In Beach, drive up and knock a few bucks off your car tax bill

VIRGINIA BEACH

Got a complaint about your car tax bill? Just drive on up.

Tim Johnston did Wednesday. He pulled up to the city's novel drive-through appeals station in a work van, while someone else drove his pickup truck for him.

For the past month, cars, trucks, vans - pretty much anything on four wheels - have stopped at a parking lot across North Landing Road from City Hall.

Agents from the commissioner of the revenue's office have sidled up to check mileage and scoured quarter-panels for dents, dings and rust.

Then, the agents read pricing guides and ran a few calculations. High mileage, chipping paint, scratched soft-tops - they all justify trimming a vehicle's assessed value. And shrinking the corresponding bill.

"If people take the time to come out here," said Brent McKenzie, one of the agents, "we try to do our absolute best to help them out a little bit."

McKenzie's analysis knocked $66.60 off the tax for Johnston's truck and $88.80 off the work van. He also erased a $108.75 bill for a trailer because it was sold in 2007.

All told, Johnston saved $264.15 in less than 15 minutes. That's better than Geico.

"Time is money," Johnston said, " and money saved is good time."

Phil Kellam, the commissioner of the revenue, started the drive-through service in 1998. It's still the only one in South Hampton Roads, and it gives city workers a chance to see the cars they assess.

Residents still can appeal by walking into the office or asking for an agent to come to them, but the drive-through is the most popular method.

This year, an estimated 1,600 cars already have shown up, a 17 percent increase from last year. The city assesses roughly 400,000 vehicles a year, so the percentage of appeals is less than 1 percent. Still, Kellam said he wants people to have an easy way to challenge their bills.

"It took what, like five minutes," said Morgan Parker, who brought her Mitsubishi convertible and saved $20.93. "I tell everybody about it."

The drive-through is hardly luxurious. A canopy covers two computers on a folding table. A plastic bin serves as a filing cabinet. Everyone goes inside if it rains.

And while the drive-through will be open through June 13, car taxes are due today. Drivers can appeal for up to three years and still get refunds, but Kellam's office emphasized that taxes paid after today's due date will incur a

10 percent penalty.

"I don't want people thinking 'I'm not going to pay it because I want to appeal,' " said Eric Schmudde, Kellam's chief deputy. "That's wrong."

Most people understood that Wednesday. They only had one question when they finished.

"Hey," Johnston asked, "can I pay this here?"

"No," McKenzie told him. "You've got to go across the street." To the revenue office counters.

Can't do it all in the drive-through.

Richard Quinn, (757) 222-5119, richard.quinn@pilotonline.com