- Assessor site
- https://www.mapwv.gov/assessment/ ↗
- Search by
- statewide parcel search via the state assessment portal (all 55 counties)
- Reassessment cycle
- 55 elected county assessors valuing ANNUALLY at 60% OF MARKET VALUE as of a JULY 1 assessment date (W. Va. Code §11-3-1), with three-year field-visitation cycles under State Tax Department monitoring. The classes split LEVY RATES, not ratios: Class II (owner-occupied + farms) vs Class III/IV (everything else, outside/inside municipalities) at DOUBLE the rate under constitutional maxima — 35 of 55 counties sit at the max, and Class IV adds the municipal levy. Above the counties: the TAX COMMISSIONER appraises industrial and natural-resource property (oil and gas interests income-capitalized) and the Board of Public Works assesses utilities on its own track.
- Reassessment trigger
- Every July 1. January change-of-value notices (real +10% / BPP +$100k) start an 8-BUSINESS-DAY informal-review clock; rate growth beyond the 101%+2% rollback forces published notice and a hearing, and ~40% of the tax rides voter-approved excess levies.
- Personal & intangible property
- Broadly taxed — including VEHICLES at NADA loan value x 60%, no age-out, registration BLOCKED while delinquent (household goods exempt). Individuals file July 1-October 1; BUSINESSES by SEPTEMBER 1. The car tax is unwinding through refundable income-tax credits, not repeal — watch the rate pressure it leaves behind.
- CRE forecasting note
- Model Class III/IV from day one: DOUBLE the owner-occupied rate, plus the city levy inside municipal limits. The July 1 snapshot governs acquisitions; business returns are due September 1. The appeal calendar is a February gauntlet — 8 business days after the notice, petition the county commission sitting as Board of Equalization and Review by FEBRUARY 20 (no exceptions; the October board must be elected by the same date), the taxpayer's burden is a PREPONDERANCE of the evidence (assessor no longer presumed correct — HB 2581, 2021), and unpaid taxes get the circuit-court appeal dismissed WITH PREJUDICE. Natural-resource and industrial values come from the state, not the county — the fight is with the Tax Commissioner's appraisal, on the same calendar. Utilities live with the Board of Public Works entirely. Watch excess-levy ballots: that is where rates actually move.
- Residential note
- Owner-occupied homes ride Class II — half the commercial rate. The HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION removes $20,000 of assessed value ($33,333 of market at the 60% ratio) at 65+ or total permanent disability, with TWO YEARS' consecutive West Virginia residency required — apply IN PERSON at the assessor's office between JULY 1 and DECEMBER 1 (apply at 64 for next year's roll). Stacked above it, the refundable SENIOR CITIZENS TAX CREDIT returns tax paid on the next $20,000 of assessed value (income-limited; Social Security doesn't count against it). Vehicles are taxed — and the refundable motor-vehicle credit now offsets it through your state return, so file even in no-tax years. Farm use runs July 1-September 1. If a value looks wrong: call the assessor within 8 business days of the notice, and mind FEBRUARY 20 — the appeal door closes then, all at once.
SPLIT RATE — Class III/IV levy rates run DOUBLE Class II's, constitutionally — and Class IV adds the municipal levy. Same 60% ratio for everyone; the split lives in the rates.
APPEAL DEADLINE — 8 business days for informal review after a notice; petition the February Board of Equalization and Review by FEBRUARY 20 or waive the year (the October alternative must be elected by the same date); the taxpayer's burden is a PREPONDERANCE of the evidence — no presumption the assessor is correct (HB 2581, 2021); unpaid taxes get the court appeal dismissed WITH PREJUDICE.
FILING REQUIRED RELIEF — Homestead is an IN-PERSON application (July 1-December 1) with a two-year residency string; farm use July 1-September 1; personal-property returns October 1 (individuals) and September 1 (business).
REVENUE DRIVEN RATES — The 101%+2% rollback trims rates after reappraisal growth, and ~40% of the tax comes from excess levies that must win 50%/60% voter approval every five years.
STATE ASSESSED — The Board of Public Works values utilities on its own appeal track; the Tax Commissioner appraises industrial and natural-resource property (oil and gas interests income-capitalized) for county assessment at 60%.
REFORM IN FLIGHT — The vehicle tax is being unwound through refundable income-tax credits rather than repeal — Class I is already zeroed — with real-property rate pressure as the open question.
Note: The Wayne County Assessor's office in Wayne values everything each JULY 1 — the assessment date that drives the following year's bill — at 60% of market value. Search any parcel statewide on the state's own assessment portal at the link; the Tax Division's assessor roster (tax.wv.gov) carries this office's full contacts. If a change notice arrives in January: ask this office for review within 8 business days, and petition the county commission — sitting as the Board of Equalization and Review — by FEBRUARY 20, or the year is waived. Homeowners 65+/disabled: the $20,000 homestead is an in-person application, July 1 to December 1. Businesses: returns are due September 1, and vehicles are on the rolls here.
Primary sources: Berkeley + Jackson + Jefferson + Hancock + Wetzel county assessors' official FAQs; Putnam official appeal guide (§§11-3-15b/15c, 25/25a); Monongalia commission (Feb 20 rule, October board); Jefferson levy-rate guide (28.6¢/57.2¢ maxima, excess-levy shares, 101%+2%); WV Tax Division assessor roster; mapwv.gov statewide portal; W. Va. Code §§11-3, 11-8-6, 11-6I, 17A-3-3a (as of 2026-07-05). Confirm current rules and figures with the assessing authority before any use.