organizing."
...
Listen, all I know is that there's only about 5% of the floor population here right now, and I talk loud enough they can all hear me. So if you want to ask them anything, let me know. These guys are pretty straightforward, and my guess is, a pretty good statistical cross section of America, the silent majority."

Quick: "Not so silent majority today."

Ross: "Rick I congratulate you on your new incarnation as a revolutionary leader."

Santelli: "Somebody needs one. I'll tell you what, if you read our Founding Fathers, people like Benjamin Franklin and Jefferson, what we're doing in this country now is making them roll over in their graves."

More can be found at Anne Leary's Backyard Conservative.

Other blogs have more on this ...

- Free Republic
- NewsBusters
- Below the Beltway: Santelli leads a revolt at the CBOT
- Terdium Quids: And the looters trembled
- Sun Versus Wind: This is America!
- Yankee Philip: It is a moral hazard
- Virginia Virtucon: The revolution will be You Tubed ...

Augusta assessment review ... round two

Bob at The Journey tells us about his next step in appealing his real estate assessment to Augusta County in Round Two. While you're over there, check out the rest of his blog. It is enjoyable to read the commentary and look at his photos and art.

Augusta online petition to Board of Supervisors has 600 signatures

Our citizen activist reports the Augusta County petition to the Board of Supervisors now has 600 signatures. Our thanks to him.

Tax revolt: Gloucester, Bath, Augusta counties

Outrageous real estate assessments are not unique to Augusta County. Neighboring Bath County reassessed in April 2008 and had a revolt by citizens that resulted in terminating the appraisal company and doing away with the overly-inflated appraisals.

Gloucester County also had a tax revolt by its citizens after outrageous assessments in 2005 resulted in the Board of Supervisors passing by only one vote an agreement to pay the appraisal company.

In October 2007 the DailyPress.com wrote Why was this shack assessed at $43,700 while a mansion was valued at $0? Inside Gloucester's latest reassessment — and it's not a pretty picture.

The article began:

Bob Hicks asked the real estate assessor hired by Gloucester County if he'd actually set foot on the York River islands before setting their value at more than $150,000.

Hicks knew the answer would be "No."

While Gloucester's land book said the islands, acquired by Hicks' grandfather in 1927, totaled 188 acres, Hicks knew what apparently the assessor did not:

The islands don't exist anymore. Over the decades, the river had pretty much swallowed them. The land today is "valueless," Hicks told county officials in a successful protest of the assessment.

Hicks' experience was not unusual or even among the most significant of what turned into myriad problems emerging from the 2005 reassessment of Gloucester County real estate.

The Gloucester County Board of Equilization stepped in:

In a report published after concluding its work, the Gloucester County Board of Equalization — a panel appointed by the Circuit Court after every reassessment to correct disparities in the new valuations — was highly critical of the private contractor whose firm did the reassessment. It blasted Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal for flubbing the job, and suggested the company may have fudged the results.

In his turn, the firm's president, David Hickey, denies that Blue Ridge cut any corners during the reassessment. Hickey claims his work was hampered by poorly maintained county land records and says Commissioner of the Revenue Kevin Wilson deliberately withheld essential information from the assessors. Even the Gloucester County Board of Equalization came under fire from business owners who objected when the board fixed higher values on their properties than they thought was fair.

The Gloucester Board of Supervisors, which was warned at the start that Gloucester was hiring the "lesser of two evils" to do the reassessment, ended up deeply divided over whether to pay Blue Ridge or reject its work. The 4-3 vote to pay the firm, said then-Chairwoman Louise Theberge, reflected the board majority's desire to put the matter to rest.

Was there discontent with the four supervisors who voted in the majority?

Ultimately Gloucester softened the original sticker shock of the inflated revaluation — a jump that averaged 80 percent — by lowering its real estate tax rate from 95 cents to 57 cents per $100 of assessed value.

In a 4-3 vote, the supervisors defeated a move to lower the rate to 53 cents, which would have nearly equaled the pre-reassessment tax bills.

Today comes this interesting tidbit from WHSV TV-3 out of Harrisonburg:

The House of Delegates has passed legislation that would prohibit judges from sanctioning citizens who petition for the removal of public officials.

Without debate, the House passed Republican Del. Harvey Morgan's bill 93-3 Friday.

Morgan is from Gloucester County, where a judge recently ordered a group of citizens to pay $80,000 in legal fees after they unsuccessfully sought to remove four county supervisors from office.

Circuit Judge Westbrook J. Parker's order outraged free-speech advocacy groups, which have vowed to support the petitioners' appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court.

The judge said the petitioners misused the judicial process for political gain.

In the eastern part of the Commonwealth, DJ McGuire at the Right-Wing Liberal wrote What if you held a tax revolt and EVERYBODY came:

From what I can tell (thanks to WVN), the only penalty Augusta would face from suspending assessments one year would be $38,000 in lost dividend payments from Alcoholic Beverage Control. Given that the state shouldn’t be in the hard liquor business anyway, the Augusta BOS can chalk that up to the price of free-market principles, suspend all assessments, and find a firm that doesn’t take a year and a half to determine property values. From there, do assessments every two years, rather than four.

The above plan would thus have everyone assessed at the same temporal point in the market, and the new cycle would prevent things like this from having a lasting impact. As it is, the poor souls who had their property checked in the summer of 2007 would be stuck with a laughable assessment until 2013.

The question is, will the Board of Supervisors (especially the four Republicans who make up the majority) join with the lone Democrat - Tracy Pyles, who continues to make my late grandfather proud - and do what is right? Or are they blinded by the revenue windfall?

We will see. We will all see. As I’ve mentioned before, Augusta is a test case. If a county this Republican gets whacked with a tax hike, counties and cities all around the Commonwealth will use it as an example to browbeat their taxpaying constituents into submission.

That cannot be allowed to happen.

The eyes of Virginia are on Augusta County.

Thumbs up from the News Virginian

The weekly editorial roundup at the Waynesboro News Virginian includes three "thumbs up" and three "thumbs down" candidates ... those in the local, state, national, or international spotlight ... who have caught the eye of the editors.

Today a thumbs up goes to Augusta County Supervisor Tracy Pyles for listening to the people he represents. The News Virginian wrote:

While his fellow Augusta County supervisors muse over what to do, Tracy Pyles continues to emerge as a man of the people. The veteran Pastures District supervisor is a lone voice among seven in crying out against Augusta County’s reassessment, which performs the remarkable feat of increasing values just as sale prices and volume are swirling down the drain. Property owners are hopping mad. Pyles hears them and has taken up their cause. Too bad the other six supes can’t hear quite so well.

I'll add my thumbs up to that.

The issue of taxes is not Republican or Democrat ... it crosses all socio-economic lines. It affects our family, friends, and neighbors. Mr. Pyles sees that ... and the News Virginian respects a supervisor who listens to the people.

Augusta County's tax revolt

DJ McGuire gives me credit in his post What if you held a tax revolt ... and EVERYONE came ... but the credit belongs to the two men who are listening to the citizens of Augusta County ... Supervisor Tracy Pyles (D-Pastures) and attorney Francis Chester.

Mr. Pyles, who happens to be my supervisor and a Democrat, started this drum beat last fall when the county was preparing to mail tax assessments to county residents. He tried to warn the Board of Supervisors of this impending train wreck but they did not listen. He had personal experience of the pain area residents were feeling as hundreds of jobs disappeared and companies tightened their belts. His company, American Safety Razor, made the blades to cut the carpet that was sold by Mohawk Industries, carpet that Mohawk sold to the housing industry.

Houses aren't selling ... carpet isn't needed for houses that aren't selling ... blades aren't needed to cut carpet that isn't being sold because houses aren't selling ... it's a domino effect that trickles throughout the community. Mr. Pyles saw his company hurting as well as other companies in the area, including Mohawk, that have had to lay off employees.

Francis Chester was on the receiving end of a huge real estate tax assessment. One property increased 255% and another over 100%. He decided to do something about it and started the petition drive to request the Board of Supervisors roll back assessments to the 2004 rate.

Citizens responded to both men and Monday night saw 600 county residents turn out on a cold winter night to hear how their voices could be heard.

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

Augusta: A journey to appeal to the assessment board

Bob over at The Journey, a SWAC area blog, was at Tuesday night's meeting to protest the outrageous real estate assessments that were mailed to Augusta County residents.

Today he went to the Government Center for his review. His experience may be helpful to others and he urges folks to print out his blog post and take it with them as reference.

Thanks for the information, Bob.

Hat tip to Nelson County Life magazine for calling attn to Augusta tax revolt

600 Augusta County residents turned out Tuesday night
to protest huge real estate assessments.

Thanks to Nelson Country Life magazine for calling attention to the tax revolution going on in Augusta County. In Augusta Residents Now Fighting Huge Property Tax Assessments, they recall their own battle last year and wish their neighbors west of the mountain the best in their fight. We thank them for their support.

Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 11, 2009, at 7:00 pm at the Government Center in Verona to attend the Board of Supervisors meeting. Francis Chester will turn in the petitions at that time that have been collected from throughout the county.

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

Photo by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
February 3, 2009

ATTA Alert: "Kill this bill ... no new taxes on Albemarle residents"

[Alert from Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance -- ATTA]

On January 14, 2009, Delegate David Toscano submitted House Bill (HB) 2161 for consideration by the General Assembly. The bill would allow an eventual 20% increase in the Sales Tax we pay, to fund transportation spending.

ATTA articulated several reasons why the underlying premise of this bill is a bad idea. Please see our letter to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, directly below.

HB 2161 was sent to a Finance Subcommittee today. Please contact the following members of this subcommittee today and ask them to vote NO on HB 2161.

The subcommittee will meet Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at about 2:00 p.m., so please call and / or email them immediately--and be sure to tell them you're from the
Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance!

Delegate Timothy D. Hugo (Chairman)
(R) - House District 40
(804) 698-1040
DelTHugo@house.virginia.gov

Delegate R. Lee Ware, Jr.(R) - House District 65
Richmond, Virginia 23219
(804) 698-1065
DelLWare@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Kathy J. Byron
(R) - House District 22
(804) 698-1022
DelKByron@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Benjamin L. Cline
(R) - House District 24
(804) 698-1024
DelBCline@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Jeffrey M. Frederick(R) - House District 52
(804) 698-1052
DelJFrederick@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Christopher K. Peace(R) - House District 97
(804) 698-1097
DelCPeace@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Kenneth R. Melvin
(D) - House District 80
(804) 698-1080
DelKMelvin@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Franklin P. Hall
(D) - House District 69
(804) 698-1069
Del_Hall@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr.(D) - House District 100
(804) 698-1000
DelLLewis@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Ward L. Armstrong
(D) - House District 10
(804) 698-1010
DelWArmstrong@house.virginia.gov

Delegate Harry R. Purkey
(R) - House District 82
(804) 698-1082
DelBPurkey@house.virginia.gov

Tonight: Albemarle County BOS debates support of state sales tax increase

Citizen watch dog group Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance (ATTA) has issued an alert to citizens who are tightening up their belts in these economic hard times while the government continues to advocate new taxes:

On Wednesday, January 14, 2009, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution expressing its support of a bill in the General Assembly, ultimately allowing an increase in our local sales tax rate by 20% for "transportation needs."

Click Here to see the resolution.

There are many reasons why this is the wrong approach to the wrong problem at the wrong time. Earlier today, ATTA made its position known with a letter to the Board (see our letter below).

Please attend Wednesday's Board meeting, and express your views about this resolution. You don't have to speak, just attend and stand when someone speaks in favor of the taxpayer!

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING JANUARY 14, 2009 6:00 P.M. LANE AUDITORIUM COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING

AFP to host WSJ's Steve Moore at free luncheon on Monday

Join Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Virginia Speaker of the House of Delegates, Bill Howell for a FREE brunch and special book event featuring one of the nation's leading free-market thinkers -- economist Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal editorial board.

When:
Monday, October 27th, 10:00am (brunch will be provided)

Where:
Richmond Marriott, 500 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219

With the current financial crisis putting a shadow over our economy, is our free-market system able to turn around on it's own? Can we put our confidence in the government to clean up this mess? With all the talk in Washington, D.C. these days, it seems the politicians in our nation's capital think government has the answer. Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal thinks differently.

Join us on Monday, October 27th in Richmond, when Americans for Prosperity Foundation hosts Steve Moore as he introduces his new book, The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes will Doom the Economy—If We Let it Happen.

Space is limited, so please register today. Speaker Bill Howell will discuss Virginia's budget crisis and why we don't need to raise taxes in uncertain economic times.

Don't miss this unique opportunity to hear one of the nation's preeminent free-market economists discuss why the Reagan Revolution played a critical role in reversing our economic prosperity, how it inspired a freedom movement throughout the world and what we need to do here at home to secure that freedom and prosperity for the next generation.

Amazon.com has this about The End of Prosperity:

"The rest of the world is following the American economic growth model of lower tax rates, more economic freedom, and sound money. Paradoxically, one country is moving away from these growth policies and putting its prosperity at risk -- America. . . . We risk losing the exceptional standard of living that has made us the envy of the rest of the world if the pro-growth policies of the last twenty-five years are reversed by a new president."

This is a critical time for our country.

Please join Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Steve Moore as we put light on solutions to the financial crisis.

Don't miss this important event. Register for FREE online today. Look forward to seeing you there!

No Kaine Tax Hike ... Special Session continues

Americans For Prosperity

All Virginians should be paying attention to what is going on in Richmond during this Special Session. The Democrats are trying to reach into your pockets again so keep an eye on your pocketbook. Let your representatives know you do not want any new taxes.

And while you're at it you may want to let them know you are for off-shore drilling for oil and gas to help with Virginia's transportation needs.

Contact State Senators ... just say NO to gas tax increase

Immediate Action Needed: Senators are debating the gas tax hike...send an immediate email to your Senator to oppose this tax!

State Senators are debating a 35 percent increase in the gas tax right now. Such an increase at a time when we are paying nearly $4 a gallon and will likely pay more in the coming months would impact working families more than perhaps any other proposal in this special "tax session." This is a regressive tax that harms families.

Senators need to hear from you NOW! They have their computers at their desks and will see the emails coming in.

ACTION: Send a strong message to your state Senator immediately! Tell them to vote NO on an increase in the state gas tax.

Click this link to send an email ... log in and send your message.

H/T Family Foundation

AFP Rally in Richmond - Part 1: The Rally

Three busloads of tax protesters from around the state arrived in Richmond Monday morning for an Americans For Prosperity rally to show disapproval for Governor Tim Kaine's proposed tax hikes for transportation.

Gathering around the Bell Tower on the Capitol Grounds, ralliers held signs during a press conference that was covered extensively by the press corps ... among then Richmond Times-Dispatch's Jeff Schapiro, Washington Post's Tim Craig, and TV stations from around the state.

More photos and commentary coming....

Photo by SWAC Girl