$256,756.93 Collected in Delinquent Real Estate
Overall Collection Up at $373,331.37

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
      In the three-month period that followed the announcement the county would publish estate taxpayers in this newspaper, some $256,756.93 in delinquent taxes were collected.
        Treasurer Bill Keene attributed the successful collection of delinquent taxes in that three-month period to be due in part to the board of supervisors' decision to publish the list in the Virginia Mountaineer.
        "I think that helped to collect it," Keene said, adding, "I also feel that we got some personal property taxes too because of the fact that some people didn't know which list would be published."
        In addition to the delinquent real estate amounts collected in 2005 in the three-month period examined, Keene said, the office collected $108,200.62 in delinquent personal property taxes and $8,373.82 in delinquent mineral taxes, compared to 2004 collection numbers of $95,630.13 in delinquent personal property tax and $4,116.81 in delinquent mineral tax.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

 Reassessment Progress Discussed
Property Values, Composite Index Two Issues of Concern

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor

      Property values in Buchanan County and their impact on the school composite index which determines the amount of money the county receives from the state toward the operation of the school system, were a topic of discussion Monday during a meeting of the board of supervisors.
       Jay Rife, who the county hired to conduct the mandated reassessment of county property values this year, was on hand to update board members on the progress of the reassessment. He noted that the Rocklick District was about 98 percent complete and Prater was about 50 percent complete.
        "There’s not a whole lot of information yet," Rife said, noting that within the next couple of months he would be able to give the board a better feel for changing property values.
       South Grundy Chairman Roger Rife noted there are problems now between differences in the tax values assigned to properties and the amount for which those properties actually sell.
          That difference he said, had resulted in a significant increase in the school composite index, which the state ties to a locality’s ability to pay for education. Buchanan County’s ability to pay rose significantly due to the new index rate assigned by the state formula.
         "As the index raises, we lose state monies," Roger Rife said. "It would be to our advantage to put real values on property and then lower our tax rate to get things more balanced."
          Jay Rife agreed, but he said things were not that simple, adding a lot goes into the composite index that the reassessment has no control over.
         He told board members that the county currently conducts a reassessment of property values every six years and he added, "there’s no way to predict" what a piece or property will sell for years down the road. Values in and around the town of Grundy have gone up since the last reassessment, he said, mainly due to the success of the Appalachian school of Law.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.