Gerald Thompson reached a compromise with the board during a board of equalization and review meeting held before the commissioners’ regular meeting.
Thompson’s property in the Edgewater Subdivision was appraised in 2007 for $305,220, county Tax Assessor Charles Graham told the board. Three appraisers confirmed the county’s appraisal. “All agreed it appeared to be correct,” he said.
During conversations with the tax office, Graham said Thompson indicated the land should be appraised no more than $245,000.
“A decline in the economy is not a valid reason to change valuations,” Graham told the board.
Thompson said the economy was not the factor, telling the board he bought the property for $42,500. He said a lot which sold for $47,500 was assessed at $239,930 and that was larger than his. “It has a larger lake front.”
Lots at Crosscreek on Lake Gaston are assessed lower than his Roanoke Rapids Lake property, Thompson said, while a three bedroom, two bath house on 2.2 acres of land at Roanoke Rapids Lake can be bought for less than $290,000.
A motion to deny the appeal ended in 3-3 deadlock while a subsequent motion by Commissioner Gene Minton to lower the valuation to $275,000 passed on a 4-2 vote.
“We think we were right,” Graham said. “If it can’t be settled we leave up to the board.”
Meanwhile, the board turned down Deborah Long-Smith’s appeal.
She told the board she and her husband plan to build on the lot they bought in Edgewater by next year.
They bought the lot for $85,000 when it was valued at $61,000. A teacher in Northern Virginia, Long-Smith said the property was appraised at $250,000, a 411 percent increase over what she and her husband bought it for. “I spoke to someone in the tax office and was told I was wasting my time appealing. I felt I couldn’t fight city hall.”
Long-Smith told the board she lives in Loudon County, Virginia, the richest county in the nation with the third best school system in the nation. It is also a county where taxes have gone up 30 percent. “What does Halifax County have that Loudon County doesn’t?” she asked.
No improvements have been made to the property, she said, which isn’t on what she described as the main lake. “It seems to be unreasonable,” Long-Smith said, adding later, “It looks like the lake area is trying to make up for the rest of the area. I would vote for a tax increase if we lived here because I would like to see good schools.”
The board turned down her appeal and turned down the appeal of Rom Parker on 444.75 acres of land in the Fishing Creek area.
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