New city assessor reports modest increase in property assessments; taxable base about $11B

Gary James, the newly hired city assessor, presented the preliminary land book for fiscal year 2020, telling council the data are driven by market sales and not arbitrary decisions. He said total market value in Hampton is about $14 billion and the taxable portion is about $11 billion (the presentation included an exemption rate of roughly 24%). James reported residential value increases of about 1.74% for the calendar year and said overall assessment growth was roughly 1.9, which he expects to rise to about 2% after including new construction.

James reviewed neighborhood variation in median sales and noted multifamily values increased by almost 4% in the most recent period. He displayed a pipeline of residential subdivisions and apartment complexes with roughly 700–800 multifamily units projected to come online over the next two to four years, warning that some neighborhoods with few sales can show skewed percentage changes. City staff and the mayor framed the increases as favorable for revenue forecasts for the upcoming budget cycle but cautioned it does not fully substitute for other revenue targets the city prefers.