March 25, 2015

Daily Press: Gloucester County Credits Pictometry for Helping to Reduce Appeals by Nearly 90 Percent

Gloucester County, Virginia assessor Derek Green was hired in 2012 to strip the county’s old assessment system and rebuild it.  A 2010 reassessment left the county facing appeals on 1,588 parcels and was widely criticized.

Green worked with his staff to completely reconfigure the assessment process and implemented the use of Pictometry imagery and analytical tools.  The 2015 assessment placed values into effect on January 1 and the office has only received appeal on 167 parcels – a nearly 90 percent decrease.

County Administrator Brenda Garton said that new software, including Pictometry, has been a tremendous boon for the 2015 assessment.

In 2006, the Board of Equalization in Gloucester County heard appeals over the assessed value of 4,000 parcels of land.

In 2010, an assessment that was widely criticized, the board received appeal requests over 1,588 parcels.

This year, County Assessor Derek Green said the board has received requests to appeal the assessed value of only 167 parcels – a nearly 90 percent decrease. That sharp decline in requests comes from less that 100 individual property owners.

“It’s great news and a true picture that the residents of Gloucester County felt like they were treated fair and equitable in this reassessment,” Green said.

Read the full story from the Daily Press here.