                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

HEARING COMPLAINTS AND EQUALIZING ASSESSMENTS (§ 58.1-3379)

A. The board shall hear and give consideration to such complaints and shall
adjust and equalize such assessments and shall, moreover, be charged with the
especial duty of increasing as well as decreasing assessments, whether specific
complaint be laid or not, if in its judgment, the same be necessary to equalize
and accomplish the end that the burden of taxation shall rest equally upon all
citizens of such county or city.

B. In all cases brought before the board, there shall be a presumption that the
valuation determined by the assessor is correct. The burden of proof on appeal
to the board shall be on the taxpayer to rebut the presumption and show by a
preponderance of the evidence that the property in question is valued at more
than its fair market value or that the assessment is not uniform in its
application and that it was not arrived at in accordance with generally accepted
appraisal practices, procedures, rules, and standards as prescribed by
nationally recognized professional appraisal organizations such as the
International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) and applicable Virginia
law relating to valuation of property. Mistakes of fact, including computation,
that affect the assessment shall be deemed not to be in accordance with
generally accepted appraisal practice.
			However, in any appeal of the assessment of residential property filed by a
taxpayer as an owner of real property containing less than four residential
units, the assessing officer shall give the required written notice to the
taxpayer, or his duly authorized representative, under subsection E of &#xA7;
58.1-3331, and, upon written request, shall provide the taxpayer or his duly
authorized representative copies of the assessment records set out in
subsections A, B, and C of &#xA7; 58.1-3331 pertaining to the assessing
officer&#8217;s determination of fair market value of the property under appeal.
The assessing officer shall provide such records within 15 days of a written
request by the taxpayer or his duly authorized representative. If the assessing
officer fails to do so, the assessing officer shall present the following into
evidence prior to the presentation of evidence by the taxpayer at the hearing:
(i) copies of the assessment records maintained by the assessing officer under
&#xA7; 58.1-3331, (ii) testimony that explains the methodologies employed by the
assessing officer to determine the assessed value of the property, and (iii)
testimony that states that the assessed value was arrived at in accordance with
generally accepted appraisal practices, procedures, rules, and standards as
prescribed by nationally recognized professional appraisal organizations such as
the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) and applicable
Virginia law regarding the valuation of property. Upon the conclusion of the
presentation of the evidence of the assessing officer, the taxpayer shall have
the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence to rebut such evidence
presented by the assessing officer as otherwise provided in this section.

C. In considering complaints, nothing shall be construed to prohibit
consideration of any statement of income and expense or market sales that
occurred through December 31, prior to the effective date of the assessment, so
long as such information is submitted to the board no later than the
locality&#8217;s deadline for the application for relief. No studies or analyses
published after December 31 immediately preceding the effective date of the
assessment shall be considered in an appeal filed relating to that assessment.

D. In any case before the board concerning a taxpayer&#8217;s complaint in which
the commissioner of the revenue or other local assessing officer requests the
board to increase the assessment after the taxpayer files an appeal to the board
on a commercial, multifamily residential, or industrial property, the
commissioner or other officer shall provide the taxpayer notice of the request
not less than 14 days prior to the hearing of the board. Except as provided
herein, if the taxpayer contests the requested increase, the assessor shall
either withdraw the request or shall provide the board an appraisal performed by
an independent contractor who is licensed and certified by the Virginia Real
Estate Appraiser Board to serve as a general real estate appraiser, which
appraisal affirms that such increase in value represents the property&#8217;s
fair market value as of the date of the assessment in dispute. The provisions of
this subsection that require that the assessor provide the board with an
appraisal shall not apply if (i) the requested increase is based on mistakes of
fact, including computation errors, or (ii) the information on which the
commissioner or other officer bases the requested increase was available to, but
not provided by, the taxpayer in response to a request for information made by
the commissioner or other officer at the time the challenged assessment was
made.

E. The commissioner of the revenue or other local assessing officer of such
county or city shall, when requested, attend the meetings of the board, without
additional compensation, and shall call the attention of the board to such
inequalities in real estate assessments in his county or city as may be known to
him.

F. Every board of equalization may go upon and inspect any real estate subject
to adjustment or equalization by it.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 58-904; 1984, c. 675; 2003, c. 1036; 2010, c. 552; 2011,
cc. 184, 232; 2013, c. 197.