Assessor's Office
Chief Assessor: John W. Nelms, Jr., RES, SRA
Deputy Real Estate Assessor: Richard W. Paul, CAE, SRA
Office Number: 804-365-6029
Email: assessor@co.hanover.va.us
Function of the Assessor's Office
The Code of Virginia (Title 58.1-3201) provides for the assessment of real property at 100% of fair market value.
Fair Market Value: The probable amount a property would sell for today if exposed to the market for a reasonable time.
Hanover County is on an annual assessment schedule and reassessment is necessary to equalize the value of real estate in order to meet and maintain the state required ratio of 100% of market value. Hanover County follows the standards of the International Association of Assessing Officers and the Code of Virginia in performing the annual assessment process. This annual assessment process is analyzed and monitored annually by the State Department of Taxation for compliance and accuracy.
County Assessment Data
Hanover County continues to try to provide its citizens and businesses with access to the most current County property record data available. In the past the County has accomplished this through providing citizens and businesses access to ownership and assessment data on the Geographic Information System (GIS) web page and in pdf files on the Assessors web page. Providing this data in two different sources, which use two different procedures and data currency dates has caused confusion to users.
The County has determined that the most efficient way to present online property record data to the public is to provide that data in a single location, through the County's GIS web page. The County will no longer publish the pdf files.
The data presented on the GIS web site is kept as current as possible throughout the year and is updated monthly. The GIS web site, which uses a graphic representation of the tax parcel boundaries in GIS and links that data to ownership and assessment data from the Commissioner of the Revenue and Assessment systems, shows the most current ownership and assessment data available to the public.
The pdf files that were available on the Assessor's web page were created using the Commissioner of the Revenue's "land file". The land file is generated annually to provide a master record of property information, including ownership and assessment data, as it existed at the close of business December 31 (end of the calendar year). The land file is not updated during the calendar year, so the pdf files only showed a snap-shot of the data that existed on December 31. As the year progressed and property information changed those changes were not reflected in the pdf files, which caused the data in the pdf files to become dated. The County found that business decisions were being made using these files, which were causing a variety of issues.
Those entities that have used the pdf files that were posted can still obtain a pdf version of the land file, which would include all the data previously posted on the web page (including ownership and assessment data for all properties in the County). To obtain the land file in pdf format please contact the Commissioner of the Revenue's Real Estate Property Division Office at (804) 365-6128.
How Assessments Are Determined
Buyers and sellers, not the Assessor's Office, establish value in the real estate market. The Assessor's Office has the responsibility of reviewing the market transactions and using the market data to assess each property accordingly. Sales information is gathered from recorded deeds, buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals and the assessed values are compared to the sales prices to determine if the assessments are in compliance with the state required ratio of 100% of market value. There are many reasons for a change in property value such as an addition, fire, or a movement (up or down) in the market. The most frequent cause of a change in value is a change in the real estate market. An area is selected for reassessment when its median assessment/sales ratio is significantly below or above the state mandated 100% of fair market value.
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