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Residents of Virginia, check your personal property tax bill !
I'm a resident of Prince William County and I just received my personal property tax bill. And discovered that all my motorcycles appreciated in value over the past year, while my automobiles depreciated.

In the past, all my motor vehicles would depreciate in value, hence less tax paid per vehicle.

My wife's 2011 BMW G650GS appreciated $10 from last year.

My 2006 Kawasaki KLX 250S appreciated $5 from last year. $5, REALLY?!

But get this, my 2009 R1200GS appreciated $1,270 from last year! WTF?! An increase of over 12.3%. Maybe I should be investing in motorcycles with that kind of return!

How does a motorcycle that is a year older and with more miles on it go up in assessed value?

I have sent an email to the Prince William County Tax Administration, asking for an explanation. And I will be calling them first thing Monday morning.

Stay tuned and CHECK YOUR BILL.

Ride well,
G.

I can't find my 2012 bills now (probably packed) but I was struck by how high they were for the bikes.

What I don't understand is the $33 "registration fee". Didn't I already register my vehicles with DMV? How many entities do I have to register my vehicles with? What a rip off!

Here's a good one...Greg and I have almost identical bikes. Same model, same year, same color. My assessment is about $4k less. Do they just make up random numbers?

ChaseH wrote:Here's a good one...Greg and I have almost identical bikes. Same model, same year, same color. My assessment is about $4k less. Do they just make up random numbers?

Same jurisdiction? I believe the county or city you're in does the assessing and taxing. That's still an amazing difference. One possible reason could be if your GS models are of a year where NADA lists GS Standard (base model) and GS Premium (ESA, etc.) as separate choices, and the tax authorities are using one level for Greg and another for Chase. If your assessment is above NADA average retail, I'd certainly contest it.

T.Wesley wrote:What I don't understand is the $33 "registration fee". Didn't I already register my vehicles with DMV? How many entities do I have to register my vehicles with? What a rip off!

That's probably for what used to be your county sticker. Even though most counties eliminated the sticker (proof that you paid the county tax), they did keep the fee.

stevebmw wrote:

T.Wesley wrote:What I don't understand is the $33 "registration fee". Didn't I already register my vehicles with DMV? How many entities do I have to register my vehicles with? What a rip off!

That's probably for what used to be your county sticker. Even though most counties eliminated the sticker (proof that you paid the county tax), they did keep the fee.

Thanks for the heads up. I just checked my tax bill. Yes, my assessment (a 2009 1200GS with 56k miles on it) increased $460 from last year. Maybe it's the Namibia Orange. It's still well below Blue Book and the MCN buying guide, so I don't know what grounds I would have in contesting the assessment. It is odd that an ordinary daily-driver, non-collectible, non-antique vehicle would appreciate.

In Arlington the decal fee on motorcycles is $18. We still get the stupid, ugly stickers and have to display them. The County claims it increases compliance. So, why do they send you the sticker with the tax bill for 4-wheelers? Hmmm.... You could just not pay and slap the sticker on your car? And probably skate until they catch up with you in the collections process many months later.

Spoke with Prince William County tax folks who said they get their values from NADA. Was also told some Harleys also went up in value.

So I called NADA. Was told last year's value was too low, so nominal corrections had to be made. It's all very vague. 30 models of motorcycles increased in value and all the ones I own fit in that category, even the Kawasaki KLX250S.
But, the value on my 2009 GS should have not gone up more then $200. NADA said I should call the county to find out WTF.

Called the county again, was told to contact the supervisor that controls the values. BTW, he works 07:00 to 10:00, so call back tomorrow (wish I had those hours).

The saga continues.

G.

Another little gem buried in the tax bill. The rebate for assessed values between $3,000 and $20,000 fell from 30% to 27%. So, not only is the assessment higher, I'll be getting less rebate on the increase in tax due. Grrr... Sure, it's a trivial amount of money in the grand scheme of things, but I expect to pay less each year on a vehicle, just like I do on collision and comprehensive coverage.