King William is hiring the husband of the former Commissioner of the Revenue to perform a reassessment of all the properties in the county, a county official confirmed last week.
The county will pay more than $300,000 to Pearson’s Appraisal Service, owned by appraiser Fred Pearson, for the appraisal of 11,197 parcels.
Pearson is the husband of former Commissioner of the Revenue Sally Pearson, who resigned mid-term in November 2020. Prior to leaving office, Sally Pearson faced scrutiny for refusing to take part in the county’s previous assessment, saying it was a waste of taxpayer money.
The reassessment project was put out for bid by the county, but Fred Pearson’s company was the only one that submitted a bid. There’s no requirement for the number of bids that must be received.
So far, none of the county supervisors have publicly questioned hiring Pearson Appraisal Services to conduct the 2023 general property reassessment.
The county issued a call to bid May 26 and closed the bidding on Aug. 6. However, Fred Pearson discussed reassessment plans, such as how he plans to conduct the reassessment, visit homes and provide documentation at the Board’s September meeting prior to officially being hired.
Per the contract, Pearson will oversee the assessment, sign the land books, offer the county updates with the promise to visit greater than 95% of all parcels in the county and provide photographic evidence.
In September 2020, the commissioner’s office faced a performance audit that led to the discovery of properties being incorrectly taxed and subsequently, the board unanimously voted to defund an employee position in the office.
Additionally, Sally Pearson refused, on several occasions, to let auditors in her office after declining to take part in the reassessment, citing it was a waste of taxpayer dollars. As a result, the firm had to work with limited information obtained in an unrelated probe of the Treasurer’s Office.
The subsequent special election held the following February to fill the Commissioner of the Revenue seat is estimated to have cost the county $10,000 to $12,000.
Initially, the county hired Roanoke-based assessment company BrightMinds to conduct the reassessment to go into effect in 2021. But, after citing numerous errors, the board unanimously voted to throw out the assessment and start over.
Currently, the county has not undergone a property reassessment in six years. When the 2023 assessment is complete, property will not have been assessed in eight years. According to state codes, localities with a population of 50,000 or less must conduct a general reassessment in either five- or six-year intervals.
The county’s fiscal year 2022 budget includes property taxes collected based on 2015 data.
Following the invalidation of BrightMinds assessment, emails, obtained by the Tidewater Review through a Freedom of Information Act request, revealed that the Board of Supervisors withheld information from former County Administrator Bobbie Tassinari regarding the assessment which ultimately led to her resignation.
In an email correspondence between fourth district Supervisor Stewart Garber and Sally Pearson, forwarded to several key county figures, discussions revealed errors with the assessment that were withheld from Tassinari.
Tassinari’s resignation marked the fifth high-profile official to leave the county in a course of six months, following former Treasurer Harry Whitt, Sally Pearson, fourth district school board member Lindsay Robinson and former interim treasurer Marie Wilson.
Fred Pearson is a certified appraiser and deemed qualified by the Virginia Department of Taxation. The firm will have to submit the reassessment report prior to Jan. 30, 2022.
To view the full contract, visit bit.ly/3D9qaao.
For more information, visit kingwilliamcounty.us.
Em Holter, emily.holter@virginiamedia.com, 757-256-6657, @EmHolterNews