Judge's assessment of property tax valuation: It’s wrong

GREAT -- Federal Judge DOUMAR gets SPECIAL treatment over his property taxes-- the unwassed masses like ME, who is neither POWERFUL nor PRIVILEDGED nor WEALTY gets the "BUM RUSH"--- Recommend you complain to your city council members and the Mayor at WWW.NORFOLK.GOV -- or call the Mayors Office --- then click on the CITY HALL icon at the top of the Menu to get all the CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS and MAYORS OFFICE.-- or call
Mayor Fraim Office: 664-4679 or EMAIL ccouncil@city.norfolk.va.us to contact your NORFOLK CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS. Criminey -- do these folks EVER listen to their own people??? Unless your last name is "DECKER", or "BOONE" or now perhaps "DOUMAR" or a big business or a developer-- you dont get SQUAT from these people who like to social engineer this city into thier own image. Judge Doumar should have asked for his WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD-- NO JUST HIMSELF. ---- They have DISDAIN and CONTEMPT for thier own citizenS--- catering only to rarefied groups. Example: Oceanside had to SUE thier Govt to get a park. They OVERUSE personal propery condemnation procedures against the little guy: EXAMPLE: Coca Cola plant tries to use imminent domain to get a parking lot from a ni

The bottom line is everytime you approach someone about the real estate taxes ie city council the first thing that comes out of there mouth is.I will give you what you assessment is for your house and or property..When will they learn that it has nothing to do with it.The people of Norfolk are having to pay too much and they need to do something about it soon..It is placing hardship on enough people living and doing business here that it is a topic of conversation every where you go..They need to remember that they will coming up for re election etc and anyone who starts talking about how they can reduce taxes and do a better job managing the city they will have my ear and maybe even my vote.
Remember tax rates affect rents for those businesses trying to succeed etc etc..I suggest the City make way for business people to manage and run our city like a bussiness..Just like 2 days ago when I needed and answer about a use for a property and everyone was in a meeting..I still have not been called back.I sent an email the same day and still no response.The city is not working for me..I am working for the city!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bobby Schlegel Jr.

Even if you accept the 18 month lag premise (these guys act as if they are still using index cards--please!) then in theory we should all see a sharp drop next year. In 50 years of living in Norfolk, which includes numerous price cycles, I have NEVER had the valuation come down. Explain that one!

Fire Regina Williams and vote the rest of the Norfolk City Council OUT! As several others said, it's high time that we had term limits on ALL public offices and that isn't going to happen unless we all make our voices heard!

Norfolk residents, we need to vote the current council out of office and not elect anyone who doesn't support term limits! Talk to your neighbors, get every Norfolk resident that you know involved and let's take back our government!

You make reckless statements. Go on line and read the guidelines that are supposed to be followed by the assessors and then re-post. I protested my property taxes 3 years running and not once could the assessors office produce the required working papers. The assessments also had no relationship to recent sales. EVERYONE IN NORFOLK should educate themselves regarding assessment procedures and file formal protests. You have nothing to lose and we can force change. Fraim and the rest of the council are arrogant and nondeserving of governing. They HAVE to go if it is not already to late for Norfolk.

Should the Mayor be offering to accompany Judge Doumar with his property assessment? Will we all be offered this service?

Do you think the average joe would have received such a sincere and welcomed response from the assessor or the mayor. What a kiss up bunch of political nit-wits.

The assessors office said the same thing to us. Wasted time coming out to the house and sent a letter two weeks later saying nothing was going to change. Wonder if Fraim is going to look into all those complaints?

judge i know i wanted 2 put the granby towers on the propery u wanted 2 build a new court house ...PLEASE!! PLEASE!!! can u help me out and put the court house there now....this is 1 of the many mistakes we have made in norfolk...we can also talk about your property tax...please...please help me with this problem.....and life goes on in norfolk....this is just the start of the $ problems 4 the city....

This has got to be the funniest thing aside from the bullnuts article. Mayor you ought to be ashamed. Boys and girls, I hate to break it to you but the city councils of Tidewater have grown accustomed to spending your tax money. It's hard to change bad habits. If the assessors of our area increase the assessments it will give Council wiggle room to adjust the mil rate and let the assessor's depart. deal with irrate property owners. If assessments decrease, Council will have to increase the mil rate or actually do their jobs and decrease spending (especially on pet projects). I know where I am placing my bet!

Mike Barrett-I agree with your comments about needing to look at the two numbers together to get an accurate picture. But what I want the council to do is afford me the same courtesy and use accurate date to start with. Using assessment data that is 18 months old is an excuse to add to the coffers out of our pockets and not have to take any fiscal responsibility for it. Maybe when I file my tax return this year, I should just use the data from my income from 18 or 24 months ago. How do you think the state would respond to that? Same thing here, require the assessors to use CURRENT (6-12 months) data on sales to use to figure the rates. Another issue is how the budget is calculated. Quit trying to assess what you need next year on what you think you can get out of the pockets of the taxpayes and start trying to reduce the amount of spending to get a more accurate picture of what you might NEED (key word here is NEED, not WANT)!!

We know HOW RE assessments work, but thanks for the elementary education. The problem we have is the RESULT of the WAY VB City Council and, in this case, Norfolk City Council implement this "system". It's out of control and their houses of cards are about to fall too.

Basing budgets on future and/or expected RE tax revenues (especially values that are seeing 20%+ increases) is pathetic financial planning. That growth level cannot be sustained and a councilperson that bases/approves a budget based on those sorts of predictions is fiscally irresponsible.

What's the result: overtaxed homeowners and budgets that fall apart because they're based on pie-in-the-sky. Get a clue...

Assessments are based upon verifiable sales data, and the performance of local assessors is reviewed by the Commonwealth and must meet strict professional standards. If sales data shows an increase in value for a neighborhood, chances are quite good that it is accurate. Now that the bubble has burst, assessments of residential real estate may actually decrease; some neighborhoods have seen that already. Commercial assessments are going up rapidly as well. City Councils have the tool they need to manage the change in assessments; that is, they can lower or raise the rate. For those who bemoan their assessment, or their rate, and not the combination of the two are missing the point. At the Beach, Council has reduced the rate from a high of $1.25/$100 of assessed value, to the rate now in effect which is $0.89/ $100 or assessed value. Those who don't look at both get an inaccurate picture and draw the wrong conclusion.

I hope this FEDERAL District Court judge takes a good, long look at this for the rest of us out here that are being hung out to dry by our respective city councils. Maybe legal intervention is the way to clean this up and get a handle on runaway legislative bodies that can't budget properly.

This out-of-control rise in real estate values has been a topic many of us have brought before VB City Council only to have them effectively turn a deaf ear to the problem, the problem that growth of that magnitude CANNOT be sustained, and a correction will come! That correction is happening now, and the cities that banked on the revenue with a blind eye toward the right thing to do (VB is VERY guilty of this) are in trouble.

A government can only take from the people for so long before the people rise up and take back their government!!! By the way, the comment by Fraime reeks of nepotism and favoritism - disgusting, just disgusting!

What are the cities going to do when the values on homes land 50% lower? I mean, they saved for a rainy day right? Everyone (at least anyone with a brain) knew in 2003 (and perhaps earlier) that the "house of cards" was going to tumble, it was just a matter of time. It went farther than I expected. But the big issue is going to be the fact that cities adjusted to spending all the tax money. 60 Minutes did a great piece called House of Cards. It aired Sunday, and is available free online. The only problem is it's like 3 years late, it's the same thing all of us "bubbleheads" have been screaming about for years.

Will Mayor Fraime be accompanying other taxpayers who are not Federal Judges to assist them in challenging their assessments?

Norfolk must rewrite their policy for assessing the fair market value (FMV) of real estate. The judge just had the clout to get in the newspaper. Presently the real estate market is glutted with homes for sale and most have been on the market for a long time. When FMVs are rising, Norfok is quick to raise property taxes however when the market takes a downward spiral..... the reverse is true. Could it be that Norfolk needs to completely relook how it plans, programs, and budgets each year? There should not be a problem with assessments based on the last 6 months which is more indicative of FMV. Norfolk city govenment is a Model T operating in a Lexus envirnoment. The major, city manager, and city council need to relook the property tax issue. Could it be that their wants do not fit into the revenues generated by up-to-date and fair assessments which would mean that they would have to live within their means like the citizens of Norfolk.

How about Mayor Fraim attending more of the town and civic league meetings and "getting together" with the great unwashed. That would enable him to discuss matters of importance with a large group instead of a cozy one-on-one with a local influential judge. Don't hold your breath.

Mayor Fraim has not tried to hide the fact that our city council members are all first class rump smootchers! They are arrogant and don't care what the ordinary taxpayers think! The only solution for hard working property owners is to vote this crowd out at the first opportunity....this coming November for Hester and Wynn and the following year for the rest of these losers.

Notice how the cities responded quickly and zealously to raise the assessments to over the market price when real estate prices went up. Now that the market has collapsed it's a different story. Assessed values should not be so close to the market value that it doesn't allow for properties in less than perfect condition or drops in the market. The best quote from the article is "Said Fraim as Doumar was about to leave: “When you meet with the assessor, how about you and I go together?”. Yes Fraim, it does indeed appear that you are saying "Come see me and let's hobnob and I'll handle getting your property tax down for you". Even the fact that city council smiled when they say the judge kind of indicates that they are star strucked or something. Personally, after seeing how easy the courts are on convicted criminals, I have little respect for judges, but that's just me. It kind of bothers me when I see a murderer get off with five years (or in Alberts case, none). It bothers me when I see repeated DUI offenders get off with a fine or light sentence. Just mho.