City council members and staff are trying to relieve Martinsville residents’ concerns over a 54.3% median property value increase following the city’s recent reassessment.
Notices were sent out in late February. Currently, the city is in its review period in which property owners will have the chance to appeal the reassessed values of their properties.
The city typically conducts reassessments every two years, with the last one in 2023. Following that reassessment, the median property value increase was 20.34%.
Ruth Easley, the city’s commissioner of the revenue, said Monday that while the median increase this year is 54.3%, that’s based on early figures that are likely to change as city officials continue to meet with property owners.
The review period runs through the end of the month. Council members urged the public to go through the appeals process if they would like to contest the reassessment of their property.
“If you see your assessed value and you do not agree with it, there is a process,” City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides said at last week’s city council meeting. “All of this is to help our citizens understand their rights.”
Not all reassessments lead to an increase in property values, she said.
“All residential neighbors don’t necessarily appreciate or depreciate at the same time,” she said. “Houses change, the markets change depending on where you are.”
Last month, average home prices in the city went down 14.8%, Ferrell-Benavides said. She later added that property values aren’t just based on home prices. Everything from upgrades to homes to policies enacted by the city council could impact what residents ultimately have to pay in their tax bills.
Ferrell-Benavides said she and city staff anticipated the reaction and urged the public to trust the process.
The public should not mistake reassessments for the city’s tax rate, she said.
“It’s an alarming thing to see … whatever your percentage was,” Ferrell-Benavides said. “The job of the council will be to determine what is the tax rate that will continue the city’s operation but not hurt our citizens.”
Martinsville’s tax rate, which took effect in 2023, is 99 cents per $100 of assessed value. Neighboring Pittsylvania County’s is 56 cents per $100 while Patrick County’s is 73 cents per $100.
Ferrell-Benavides mentioned enacting a revenue-neutral rate, which would be equal to what was collected in the previous fiscal year. Martinsville’s revenue-neutral rate is estimated at 77 cents per $100 property evaluation.
City staff are in the process of creating a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
“A major part of the budget process is the setting of the tax rate,” Ferrell-Benavides said. While many factors go into determining the tax rate, it is largely based on the operating costs for the city, as it accounts for a significant portion of a locality’s income.
