Berkeley County Assessor's Office

Went there today as a new resident of WV Had no idea of how to take care of Personal Property taxes.
Ms Pennington explained everything about when to fill out forms, how to fill out forms, when bills are sent, how to pay. She was so helpful and nice. Best experience I have had with a city or government office in a long time!!

Young lady named Hope was extremely courteous and helpful. Answered all my questions thoroughly and on a Friday no less !

Called today with several questions regarding taxes on renting out rooms in my house. The people I spoke to were amazing! Very knowledgeable, professional, patient, and a pleasure to converse with. Happy to have such good folks in our county government!

It was very nice to interact with the staff members who provided much needed information towards the completion of my transaction.

They are always so very kind here, and always willing to go the extra mile to help with your needs Thank you for all you do!!

The staff is very knowledgeable. Friendly and helpful. This was my second visit with the office both times
the staff was excellent.

Pay all personal property taxes here. Has handicap parking and entrance. Also has restrooms .

No waiting in line very courteous service

Usually quip service

Doing some remodeling there.

If your going to close up shop over an hour early on a Friday you should put up a notification on the door of the building and online. 6/19/2020 the door was locked by 3:30pm

This office is severely behind as far as technology and electronic transactions go. In 2024, we should be able to use a credit or debit card to pay taxes in the office, and should be able to access and update our tax records in a better, more accessible online record keeping system. Berkeley County West Virginia needs to INVEST in BETTER, not only for residents but for the poor employees who have to deal with this outdated system! I moved here 10 years ago and every year I have to go to the office to have things corrected. It's incredibly cumbersome and a real hassle to have to deal with paper, walking from one office to the next. Can we please take pride in our local government offices, equipment, and use innovative, or at least updated, software???

My wife was visiting a friend in West Virginia. Her car was on a private driveway. After her visit ended, she found a legal notice on her car windshield indicating the need to call the Sheriff's office about the notice. On the notice our tag number and vehicle type was recorded. The notice, in part, said "We realize these forms could be left on vehicles which are either visitors...or persons who are not required by code to comply. If this Legal Notice was left in error... we apologize for any inconvenience but YOU MUST CALL OUR OFFICE (capital letters are mine) to advise us." After my wife returned home and showed me this notice I sent an email to the Assessor's office. I wrote the following: "Greetings. My wife just returned from visiting a friend who lives in WV. On the windshield of the car was a Legal Notice 3794, Berkely County Assessor's Office, instructing us to contact the Sheriff's Office. My wife was parked in the driveway of the home, not out on the street. It looks like someone entered onto private property to place this notice on her car. My question is this--Since when has it become illegal to visit people in WV if we are out of state? Do you question the residency of everyone with out of state tags? It appears that West Virginia has become a very unfriendly state. My wife and I traveled to many states in our lifetime and no one has ever placed a notice on our car questioning the legitimacy of our car being in the state. Are your people actually allowed to go on private property to place these notices? I am certain you are busy and have many more important things to do but I would appreciate an explanation as to why we have to call the Sheriff's office to explain the presence of our car on private property. We are law-abiding citizens of the State of Virginia and I am both an Army and Navy Veteran. Freedom is not free, but I didn't realize that an out of state car parked on private property could be targeted for legal harassment. Instead of us having to call the Sheriff's office to explain ourselves, I think is is appropriate for you to call us and explain yourself! Thank you for you attention to this issue. From now on, it is apparent that we need to limit our travel and business in West Virginia and advise others to do the same! God bless you. Have a nice Easter weekend."

The bottom line: Watch out when you're in West Virginia!

April 6, 2024--I didn't get a response from the assessor's office nor the Sheriff's office. I sent this follow up message to the assessor's office today: "Greetings. This is my second attempt to contact you about Legal Notice 3794 left on the windshield of my wife's car on March 29, 2024. We called the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office as instructed and heard a voice mail saying we would be contacted in 3-5 business days, which have now passed. I contacted you originally because I was wondering why a car with out of state tags parked on a private driveway on private property would be targeted for receiving such a notice. All my wife was doing was visiting a friend. The legal notice indicated it was our responsibility to resolve the matter which we tried to do. I realize that this is not a highly important matter in your eyes and you likely have better things to do. I am still waiting for a response nonetheless. FYI--I did take time to contact the office of the governor of West Virginia about why out of state visitors are being treated in an unfriendly matter, especially when no laws are broken. I hope to hear from you in the near future. Thank you."

April 8, 2024--Called the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office again and heard same recording about leaving a message and waiting 3-5 days for a response. As of this date, it has been 6 business days since the first call.

The county assessor responded to my email this day. The bottom line is that I still need to contact the Sheriff's office. At least I wasn't totally ignored! Beware of Berkeley County, WV!

April 15, 2024--Sent emails to Berkeley County Commission after 3rd call to Sheriff's Office.

Berkeley County Assessor’s Office goes around driving on private properties, leaving “Legal Notices” on out of state vehicles for people that are visiting. Then no matter what, you absolutely have to call a number within 15 days of this notice to let them know that it’s a visitor. They have a whimsical line “apologizing for the inconvenience.” Firstly, this is incredibly inconveniencing. Secondly, it’s incredibly useless and backwards. I absolutely WILL be inconvenienced any time my visitors’ cars have this completely useless note left on it. It may make sense for cars that sit for a few months. But anyhow, at the end of the day, the county is downright poor, so I suppose I understand the proactive (and creepy) act of going into a new communities that have money and leaving the notices.

Last year when I went to pay my taxes at the office because I don’t like the idea of fees for doing something that saves them effort and time to make their job easier. Makes no sense. Feels like they’re in the stone ages. So to pay online there is a fee.

So, I told them when I was at the desk I didn’t nor did my son get a form to fill out for 2023. She said they would send us out one, so I said that would be great, but she failed to tell me that you could fill out your forms online (for free), otherwise, I wouldn’t be writing up my review now.

Here it is in July I called the office 2 times in July and left messages, and called once this past week left a message again and called and actually got a live voice. She states she was the receptionist. I complained about no returned phone calls.

I was told today “I’m only one person, receptionist, that’s why some calls don’t get answered or voice mails answered. So what happens to those I forwarded messages, or unreturned calls, which I wasn’t given an answer. So now I will have to pay a fee (which I will dispute), for them not having enough staff to service the tax payers. I mean, we are paying more for taxes now since everything in the world has gone up in costs. Signed, Taxed to oblivion!

Accessor's Office advised me they will not upload new vehicle property tax till July 15. Mmmm they are closed on Saturday. So I'm guessing it will not be upload till Monday the 17th. Wouldn't it make sense, to upload on Friday the 14th. Maybe that's just me and people need time to get things done before thier tags are dead.

shouldn't all Tax buildings get a 1 start rating? They are stealing your money with a smile on their face. Taxation is theft! Why would a place like this be considered positive? The day you don't exist, is the day you deserve a 5 start rating. We THE PEOPLE, know this is fact.