VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Jimbo Leonard's jaw dropped earlier this week when he opened his personal property tax bill in the mail.
He said he was dumbfounded to learn the assessed value for his truck, which is 10 years old, increased.
"It didn't make sense," Leonard told News 3's Jay Greene. "Cars decrease in value or hold value. They don't necessarily gain value."
The assessed amount is determined by the fair market value of your car, and it's adjusted by the commissioner of revenue in each city and county across Virginia.
The treasurer collects the amount owed.
Phil Kellam, the commissioner in Virginia Beach, said he uses the National Automobile Dealers Association's value in his determination.
"The law says that it's my job to find the property and assess it at fair market value," Kellam said. "And I can use pretty much any table or manner of coming to that fair market value."
Kellam acknowledges some may be shocked when they open up their bills to see higher assessed taxes.
"After reducing assessments to 75% of fair market values in 2022 (a 25% tax reduction) and 85% of fair market value in 2023 (a 15% tax reduction) the market has normalized an assessments are at 100% of fair market value," he said.
He said the could still be some hiccups in the determination.
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"There's still some, you know, unusual examples of cars that might not have depreciated as quickly or in some cases may have appreciated based on the market value," Kellam said. "There are some savings on your first $20,000 assessed. That'll make some difference in your bill. But the bills are normalizing now."
In Dec. 2023, Gov. Glenn Youngkin called for elimination of the local personal property tax. Youngkin noted the process would be "complicated," but urged lawmakers to work with state and local leaders to get rid of it.
"The car tax belongs in the trash can, not in your mailbox," Youngkin said in a speech.
To make up for it, Youngkin said local governments could raise sales tax.
Kellam said he was disappointed by the governor's proposal.
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"I didn't really see any, any meat on the bone there," Kellam said. "But I'm always interested in somebody who's got a proposal to make it simpler for the people that pay the bills—that's the taxpayer."
Kellam said it's the second biggest source of revenue for his city.
"I think that it's a long-standing way to raise revenue unless they come up with some other way for their localities to raise that revenue," Kellam said. "I think that we've gotten it about as close as we can to accountable to the public."
Kellam told Greene he encourages people to contact their commissioner of revenue if they believe their assessed value is too high. They have the option to file an appeal.
In Virginia Beach, can file an appeal onlineto help Kellam's office alleviate thousands of calls.
"Because there's no way I can know exactly what your mileage is, or what the condition of your car is," Kellam said. "I do know which car you have based on the VIN number. But I don't know the condition of your car."
Jimbo Leonard said he's considering an appeal, but he would like clarification on why the value increased so much for a car that's 10 years old.
"It's just a couple hundred bucks more," he said. But it's just the principle
that vehicles just don't gain value."
