Richmond property values jump as assessments hit mailboxes

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Property values are rising in the City of Richmond. James Hamner has been reviewing his latest assessments, and he’s seeing an increase of 13% for his own home and a whopping 35% for the rental property he owns.

“It seemed a bit overinflated. I’m certainly a believer in paying my fair share, want to; everyone one needs to buy. A 35% increase seemed excessive to me when I saw that,” said James Hamner, a Richmond property owner.

Hamner says there should be a limit on how much the city assessor can raise property values yearly. On average, assessment values went up about 13%. Areas like Manchester and Forest Hills saw larger increases.

“What we’re seeing is that the city of Richmond is still running a pretty robust pace as far as sale price is concerned,” said Richie McKeithen, Richmond City Assessor.

The city assessor says Richmond is seeing an influx of people moving here from New York, DC and Philadelphia. The normal vacancy rate for homes in the city is usually between 15% and 20%. Right now, it’s around 1%.

“And they’re coming here, and they’re buying property, and they have resources to buy properties at a higher value than what we have them assessed for,” said McKeithen.

City councilors tell NBC12 they are fielding many questions about the assessments after they hit mailboxes over the weekend.

“I got mine. It’s over 30%. It is shocking, but we are in a city that’s thriving,” said Katherine Jordan, Richmond City Council.

One city councilor says they should have a scalable tax rate, not a fixed one. Katherine Jordan would like to explore different tax rates for residential versus business. She would also like to see rates lowered for long-term residents.

“We are looking for tools to better address these increases. Right now, we don’t have a lot of options to do targeted assistance relief,” said Councilor Jordan.

There is an appeals process if you think there’s an error. Click here. There’s also tax relief for the elderly and disabled. Click here.

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