The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Taxpayer hero or renegade clerk?
Since 2007, Circuit Court Clerk Tina Sinnen has charted her own course on how the city collects a real-estate fee called the grantor's tax. The result: Home sellers get a break, and the city and state miss out on revenue.
The tax, paid by the seller, is $1 per $1,000 of a home's value. But what is a home's value - the sales price or the assessed value? As the economy sours and many homes sell for below assessed value, the answer is critical.
Sinnen uses the sales price to figure the tax. Other localities, following 2007 General Assembly legislation, use either the sales price or assessed value, whichever is higher.
Since March 2008, the revenue not collected by taxing the sales prices instead of the assessed values is $133,038, or about $66,500 each for the city and the state, which split proceeds, according to a report last week by Deputy Circuit Court Clerk Emilie Inman.
"When the times were good, we were getting the money," said Sinnen, who was elected clerk in 2003. "How fair is it that when times are bad we would still be still getting the money? It makes sense to do it this way in a time when the market is down and people are suffering."
For example, a home on Moss Road in Broad Bay Colony recently sold for $535,000. Its assessed value: $807,900. If the grantor's tax had been paid on the assessed value, the city and state would have split $808. Since it was paid on the sales price, the tax generated $535, a difference of $273.
A more common example is a Charlestowne neighborhood home that sold for $320,000. Its assessed value: $396,900. That's $77 in lost revenue.
From Feb. 11 to Feb. 18, 54 of the 77 sales, or 70 percent, were for prices less than the properties' assessed values, Inman said.
State Auditor Walter Kucharski said Circuit Court clerks have discretion to interpret how to levy taxes. He said an audit would be needed to determine if Sinnen is applying the law correctly. None is planned.
Sinnen bases her legal rationale on a 1985 state attorney general's opinion that said "consideration," which means sales price, and "value," are synonymous. "We think they're the same," she said. "So there can't be a greater."
After the 2007 legislation, the state Office of the Supreme Court advised Circuit Court clerks to use the higher value on the grantor's tax.
The debate could end soon.
A bill that would make the home sales price the sole factor in determining the grantor's tax passed the House and Senate. HB2135 awaits the governor's signature.
"It's fair to the consumer," Sinnen said. "We've considered the market is not so good now."
Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com
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clerk is violating the law
To "I'maclerk2"
I use to be a clerk and you are wrong. She is not violating the law.
Your opinion is not the definitive answer as to what the law is unless you can cite the Code Section, decision by a court of competent jurisdiction or Constitutional provision that states otherwise.
Right On
The corrupt greedy money grubbing officials in my county would probably have found a way to charge her with incompetence and ousted. Right on Ms. Sinnen!! You have my vote!!
Interesting. . .
However, I imagine the will be "let go" soon as the State/City is going broke. I applaud the effort, however, the State/City is slowly going broke, and this won't make the bosses happy at all.
What is wrong with you?
Lmaclerk2 -
1. she did NOT violate the code of va. If you really are a clerk, do you know your job? In this state, you can go either way - it's how the code is written. Just because someone "suggests" how you should do it does not make that suggestion law.
2. Hello - it works both ways - kinda like sales tax on anything else you buy -4.5% here, 10% there - on the actual price you paid, not the "assessed value" of it.
3. Again, she didn't fail to obey the law - go get yourself a JD if you know what that is.
4. She's probably making some really smart decisions like the one in this article.
5. She applied it to the price paid for the property. Perhaps this isn't something you are used to - fairness. I'd really like to know where you are a clerk so we can do an audit of everything your govt / courts do / have done. Sounds pretty dirty to me.
Auditor of Public Accounts
The end of time may be at hand. Undoubtedly, this is THE FIRST TIME
during the reign of Walter Kucharski as Auditor of Public Accounts
he has opined that a court clerk has any discretion in assessing any
tax, fee or cost prescribed by law but rather must be done exactly
as his office proclaims it must be done.
Amazing. There is actually
Amazing. There is actually someone in government that thinks there should be some fairness directed at Virginia Beach taxpayers. After years of artificially inflated assessments, the tables have finally turned "a little" for the benefit of the citizen. I think I'm going to cry.
Why does this tax even exist
A great example of why Virginia needs to get rid of the Dillon Rule. Let each community chose how it wants to tax the folks. Suprised the clerk has so much choice. The simple answer is to tax by assessed value, because that should be city's value for all dealings with a property. But how ever it is done don't switch in the middle of the stream and most importantly don't switch to make more money. Then again tell me why we have this tax at all - sounds like a scam to take money from the folks... thought that is why I paid property tax. Get rid of hidden taxes like this.
How arogant
1. She is violating the Code of Virginia
2. Great for homeowners even better for large corporations.
3. (Sarcasm) - lets elect more officials that do not obey the law.
4. What else is she choosing to ignore or not do.
5. Did she apply this to everyone or only to friends and campaign contributors.
Thank you Tina!
I think the city should be required to buy my house and my vehicle for the value they base the taxes on.
What happened to all these fees?
Just think of all the Refi's, Sales etc that the cities and the Commonwealth reaped all of these taxes etc.
Where did all that money go?
Any tax should be on what the Sales Price is. Sounds like Virginia Beach is the only city treating it's citizens fairly concerning the Grantor's tax.