Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Gary Eanes (left) of Wampler–Eanes Appraisal Group Ltd. talks with homeowner Leonard Short in Christiansburg's Windsor Estates subdivision. Montgomery County has hired the company to conduct the 2011 general reassessment.

And next year, property owners will get a better sense of how that process will affect their dollars and cents when they receive notices of their new assessed values.

The county has hired Wampler-Eanes Appraisal Group Ltd. of Daleville to conduct the 2011 general reassessment, and the firm will examine sales data and visit more than 37,000 parcels to establish fair-market values for the reassessment, according to county information.

Appraisers began their study Aug. 3 to verify information for properties sold during the past 18 months. Every property will be viewed by an assessor between now and fall 2010, and the appraisal firm also will verify property information, such as square feet and number of bedrooms and baths.

Property owners will then receive notices of the assessed values in November 2010.

County officials said it's too early to tell whether property owners will see an increase in property taxes.

State law requires the county to reassess properties, and the Wampler-Eanes Appraisal Group conducted Montgomery County's past two reassessments in 2007 and 2003.

"We don't have the current staffing to do reassessments, so we hire a contractor," said Ruth Richey, the county's public information director.

Richey said county officials are satisfied with the work that Wampler-Eanes Appraisal Group has done previously. The county hired the group for $570,465 for the reassessment, she said.

Gary Eanes, an owner in the group, said the group is now working on reassessments in 10 localities in Virginia and North Carolina.

Eanes said it helps that the group is familiar with Montgomery County.

"The fun part is actually being out in the field looking at the houses and looking at the lay of the land and seeing all the beautiful sites throughout the county," Eanes said.

He views reassessment as equalizing the property values.

"What we look at are sales within each community, and we try to reflect those values," Eanes said. "We don't create the market. We just try to interpret the market."

State law requires the county to reassess properties at 100 percent of fair-market value, and the county does that every four years. Fair market value is the amount a typical buyer would be willing to pay for a property and is based on an analysis of sales data and properties comparable in construction, age, size, lot and improvements, according to county information about the reassessment.

The reassessed property values will go into effect Jan. 1, 2011, and will remain in effect until the next reassessment.

Richey said county officials want to make sure that communication is key with residents during the process. Information about the reassessment is available on the county's Web site, and a video about the process will be posted on the site in September.

Public meetings will also take place to inform residents about the process and give them the opportunity to ask questions.

The meeting dates have yet to be scheduled but will occur before notices of assessed values go out in November of next year, Richey said.

County officials also note that property owners have opportunities to appeal their property's assessed value. That includes calling the reassessment office at 381-6800 to request an appeal of their property value.

Property owners who are still dissatisfied may request a hearing with the county's board of equalization, which is made up of residents appointed by the circuit court. Reassessment results may also be appealed to the circuit court, according to county information.

The appeals process with reassessment was recently used by hundreds of property owners in neighboring Pulaski County.

Last year, as has been its custom, Pulaski County hired an out-of-town assessment company to conduct its periodic reappraisal of residential and commercial real estate.

After the county notified property owners of the new values in November, some protested the increases were too high.

Although officials could show it was time to update values, introducing the increases during the economic downturn created discord.

Some 550 property owners brought 1,300 appeals that triggered seven weeks of hearings by a court-appointed board of equalization -- a process in which board members ruled repeatedly for property owners who complained their assessments were too high.

With taxable value of real estate boosted, supervisors responded by lowering the tax rate from 62 cents to 50 cents per $100 of value.

Calling its current methods "too weak," Andy McCready, head of Pulaski County's Board of Equalization, called for overhauling property reassessment practices to avoid a repeat.