Oct. 3, 2007 — Residents of Frederiksted and environs heard how their property was assessed and voiced concerns about the accuracy and fairness of some of the assessments during a town meeting Wednesday night at Rotary West.
There to speak and answer questions were Lt. Gov. Greg Francis, members of his staff, territorial Tax Assessor Roy Martin and Sally Powers, representing BearingPoint, the private company contracted to do the revaluation.
Several property owners said they believed some of the assessments were higher than the market value, particularly on the economically moribund west end of St. Croix.
“A plot near mine was evaluated for six times what it actually sold for,” said Robert Merwin of Frederiksted. Merwin’s family owns Sprat Hall north of town.
“What I’ve seen on the Internet of the values of land — in my opinion, it has no connection with the reality of what property has actually been selling for,” Merwin said.
Others echoed his sentiment.
“I agree,” said Glenda Lee, a Frederiksted resident. “If someone were to offer me what you appraised it for, I would sell it yesterday.”
Others told stories of putting land on the market and waiting years for an offer well below the appraised value. Martin responded that this feedback is part of the process, and advised concerned property owners to bring in details of their particular concerns for an informal hearing.
“Give us a chance to complete the process,” he said.
Francis and Martin laid out the components of Gov. John deJongh Jr.’s property-tax proposal, which involves higher exemptions and slightly higher tax bills. (See "Lieutenant Governor's Plan Would Rein in Property-Tax Increases.")
The plan is not set in stone yet, Francis noted, but is a proposal to the legislature.
“We are meeting with the senators, and this is a collective effort on our part,” he said. “We will submit a legislative proposal, and they have the authority as lawmakers to make adjustments.”
This revaluation, similar to ones stateside districts undergo every three to five years, was mandated by a court order that prevented the collection of property tax until the revaluation was complete. (See "Court Bars Property Tax Billing and Collecting" and "Appeals Court Upholds Moore in Property Tax Rulings.")
The revaluation has been going on since 2004 in two phases, Powers said. The first was the completion of revaluation of commercial properties. That was completed and mailed out in 2005. Phase two, assessing residential properties, is now complete, and impact statements were sent to property owners in July. Since then, the assessor's office and BearingPoint have been holding informal hearings in which property owners may air concerns about their own property's new assessed value. Those hearings continue until the end of this month.
“We requested that property owners respond if they had a problem with the way the value was determined or assessed,” Powers said. “Informal hearings are still going on until the end of October.”
Property owners can still appeal after that time through the formal process, Martin said. First they can appeal to the Tax Review Board. If they are still not satisfied, they can appeal in court, he said. But this informal process is the first and easiest way to challenge a new assessed valuation. Contact the Office of the Tax Assessor to find out what to do.
Powers explained how the new, purportedly market-based values were derived. As is the process with any revaluation, she said, the first step is collecting the data. That means going to each property — each house, commercial building and plot of land. Location is a very important part of the formula, because it helps determine the market value, she said.
Each island is divided into different neighborhoods. Some estates are either combined or divided based on how they are developed. Among the factors used to generate the new valuation are the square footage of finished space, what kind of finished space it is and what kind of materials were used in construction, Powers said. Other information going tino a database includes the condition of the property, the shape and slope of the land, and whether it is waterfront or has a water view. That information and sale-price information from the Office of the Recorder of Deeds is used to generate typical sale prices.
More information on the revaluation and how to challenge a valuation can be found at vipropertyrevaluation.com.
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