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Archives search Joy Fund Newspapers in Education User panel Marketplace > More Deals Search Local Shopping Classifieds > More Jobs Autos Homes Rentals News Opinion Business Sports Life Obituaries Classifieds HamptonRoads.com Events Calendar Music Arts Food Movies TV   Home » Business » Realty News Virginia Beach assessments: First increase since '09 ____ Database | Property tax assessments in Virginia Beach Real estate info Realty-related news Homes for sale and rent Regional real estate data From the Bizz Buzz Blog Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: Powered by FeedBurner Tweet Related Virginia Beach assessments: First increase since '09 - Apr. 13, 2014 Norfolk assessments: Expected to rise 1 percent - Apr. 9, 2014 Chesapeake assessments: Up for 1st time in 6 years - Apr. 2, 2014 Portsmouth assessments: Values down slightly - Apr. 26, 2014 Suffolk assessments: Values up after flat half-decade - Apr. 4, 2014 By Kathy Hieatt The Virginian-Pilot© April 13, 2014 VIRGINIA BEACH For the first time in five years, property values are looking up in Virginia Beach. Assessments are projected to rise 3.6 percent for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1, according to an annual report from Real Estate Assessor Jerry Banagan. That means taxpaying property owners will contribute $481 million to the city budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year, $18 million more than this year. The average homeowner saw a property value increase of nearly 3 percent, but Virginia Beach might not be out of the weeds just yet. “I think it’s good news for the city. We hope the trend is reversing,” Banagan said. “But, you know, we still don’t have a really healthy real estate market yet in some price ranges.” For example, Banagan said, roughly a fifth of the city’s residential sales are foreclosures or short sales. Properties worth less than $150,000 saw their values decline by 1.4 percent, while those worth $350,000-$500,000 saw the largest gains of 4.5 percent. Overall, about a quarter of all property values decreased, 18 percent stayed the same, and more than half – 58 percent – increased. In the current budget proposal, the boon would help offset increased health care costs for employees and new stormwater management regulations from the state, which required hiring 17 new employees, said Catheryn Whitesell, the city’s director of management services. “We were really helped by the increase in assessments,” she said during a budget briefing earlier this year. The City Council is to vote on the $1.8 billion operating budget next month. The proposed budget maintains the existing real estate tax rate of 93 cents per $100 of assessed value. The increase in assessments means residents with single-family homes worth the median amount saw their property values go up by 3.3 percent, to $305,000. That means a $2,837 tax bill for the year, $90 more than last year. Homeowners should have received their assessment notices early March. The last time property values increased in Virginia Beach was in 2009, which saw a 3.2 percent jump, according to Banagan’s report. They fell off the next year, dropping most steeply in 2011, when property values declined by 6.2 percent. Kathy Adams, 757-222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com Real estate info Realty-related news Homes for sale and rent Regional real estate data From the Bizz Buzz Blog Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: Powered by FeedBurner Tweet Related Virginia Beach assessments: First increase since '09 - Apr. 13, 2014 Norfolk assessments: Expected to rise 1 percent - Apr. 9, 2014 Chesapeake assessments: Up for 1st time in 6 years - Apr. 2, 2014 Portsmouth assessments: Values down slightly - Apr. 26, 2014 Suffolk assessments: Values up after flat half-decade - Apr. 4, 2014 Posted to: Home Local Government News Realty News Virginia Beach How to be civil in comments:  No name-calling, personal insults or threats. No attacks based on race, gender, ethnicity, etc. No writing with your Caps Lock on – it's screaming. Keep on topic and under 1500 characters. No profanity or vulgarity. Stay G- or PG-rated. Read the full rules here. Looking for comments? Please enable JavaScript to see comments. Not exactly true Submitted by spawnherder on Sat, 04/12/2014 at 8:33 pm. My property went up in value last year, so it is misleading to say values haven't risen since 2009. About 9% of properties in Virginia Beach went up in value last year. Fortunately I didn't get hit again this year. Fortunately? Submitted by Captan on Sat, 04/12/2014 at 9:06 pm. How is a stagnant property value fortunate? I'd love it if mine were rising consistently. You have a weird sense of value. Because Submitted by spawnherder on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 10:52 am. There's a difference in assessed value and market value. Most Realtors will tell you that, in this housing market, the market value of your home is probably well below the assessed value. Because my assessed value stayed the same, it gives the market value a chance to catch up. Assessed value only affects how much real estate tax you pay. I wouldn't mind if market was the same (or greater) than assessed. It's hard to pay taxes based on a valuation that you could never get if you tried to sell your house. Fortunately? Submitted by Captan on Sat, 04/12/2014 at 9:05 pm. How is a stagnant property value fortunate? I'd love it if mine were rising consistently. You have a weird sense of value. Used cars don't forever Submitted by ethan2 on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 12:21 am. Used cars don't forever increase in value, why should houses be different. They get old and worn. Used Cars vs Houses Submitted by quiturcryin on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 7:07 am. Yea...now THAT"S comparing apples to oranges. Good Grief! Go to Suffolk Submitted by wearereallyscrewed on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 10:48 am. They assess property at 20 percent over the comps on a regular basis. Some are over 5 times what they should be but they will not adjust it. And they denied the appeals. It's a scam to pay for pensions and health care for cushy retirement benefits for government employees. Work 20 retire for 40. Yea!! Submitted by jfr on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 1:31 am. MORE of my money for the infamous choo choo. Mongo only pawn Submitted by Jimbo123 on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 7:34 am. Don't know. Got to do with where choo choo go. Mongo only pawn in game of life. Hey Pilot, how about doing a Submitted by ethan2 on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 3:19 am. Hey Pilot, how about doing a story on all the people who quit paying their mortgages but are still living in the houses they agreed to buy at high prices. The banks aren't kicking them out because the banks are hiding losses and hoping to make the market look better than it is. http://www.realtytrac.com/images/reportimages/occupied_REOs_top_metros.png Comment deleted Submitted by admin (staffer) on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 8:16 pm. Comment removed for rules violation. Reason: Obscene, vulgar, sexual why Submitted by BillyBones on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 4:59 am. I'll never understand why people get upset when their homes don't go up in value. The only people who benefit from rising property values are the people who intend to sell their houses. And of course the city tax collector. I wish the value of my house would stay the same, or even decline since I am in the house I want and have no intention of selling. Greedy municipalities are the reason housing continues to increase in value. It allows them to collect more in real estate taxes. Most people don't even think about real estate taxes because it's part of your mortgage payment, much like income tax "witholding" from our paychecks. What a coincidence. Finance 101 Submitted by rfschlegel on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 5:35 am. Billy, maybe a little more attention to basic financial planning would help. Do you periodically prepare a personal Income Statement and Balance Sheet for yourself/your family? Your house is an Investment Asset on the Balance Sheet, and it's good when Assets go up, Liabilities go down, and your Net Worth increases. When you get old, it'll help to have the highest Net Worth you can manage. There are certainly better investment assets to hold than houses, but most of us end up with one, sooner or later. And it's always good when the value of your assets increase. oh really? Submitted by BillyBones on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 8:35 am. I understand what you are saying, after all I graduated the sixth grade. When the assessment up goes we pay higher taxes NOW. I will agree, for those foolish people who use their house as an ATM, it does give them a better LTV rate. But just to have a higher net worth ON PAPER for some sort of mythical bragging rights is crazy. Enjoy your higher net worth though, the employees of Virginia Beach thank you. On second thought, from my interaction with city employees, they mostly hold us in contempt and would never even think to thank us. the elephant in the room and the irony of it all Submitted by lowwagecity on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 5:37 am. So the tax coffers are going to receive an extra $18 million you say? "How convenient" as that just happens to be the same amount we gave to the infamous convict Bruce Thompson to save an old hotel. It is also the amount of subsidy we gave to the developers of the next building at Town Center. Crony capitalism is alive and well in our fair city. I'm sure the developers are thanking you humble tax paying serfs. LRT=Heavy Taxes And you can be sure,,,,,,,,,,,, Submitted by BillyBones on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 7:04 am. You can be sure when it comes time to fund the bus on rails, property values will rise to the occasion. It's a "shell game", the city council can proudly proclaim to the voters we didn't raise the tax rate. Totally true, they let the tax assessor's office do it through the back door of increased property values. Congratulations Submitted by quiturcryin on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 7:05 am. As only the seventh individual to post to this article, you were the FIRST to mention Bruce Thompson or Armada Hoffler. Way to go, as we all know that no article about taxes and VB could ever possibly be considered complete with such mention. Of course, no one has yet mentioned the need to better maintain our roads, pay our teachers, cops, firefighters and waste collection folks or deliver the other basic and necessary services most of us expect in a great city. After all, none of those things could need some increase in funding in a city where the real estate, personal property and trash collection fees are the lowest in the region. Nope, the rising assessments must be the developers' fault. Right. you are correct... Submitted by aalto on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 8:45 am. All of the mentioned items need additional funding. The rising assessments are not the developers fault, but the developers windfall. Unfortunately, the VBCC has it's priorities.....and it's priorities are set by the developers. Just imagine what could have been done city-wide with the $18 million given to the developer, to counteract the threat to destroy the iconic hotel. nice work bruce Submitted by lowwagecity on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 1:47 pm. Perhaps you could illuminate us as to how the taxpayer funded crony capitalism helps teachers, roads, or public safety officers. Please spare us the quality of life meme and use specific examples. Sorry, but no Submitted by Wm D Tabor DDS on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 8:34 am. The total increase in home prices from 2009 to date is less than the rate of inflation. In real terms, we are still deep in the hole. But don't worry, VA Beach and the other cites WILL tax you on that imaginary increase in value. An honest property tax system should be indexed to the CPI so you are only taxed on real growth in value. Increased home values equal Submitted by winn17433 on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 4:37 pm. Increased home values equal increased taxes. For people who plan to live in their homes for a long time, it only gives the city apower to take more funds from the owner. Sometimes it forces someone with a limited income to sell. It does not seem fair that a person who pays a mortgage for thirty years, now has to pay what amounts to rent to city hall. After three decades of paying the bank, the taxes may in some instances be as high or higher that the original monthly payment. Yea, a real estate tax Submitted by topple on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 6:06 pm. Yea, a real estate tax increase coupled with an 8% personal property tax increase is wonderful. Life is good for the builder at the beach. Especially Thompson. Thank sessoms, jones, spore, wilson,wood and company. Needless Blaming Employees Submitted by William Bailey on Sun, 04/13/2014 at 8:51 pm. "In the current budget proposal, the boon would help offset increased health care costs for employees and new stormwater management regulations from the state, which required hiring 17 new employees, said Catheryn Whitesell, the city’s director of management services. “We were really helped by the increase in assessments,” she said during a budget briefing earlier this year." FYI: If you read the employees healthcare proposal, the VB city and schools cost remain virtually unchanged at 1.2 million. It is funny how employees always get blamed... 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