The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

July 4, 2011

Raleigh County tax assessment forms can now be filed online

By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter

BECKLEY — Raleigh County Assessor Drema Evans might someday peer down an empty corridor of the courthouse and suddenly feel a kinship with the Maytag repairman.

Those pre-emptive feelings of loneliness are understandable.

As of Friday, her office officially went online, allowing taxpayers in Raleigh to use home computers to fill in annual assessment forms, the familiar blue documents that get mailed out this time of year.

As time goes on and the idea spreads, Evans can see a dramatic change coming to the courthouse.

For one thing, the workload is bound to be reduced.

“I have hired four part-time people just to open my mail,” Evans said.

“I get trays of mail this time of year, five to seven per day. You have to alphabetize them, key them in. I have the whole office keying them in. And then another lady comes in every summer just to proof for me.”

But now, all taxpayers need to do is plug into her website, raleighcountyassessor.com, and let their fingers do the walking.

“When you go to your computer at home, you key this in, and it goes directly to Charleston,” she said.

“It’s finished. Everything.”

Largely, online filing will serve the need to keep the assessors updated on personal property — motor vehicles, boats and the like.

Every three years, the office blankets the entire county to update real property, checking to see if homes have added rooms, or whether a building permit was issued for renovations, the assessor explained.

Once the online personal property form is filled out, the sheriff’s office then sends each taxpayer a statement on the amount owed. This means a taxpayer still must come to the courthouse to pay the taxes, but online filing eliminates the need to go into the assessor’s office first to get a number.

Actually, the computer system kicked into gear a year ago but was used exclusively within the office to make sure any glitches were eliminated. While a few other counties may allow online filing of assessments, Raleigh is the only one that allows business accounts to be posted via computer, Evans pointed out.

Online filers can make a printout for home records, but they won’t know the amount of taxes due on vehicles until the sheriff mails out a tax ticket, since the total is due next July, and the county commission meets in March of each year to set the levy rates.

Evans has a busy schedule this month, with meetings to explain the new system and other matters starting July 12, with appearances at 10 a.m.-noon and 2-4 p.m. at Stoco Community Center and Ghent Volunteer Fire Department, respectively. The day after, she will conduct a two-hour session starting at 10 a.m. at the Raleigh County Commission on Aging. The same time slot is in effect July 15, at the Raleigh-Boone Tech Center in Pettus. She also plans an Aug. 10 meeting with Appalachian Regional Hospital at the convention center in Beckley and a “senior friends” meeting there with Raleigh General Hospital one week later.

In case of a computer crash, the office maintains a backup so that files are preserved.

Until the concept of online filing takes root, the lines of taxpayers waiting to go through the assessor’s office will wind almost from one end of the courthouse to the other. Evans remembers days when the lines stretched that far.

“Imagine what this is gong to be doing to that line,” the assessor said.

And ultimately, it could reach the stage where tax payments are filed online, saving a trip to the courthouse, not to mention expensive fuel.

“We’re not trying to run people off,” Evans stressed.

“And we’ll always be getting forms from people as long as I live. With the younger generation, they might disappear. Computers are making a big difference. And it’s surprising to me that more older people are using computers than what you’d think. They have the time and take the classes. I just hope I’m always needed.”