Reassessment is underway in Nelson County for first time since 2023

The reassessment process is underway in Nelson County and is being conducted by the firm Wampler-Eanes. The company markets itself to governments that do not have a full-time staff to do appraisals.

“By the end of this year, we will have completed 167 reassessments across 54 different localities throughout Virginia and North Carolina totaling over 2.8 million properties assessed,” said the firm’s Gary Eanes.

Eanes said the process began with a comprehensive sales study and involves research into GIS as well as on-the-ground observations of property inspections. He presented an update to the Nelson Board of Supervisors at their meeting on September 9. The county performs a reassessment every four years with the last in 2023. State law requires assessments to be at 100 percent of fair market value.

As an example, if a property is appraised at $80,000 and sells for $100,000, then the sales ratio is 80 percent. Eanes said his company’s job is to calculate that ratio across the 282 market areas in Nelson County.

“The state Department of Taxation looks at what properties are selling for in your county and if that ratio drops below 70 percent they’re going to ask you to do a reassessment,” Eanes said.

Eanes said with an older assessment, Nelson County is getting close to that 70 percent. He said that means assessments will increase in 2026 but that doesn’t necessarily translate to higher taxes.

“This board will be looking at the tax rate and the income that’s needed to maintain the county,” Eanes said. “So, you know, the tax rate could adjust or it may not adjust. That’ll be up to your budget. But reassessment is not just to raise taxes. It’s to equalize the tax burden among the property owners.”

In his presentation, Eanes went through a series of properties but said he did not have a full set of values yet.

• A double-wide trailer on 3.26 acres in Shipman was assessed in 2023 at $130,000 and sold after that for $230,000
• A recently renovated house in Faber on 2 acres was assessed at $185,000 and sold for $412,000 in 2025
• A house in Beech Grove on 8 acres assessed in 2023 at $154,700 sold in 2024 for $395,000
• A trailer in Gladstone on half an acre was assessed in 2023 at $17,000 and sold for $194,500.
• A small house in Arrington was assessed in 2023 at $20,700 and sold for $218,000 in 2025

Eanes said the inspection process is still underway and should wrap up in November.

Only three Supervisors were present for the discussion and one of them made an observation.

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