County assessor says valuations average 92% of market; commission approves reduction for Winchester Avenue property

Berkeley County Assessor Larry Hess told the Board of Review and Equalization that the county’s 2025 sales‑ratio report shows assessed values average 92 percent of market value, and the board approved a recommended assessment reduction for a commercial parcel at 739 Winchester Avenue.

Hess said the state tax department’s sales‑ratio report — a routine annual comparison of local appraised values to market sales — used 2,520 valid sales from Berkeley County for the analysis. “We are at 92% and that means that on an average of all property in Berkeley County … all property is appraised within 8% of the fair market value across the board,” Hess said. He added that the state tolerance is roughly +/-10 percent and that the county’s result places it “right where we need” to be.

The report was presented after a member of the public raised a separate property assessment concern and requested that a commissioner and assessor staff meet to review classification and exoneration decisions. The speaker said he had “tried to make attempts to get exoneration and has been … refused,” and asked commissioners to arrange an office meeting; a commissioner agreed to facilitate a meeting with assessor staff.

On a separate agenda item, assessor staff described a recommended reduction for a commercial property described in the record as a former dentist’s office (Marksburg property, parcel 061735) at 739 Winchester Avenue. The assessor’s summary in the meeting packet listed the land assessment at $62,940 and the building at $89,460 for a total current assessment of $152,400; staff proposed reducing the building value to $79,500, yielding a new total assessment of $142,440. A county official in the meeting calculated the change and referenced a reduction “about $9,500,” a figure that differs slightly from the arithmetic of the packet numbers; the transcript records both figures.

A motion to accept the assessor’s recommendation for parcel 061735 was made and seconded, and the commission voted “aye”; the chair declared, “Ayes have it.”

Hess also told commissioners he would forward the county’s sales‑ratio report to them on request so they could compare Berkeley County’s results to other counties’ reports.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the assessor’s recommended assessment change for parcel 061735 (739 Winchester Avenue). The meeting record does not list a roll‑call tally by name in the transcript excerpt; the outcome was approved.