Conduct of proceedings before the Board.
Richmond, Va., City Code § 2-1278
in effectSec. 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)
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_DIV15BOEQREESAS_S2-1278COPRBEBOFetched: 11/8/2026