BOARD OF EQUALIZATION OF REAL ESTATE ASSESSMENTS

Richmond, Va., City Code ch. 2, art. V, div. 15

in effect

Richmond, Va., City Code § 2-1275 Created.

Sec. 2-1275. - Created. In accordance with Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3373.1, there is hereby established a board of the City of Richmond to be known as the Board of Equalization of Real Estate Assessments. The Board of Equalization established by this section shall be a permanent board of equalization in accordance with Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3373. (Code 2004, § 2-1071; Code 2015, § 2-1126; Code 2020, § 2-1126; Ord. No. 2014-107-81, § 1, 5-27-2014)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 2-1276 Composition; alternate member; election of officers; terms of office; duties; minutes.

Sec. 2-1276. - Composition; alternate member; election of officers; terms of office; duties; minutes. (a) Composition. The Board shall be composed of three members appointed by the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond in accordance with Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3373. All members of the Board shall be residents, a majority of whom shall be freeholders, in the City of Richmond and shall be selected from the citizens of the City of Richmond. Appointments to the Board shall be broadly representative of the community. Thirty percent of the members of the Board shall be commercial or multifamily residential real estate appraisers who are licensed and certified by the Virginia Real Estate Appraiser Board to serve as general real estate appraisers, other commercial or multifamily real estate professionals or licensed commercial or multifamily real estate brokers, builders, developers, active or retired members of the Virginia State Bar, or other legal or financial professionals whose area of practice requires or required knowledge of the valuation of property, real estate transactions, building costs, accounting, finance or statistics. In accordance with Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3374, for purposes of this section, commercial or multifamily residential property shall be defined as any property that is either operated as or zoned for use as commercial, industrial or multifamily residential rental property. (b) Alternate member. In addition to regular members, the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond shall appoint one alternate member. The qualifications and compensation of the alternate member shall be the same as those of regular members. A regular member, when such member knows that such member will be absent or will have to abstain from any proceeding at a meeting, shall notify the Chairperson of the Board elected in accordance with Subsection (c) of this section at least 24 hours prior to the meeting of such fact. The Chairperson may select the alternate to serve in the absent or abstaining member's place and the records of the Board shall so note. The alternate member may vote on any proceeding in which a regular member is absent or abstains. (c) Election of officers. The Board shall elect one of its members as Chairperson and another as Secretary. (d) Terms of office. Of the members initially appointed, one member shall be appointed for a term of one year, one member shall be appointed for a term of two years, and one member shall be appointed for a term of three years. As the terms of the initial members expire, their successors shall be appointed for terms of three years. The alternate member shall be appointed for a two-year term. Any vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of an unexpired term by appointment of the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond. (e) Duties. The Board shall hear complaints that real property is assessed at more than fair market value. Except as otherwise provided by the Code of Virginia, the Board shall establish the fair market value of real property as of January 1 of the applicable year. The Board shall hear and give consideration to such complaints, shall adjust and equalize such assessments and shall increase and decrease 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 the City of Richmond. The Board shall hear and determine any and all such petitions and, by order on a form prepared by the Tax Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Taxation or on a form developed by the Board containing all the information required on the forms prepared by the Tax Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Taxation, may increase, decrease or affirm the assessment of which complaint is made; and, by order, it may increase or decrease any assessment, upon its own motion. No assessment shall be increased until after the owner of the property has been notified and given an opportunity to show cause against such increase. In addition, no assessment shall be increased on commercial, multifamily residential, or industrial property unless such increase is recommended by the City Assessor in compliance with the provisions of Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3379. (f) Minutes. The Board shall keep minutes of its meetings and enter therein all orders made and transmit promptly copies of such orders as relate to the increase or decrease of assessments to the property owner, the City Assessor and the Director of Finance. (Code 2004, § 2-1072; Code 2015, § 2-1127; Code 2020, § 2-1127; Ord. No. 2014-107-81, § 1, 5-27-2014)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 2-1277 Applications for equalization of real estate assessments (effective until January 1, 2025 and effective on July 1, 2026).

Sec. 2-1277. - Applications for equalization of real estate assessments (effective until January 1, 2025 and effective on July 1, 2026). (a) This section is effective until January 1, 2025, and shall also be effective again commencing on July 1, 2026. (b) Any property owner or such property owner's duly appointed representative may apply to the Board for the adjustment to fair market value and equalization of such property owner's assessment, including errors in acreage. An executed and properly notarized letter from the property owner designating an appointed representative for the property owner shall be presumed to be a valid designation from the property owner, and the person whose signature is notarized shall be presumed to have the authority to designate such representative on behalf of the property owner. (c) Any application for equalization of real estate assessments shall be filed in the Office of the City Assessor by November 30 of each year. If no applications for relief are received by such date, the Board of Equalization shall be deemed to have discharged its duties. If any such application is mailed by the applicant, the postmark date shall be considered the date of receipt by the City Assessor. A hearing for relief before the Board regarding an assessment on residential property shall not be denied on the basis of a lack of information on the application for relief, as long as the application includes the address, the parcel number, and the property owner's proposed assessed value for the property. If the application for relief is sent electronically, the date the applicant sends the application shall be considered the date of receipt by the City Assessor. The application is considered sent when it meets the requirements of Code of Virginia, § 59.1-493(a). A hearing for relief before the Board regarding an assessment on commercial, multifamily residential, or industrial property on the basis of fair market value shall not be denied on the basis of a lack of information on the application, as long as documentation of any applicable assessment methodologies is submitted with the application, and the application includes the address, the parcel number, and the property owner's proposed assessed value for the property. (Code 2004, § 2-1073; Code 2015, § 2-1128; Code 2020, § 2-1128; Ord. No. 2014-107-81, § 1, 5-27-2014; Ord. No. 2018-133, § 1, 5-29-2018; Ord. No 2024-130, § 2, 5-28-2024)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 2-1278 Conduct of proceedings before the Board.

Sec. 2-1278. - Conduct of proceedings before the Board. (a) In all cases brought before the Board, there shall be a presumption that the valuation determined by the City Assessor is correct. The burden of proof on appeal to the Board shall be on the property owner 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 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 property owner as an owner of real property containing less than four residential units, the City Assessor shall give the required written notice to the property owner, or the duly authorized representative thereof, under Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3331(E), and, upon written request, shall provide the property owner or the duly authorized representative thereof copies of the assessment records set out in Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3331(A), (B) and (C) pertaining to the City Assessor's determination of fair market value of the property under appeal. The City Assessor shall provide such records within 15 days of a written request by the taxpayer or the duly authorized representative thereof. If the City Assessor fails to do so, the City Assessor shall present the following into evidence prior to the presentation of evidence by the taxpayer at the hearing: (1) Copies of the assessment records maintained by the assessing officer under Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3331; (2) Testimony that explains the methodologies employed by the assessing officer to determine the assessed value of the property; and (3) 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 and applicable Virginia law regarding the valuation of property. Upon the conclusion of the presentation of the evidence of the City Assessor, the property owner 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. (b) 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 deadline prescribed in Section 2-1277 for the submission of an 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. (c) In any case before the Board concerning a property owner's complaint in which the City Assessor requests the Board to increase the assessment after the property owner files an appeal to the Board on a commercial, multifamily residential, or industrial property, the City Assessor shall provide the property owner notice of the request not less than 14 days prior to the hearing of the Board. Except as provided herein, if the property owner contests the requested increase, the City 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's fair market value as of the date of the assessment in dispute. The provisions of this subsection that require that the City Assessor provide the Board with an appraisal shall not apply if: (1) The requested increase is based on mistakes of fact, including computation errors; or (2) The information on which the City Assessor bases the requested increase was available to, but not provided by, the property owner in response to a request for information made by the City Assessor at the time the challenged assessment was made. (d) The City Assessor 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 the City of Richmond as may be known to the City Assessor. (e) The Board may go upon and inspect any real estate subject to adjustment or equalization by it. (Code 2004, § 2-1074; Code 2015, § 2-1129; Code 2020, § 2-1129; Ord. No. 2014-107-81, § 1, 5-27-2014)

Richmond, Va., City Code § 2-1279 Sittings of the Board; compensation.

Sec. 2-1279. - Sittings of the Board; compensation. (a) Sittings of the Board. The Board shall sit at and for such time or times as may be necessary to discharge the duties imposed and to exercise the powers conferred by this division, but in no case shall the Board sit for a number of days exceeding 50 days. Of each sitting, public notice shall be given at least ten days beforehand by publication in a newspaper having general circulation in the City of Richmond. Such notice shall inform the public that the Board shall sit at the place or places and on the days named therein for the purpose of equalizing real estate assessments in the City of Richmond and for the purpose of hearing complaints of inequalities wherein the property owners allege a lack of uniformity in assessment, or errors in acreage in such real estate assessments. (b) Compensation. The members of the Board shall receive a per diem compensation of $250.00 for each hearing or meeting of the Board for which such members are actually engaged in the duties of the Board; provided, however, that no member shall receive compensation for duties carried out on any day exceeding 50 days. (Code 2004, § 2-1075; Code 2015, § 2-1130; Code 2020, § 2-1130; Ord. No. 2014-107-81, § 1, 5-27-2014)

Source: City of Richmond, Virginia, Code (2026 recodification) and Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/va/richmond/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICICO_CH2AD_ARTVBOCOCOOTAG_DIV15BOEQREESASFetched: 11/8/2026