A reader posed the question of how or why might you appeal the assessed value assigned to your property by the City of Harrisonburg.  Below is an overview of that subject, based mostly on information I gleaned from a conversation with Nancy Lawson at the City of Harrisonburg's Commissioner of the Revenue office. 

When determining new assessed values, the City of Harrisonburg always tries to get pretty close to the market value of the property --- but they are almost always under market value with their assessments.  ("Market value" being defined as the amount you could obtain if you sold it.)  They are often under market value because they use sales data from July 1 to June 30 --- and they release the new assessed values in November.  So they are basing the new values on data that is 4 to 16 months old.  However, regardless of the data being used, it is possible that the city could have assessed your property at too high of a value --- and there is an opportunity for recourse.

The first step of the appeal process involves meeting with someone at the Commissioner of the Revenue's office about how they came to your assessed value --- this is called the informal review.  There is a "worksheet" on file for your property showing the calculations they used to come to your assessed value.  They can also share the information on comparable properties in your neighborhood, which they use to determine assessed value. 

If, after the informal review, you think they have assessed your property at too high of a value, you can file a formal appeal using this form.

Click here for more assessment information from the City of Harrisonburg

This all applies to the City of Harrisonburg.  The process and details for properties in Rockingham County (or in any other city, town or county) are a bit different.  If you live outside of the City of Harrisonburg and you're having trouble finding parallel information for another locality, let me know --- I'd be glad to help you research it.