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If you see someone taking photos of buildings, even homes in Buckingham County, that’s entirely normal right now. The real estate reassessment has started in the county. 

To tackle that project, the county staff hired a team from Wampler-Eanes Appraisal Group, which has been tasked with updating property information and taking up to date photos of each building, be it a home, shed or barn. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Wampler-Eanes was the firm that handled the last reassessment in Buckingham, back in 2020. 

First off, why is this happening? You can thank Virginia law. The Code of Virginia requires that a general reassessment of all real property (that includes residential, commercial, industrial, even vacant land, etc.) be conducted by every county to update the assessed value to reflect current fair market value.  A “reassessment” is the process by which the assessed value of real estate property is periodically updated to keep the value consistent with what the property is worth on the open market, also known as Fair Market Value, and to assess properties fairly in comparison to each other. 

Why does the property value need to be adjusted? Adjustments in value are necessary in order to more equitably distribute the tax burden among the citizens and businesses of Buckingham County. This reassessment started on Oct. 9 and will continue through October of next year. The new property values will then take effect as of Jan. 1, 2026. Bills with the new values, detailing how much you’ll owe in property tax, will be mailed out in November of 2025. 

How to identify Buckingham workers?

So now for the big question. How do you know someone is an assessor? We’ve asked both the Buckingham County Sheriff’s Office and Wampler-Eanes staff on this one. First off, any vehicle driven by Wampler-Eanes staff will have a car magnet saying “County Reassessment” on it. The assessors will knock on your door and be wearing yellow safety vests with the words “Real Estate Assessor” on the back. They will also have personal identification cards, labeling each individual as a representative of Wampler-Eanes.

“We want to alert the public to this, because our assessors and data collectors will be coming to resident’s homes and to county businesses to inspect and assess all buildings, dwellings and the overall property.  The appraisal team will take exterior digital photographs of all major improvements and will also be updating measurements while visiting properties,” said Steven I. Wampler. He serves as President of Wampler-Eanes Appraisal Group.  “It is the Assessor’s purpose to collect sufficient data to determine the fair market value of each property.  Our ultimate goal is to get a good, accurate, and equitable assessment of all real estate in the County.”  

 

Now here’s what they won’t do. At no point will they ask to come in your house. They do not need to see the interior of the home to do a real estate assessment and all county staff agree there is no reason for any assessor to even ask. 

If you get a weird feeling or just want to know who they are, each assessor should be able to leave contact information with you. Then if you want to check on the person, the Buckingham County Sheriff’s Office will have the correct names and vehicles of each assessor on file. You can give them a call at 434-969-1772, share the information provided and learn if someone is or isn’t telling the truth.