Residents Scorched Over Tax Bills

Many Jefferson County homeowners received unwelcome news in the mail January 8: their real estate tax will increase by as much as 25 to 50 percent. This comes at a time when the real estate market is sluggish and property prices in the county are falling. Explaining why there have been so many tax increases this year, county tax assessor Ginger Bordier says she is operating on the assumption that home prices in the county didn’t start dropping until June or July 2007—tax assessments run a year behind.

Local realtors and appraisers disagree. They say property prices stagnated in early 2006, and started falling sometime around spring or summer. Longtime appraiser Jim Fisher said: “I don’t know why the county assessor is doing this; maybe because she can. Maybe because they think we are not bright enough to argue against it.”

Bordier argues that the tax assessments typically have run behind market value, and have only recently caught up. According to County Commissioner Rusty Morgan, there is a structural problem with the process. “Prices have come down for the past two years in the county,” he said. “The problem is that the assessments are not responding quickly enough to market conditions. For many homeowners who bought their home after 2005, the market value has gone down, but the tax assessment has gone up.”
For homeowners considering a challenge to their assessment, Fisher has no good news. “It is easy to challenge, but very difficult if not impossible to win,” he said. “It seems like the individual that is paying the bill has no voice. It borders on taxation without representation.”
Homeowners can appeal their assessment by submitting paperwork to the Tax Assessor’s office by February 14.

MRSA Topic of Community Seminar

West Virginia University Hospitals-East and the WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center Eastern Division hosted 135 people for a program on Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) January 15 on the City Hospital campus. It was the largest audience for any of the “mini-med school” programs since the community education seminars were launched in 2005.

In other health news, the Berkeley County Health Department is investigating a case of tuberculosis (TB) involving an employee who worked on the obstetrics unit at City Hospital. According to hospital officials, the employee has not been working at the hospital since being diagnosed with TB in late November. The health department was immediately notified about the case, and has been working with the hospital and the state health department to develop a plan to contact patients and staff that may have been exposed.

“Because the employee was working at the hospital before being diagnosed, there is a concern that certain patients and staff may have been exposed to TB,” stated Michael Groves, vice president of patient care services at City Hospital. Approximately 880 patients who were in the obstetrics unit between April 9, 2007 and November 29, 2007 and 60 staff have been identified as having been potentially exposed.

City Hospital has sent a letter to all of these patients, alerting them to the situation and asking them to go to the Berkeley County Health Department for a free evaluation and screening. “Only those patients who had direct contact with the infected employee are considered to have been exposed,” explained Diana Gaviria, M.D., Berkeley County Health Officer. “These individuals will be advised of procedures for testing and preventive treatment if indicated,” she added.

 

Streetscape

The Streetscape project moved forward last month with the presentation of the final proposal to the Shepherdstown town council and the town’s planning commission. This project’s features include sidewalk repairs and trees and landscaping along German Street. Some residents have demanded that the existing trees and cracked sidewalks be left alone “for historical reasons,” but the proposal was approved by the council anyway. A grant proposal to fund Phase 2 of the project has been submitted. This next phase will include a pedestrian area around the library. The grant for this second phase will not be announced for another six to eight months.

Zoning Inches Forward

The new planning and zoning ordinance for Jefferson County inches forward. The latest draft of the ordinance was published by planning tzar Tony Redman on the county’s website on January 18. Some landowners have complained that their property has been down-zoned from residential growth to agricultural, which would mean fewer houses could be built on their land. Others have welcomed the ordinance as a much needed tool to slow down growth. Additional public meetings will be held once the final version of the ordinance is published. Some experts believe the ordinance will now not be approved until June 2008 at the earliest.


Conservation Conclave in EP

Over 50 volunteers and staff from Eastern Panhandle conservation and preservation organizations and agencies met recently for a first-ever summit at the National Conservation Training Center. Organized by the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation with support from the Benedum Foundation, the conservation summit’s aim was to get an informal look at the state of conservation and preservation work in the Panhandle, and to allow participating groups to find ways to collaborate and share resources.

“Every organization and agency we could identify was invited,” said Amy Owen, EWVCF executive director.

The summit program included presentations by participating organizations and guest speakers, followed by a planning session in which summit participants focused on avenues of cooperation. The summit also provided an opportunity for local agencies to explain how their agencies operate.
Among the group’s informal resolutions are to continue an informal network of regular meetings, create a network list-serve to inform people interested in conservation about training and funding opportunities, and to develop a portal website to help Panhandle residents find groups active in their neighborhoods.

“It was terrific to learn about other organizations that are at a similar point in their growth” said Carrie Gauthier of the Harpers Ferry Historic Town Foundation. “And of course it was wonderful to learn from the more experienced groups in our community.”

“I hope we can continue with these opportunities to network,” said participant Paul Pritchard. He added that the network’s new website will help the groups who were unable to attend connect with the new collaborative effort.

For information, see www.ConservationEP.org.

 

Keller Runs For Sheriff

Former Shepherdstown Police Chief, Curtis Keller has filed candidacy papers for sheriff of Berkeley County.

Keller was pushed out of the Shepherdstown police department by Mayor Lance Dom after just two years of service. Just before his departure Keller said that he had been “shunned” by residents of Shepherdstown.

Keller worked in the Berkeley County sheriff’s department before serving as Shepherdstown police chief. Keller is the fifth candidate to file for the position of Sheriff of Berkeley County. The primary will be held May 13.



Community Foundation Stars in Statewide Study
by David Lillard

The first-ever study of philanthropy in West Virginia shows that the state ranks at the bottom in per capita giving from foundations. In the study by the West Virginia Grantmakers Association, the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation, which serves the Eastern Panhandle, emerges as a bright spot.

The study focused on giving by private foundations, corporate foundations, and community foundations. According to Shannon Cunningham, president of the Weston-based grantmakers group, most West Virginia foundations are very small and focus on funding academic scholarships. “Seventy-five of the 305 foundations based in the state focus exclusively on scholarships,” said Cunningham.

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, based in Pennsylvania, gives away more money in West Virginia than any other foundation, providing nearly 20 percent of all grants distributed in West Virginia.

The largest private foundation based in the Mountain State is the Clay Center, with assets of about $60 million. Clay supports a variety of charitable causes, mostly in the greater Charleston area. In fact, the majority of foundations operating in West Virginia, restrict their giving to their home counties and, in some cases, adjacent counties.

The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) has shown the largest level and fastest pace of growth of all community foundations in the state. Cunningham credits the organization’s board, staff, and energized community of donors for the rapid rise.

Amy Owen, executive director of EWVCF, reports a year-end endowment total of $6.8 million. Since 2005—the year data was compiled for the West Virginia Grantmakers’ report—EWVCF’s endowment has grown 34 percent. “The Community Foundation’s mission is all about donor choice, donor vision, and donor involvement. Those are both attractive and satisfying qualities when it comes to charitable giving,” says Owen. She says in 2007, EWVCF distributed $186,000 in grants ands scholarships, and anticipates at least a 25-percent increase in 2008.

Cunningham points to community foundations as one of the most significant developments in West Virginia philanthropy. And more are starting up. Still, Cunningham hopes the report will spur efforts to bring new charitable donations from private foundations to West Virginia.

For information about the study: www.wvgrantmakers.org. To contact the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation: www.ewvcf.org