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Residents will have the opportunity to weigh in at the Isle of Wight County supervisors’ 6 p.m. Sept. 19 meeting as to whether the county should reassess property values more often.

That’s the date Isle of Wight County supervisors have chosen for the required public hearing on a proposed ordinance change that would increase the frequency from the current four-year cycle to three years.

Homeowners balked in 2023 when the last four-year reassessment showed a 34% average rise in single-family home valuations, costing many of them several hundred dollars more on their real estate tax bills.

The supervisors first discussed upping the frequency at their Aug. 1 meeting in hopes of lessening the sticker shock come 2027 while also capturing the tax revenue impact of current home sale prices, which have continued to rise since 2023 according to Commissioner of the Revenue Gerald Gwaltney.

Gwaltney said last year’s reassessment produced valuations at a 97% “sales ratio,” which refers to the gap between a home’s assessed value and sale price. A 97% sales ratio, he explained, means a house valued at $97,000 would sell for $100,000.  

As of July of this year, Isle of Wight’s sales ratio had fallen to 89%, which Gwaltney said means homes are selling for roughly 8% more than they were as of mid-2023.  

The change in frequency would impact the tax revenue Isle of Wight receives from assets owned by companies like Dominion Energy, which pay taxes at a rate assessed by the state based on a locality’s sales ratio.

The change would also impact Isle of Wight’s two towns. Residents of Smithfield pay an additional 16 cents per $100 in assessed value, while residents of Windsor pay an extra 15 cents, to their respective towns on top of the 73 cents per $100 they pay to Isle of Wight.