Commissioner proposes fixed 30% valuation for business tangible property; committee forwards recommendation

Anne Burkholder, the city's Commissioner of Revenue, presented a resolution proposing a change in the business tangible property assessment methodology that would move valuation practices toward a fixed lower percent (30% was cited as the proposed fixed rate for many assets). She said the change aims to make Winchester more competitive with neighboring jurisdictions and simplify assessments.

"My office had been considering changing our assessment methodology for depreciation, which has been in place for a number of years," Burkholder said, explaining the rationale and noting the Code of Virginia assigns methodology responsibilities to the commissioner but encourages governing-body concurrence because changes can affect the budget. Councilors pressed for projected revenue impacts; Burkholder said historical data were largely on paper and that the new digital system will provide better analytics in future years but that a precise statistical estimate would require manual review of thousands of paper records.

After discussion of incentives, rebates and potential offsets, the committee voted to forward Resolution 2026-42 with a recommendation for approval so the full Common Council can consider the change and its fiscal implications.