Duh! Not sure we needed a consultant to tell us this:
… commercial properties in the city are underassessed by as much as 30 percent
What is interesting is that the amount of real estate taxes not assessed cannot be quantified at this point:
Commercial real estate provides a small percentage of the estimated $203 million in real estate taxes the city will collect in the fiscal year that begins on July 1. [City Assessor Deborah] Bunn said figures on how much commercial real estate will generate weren’t immediately available.
Why not? There used to be a report issued by the real estate assessor’s office that showed the taxable real estate broken down by commercial versus residential. I used to receive a copy of it, although I haven’t seen one in the last couple of years.
The fact that the properties were undersassessed during a time where the city was cutting the rate meant that commercial property owners got a double benefit, while the homeowners footed the bill. I am convinced that commercial property should be taxed at a rate separate from residential but that ain’t happening in Virginia. After all, as pointed out in the article, the calculation of fair market value is different.
The business community rallied to kill the homestead exemption last year. Let’s see how they handle the kinds of increases in property values that the homeowners have experienced.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Seems no one wants to talk about this subject, it’s all just too painful and upsetting for the majority of us who live and pay taxes in the city of Norfolk. But a thought…how many of our council members own property with businesses on it in Norfolk? Things that make you go, hmmmm.