2024 Reassessment 

Important Information Regarding the 2024 Reassessment and How it Relates to your Taxes

Franklin County recently began conducting the general reassessment to be effective on January 1, 2024.  The purpose of the general reassessment is to establish a property’s fair market value. The last general reassessment to establish fair market value was effective January 1, 2020.

The reassessment process involves site visits by a team of assessors to each property throughout the county in order to verify information on the property data cards.   These visits will continue through most of 2023. Once the site visits are complete, the assessment firm will perform an in-depth market analysis of the most current sales data to determine the new fair market value of all real estate.

After the analysis is complete, a notice of the proposed 2024 valuation will be sent to all real estate property owners in mid to late November 2023. There will be an appeal process following receipt of the updated assessments to provide property owners an opportunity to challenge the valuation.

Franklin County reassesses all real estate every 4 years. As many of you are aware, the real estate market has increased significantly since the 2020 reassessment, resulting in much higher values.  While this would lead most to expect real estate taxes to increase significantly as well, that is not supposed to be the case. The tax rate set by the Board of Supervisors during the budget process is what drives revenue/tax increases, not the property value change to fair market value via the reassessment process.  The purpose of the reassessment is NOT to generate more revenue, it is to redistribute the tax burden based on the value of your property.

The reassessment process is actually dictated in the Code of Virginia and the tax implication is supposed to be almost revenue neutral. The section of the code that addresses the tax implication is §58.1-3321 and is referenced below:                                                                                                       
§ 58.1-3321. Effect on rate when assessment results in tax increase; public hearings; referendum.

A. When any annual assessment, biennial assessment, or general reassessment of real property by a county, city, or town would result in an increase of one percent or more in the total real property tax levied, such county, city, or town shall reduce its rate of levy for the forthcoming tax year so as to cause such rate of levy to produce no more than 101 percent of the previous year's real property tax levies, unless subsection B is complied with, which rate shall be determined by multiplying the previous year's total real property tax levies by 101 percent and dividing the product by the forthcoming tax year's total real property assessed value. An additional assessment or reassessment due to the construction of new or other improvements, including those improvements and changes set forth in § 58.1-3285, to the property shall not be an annual assessment or general reassessment within the meaning of this section, nor shall the assessed value of such improvements be included in calculating the new tax levy for purposes of this section. Special levies shall not be included in any calculations provided for under this section.

B. The governing body of a county, city, or town may, after conducting a public hearing, which shall not be held at the same time as the annual budget hearing, increase the rate above the reduced rate required in subsection A if any such increase is deemed to be necessary by such governing body.

DISCLAIMER: The 35% increase and assessment amount used in the illustration detailed below is for ease of calculations only and should not be interpreted as the actual projected amount of increase. The example below depicts what a revenue-neutral rate would be if the code above were followed:

Questions?

Please call the Commissioner of Revenue office at 540-483-3083 opt. 3 or Margaret S. Torrence, Commissioner at 540-483-6650.