Election 2009 actual results: Bob McDonnell 58.6 percent for a 17.4 percent margin of victory. Virtucon rankings are based upon total amount the two numbers deviate from the actual numbers.
1. Survey USA (10/30-11/1) – 58% / 18% (deviation 1.2%)
2. VCU (10/21-25) – 54% / 18% (deviation 5.2%)
3. (TIE) PPP (10/31-11/1) – 56% / 14% (deviation 6%)
3. (TIE) Roanoke College (10/21-27) – 53% / 17% (deviation 6%)
5. Suffolk Univ. (10/26-28) – 54% / 14% (deviation 8%)
6. Rasmussen (10/27) – 54% / 13% (deviation 9%)
7. Washington Post (10/22-25) – 55% / 11% (deviation 10%)
8. Times Dispatch / Mason Dixon (10/28-29) – 53% / 12% (deviation 11%)
9. Daily Kos / Research 2000 (10/26-28) – 54% / 10% (deviation 12%)
10. Virginia Pilot / CNU (10/8-13) – 45% / 14% (deviation 17%)
11. Clarus (10/18-19) – 49% / 8% (deviation 19%)
Next time you see a poll, judge it by its past performance. Here is how they rank in terms of accuracy based upon the 2008 presidential election:
MOST ACCURATE:
1T. Rasmussen (11/1-3)**
1T. Pew (10/29-11/1)**
3. YouGov/Polimetrix (10/18-11/1)
4. Harris Interactive (10/20-27)
5. GWU (Lake/Tarrance) (11/2-3)*
6T. Diageo/Hotline (10/31-11/2)*
6T. ARG (10/25-27)*
8T. CNN (10/30-11/1)
8T. Ipsos/McClatchy (10/30-11/1)
POLL REVEALED TO BE FRAUDULENT AND REPUDIATED BY DAILYKOS:
10. DailyKos.com (D)/Research 2000 (11/1-3)
----------------
(If you're below DailyKos, you don't deserve to be taken seriously for another four years. Better luck in 2012.)
POLLS THAT WERE WORSE THAN A FRAUDULENT POLL:
11. AP/Yahoo/KN (10/17-27)
12. Democracy Corps (D) (10/30-11/2)
13. FOX (11/1-2)
14. Economist/YouGov (10/25-27)
15. IBD/TIPP (11/1-3)
16. NBC/WSJ (11/1-2)
17. ABC/Post (10/30-11/2)
18. Marist College (11/3)
19. CBS (10/31-11/2)
20. Gallup (10/31-11/2)
21. Reuters/ C-SPAN/ Zogby (10/31-11/3)
22. CBS/Times (10/25-29)
23. Newsweak (10/22-23)
[...] Cross-posted to VV [...]
Having served as the Chairman of Prince William County Board of Equalization, I am deeply disappointed that this was defeated. During my five years on the board I saw a lot of appeals dismissed primarily that the tax payer made a simple error in their paperwork or could not fully articulate their position. However, on the other side are 6 or 7 county staff would collectively rebut the tax payers allegations. When I took over as Vice Chair, I made a motion that required only the people at the presenting table to be able to respond. It also required all staff to be sworn in at the beginning since the taxpayer had to be sworn before testimony could be taken.
It is a very lopsided exercise. The first year that I served we only granted a hand full of appeals. The last year we granted almost 15 times more appeals because implemented fair procedures which stopped the county from just steam rolling the citizen. It was no longer a David vs. battle star galactic but now just David vs. Goliath. This bill would have killed Goliath
This legislation would have leveled the playing field but the counties are more interested in collecting taxes than ensuring that taxes are applied fairly. Chairman Stewart should instruct its lobbyist to start working for the taxpayer and not the finance department who have a hidden bias.
It’s too bad. My assessment here in in South Arlington has gone up 7 precent. County Board is advertising 10.7 percent increase in tax rate. Personally, my salary is frozen, but to maintain and support the elitist crowd in Arlington I am going to be hit with a tax increase approaching 20 percent.
The assessment process is crazy. The appraisers exclude the short sales from the assessment process, which are what is driving the market in these parts. There are few, if any, short sales where the rich folks live in Country Club Hills.
Is there any way we can get this bill introduced again in a couple of years when the R’s control the State Senate?
Talking to Del. Iaquinto about this bill earlier in session, it appeared that it had the support of state’s commissioners of revenue, in general, and I didn’t expect there to be any chance of it failing.
1 – it puts the burden of proof on the state
2 – it supports the taxpayer
3 – it limits, perhaps unintentionally, the ease by which local governments can arbitrarily change assessments, which makes local taxing more accountable
The bill made such commonsense, I had it pegged as a no-brainer in the Senate.
Of course – therein lies the oxymoron – Commonsense in the Senate.
Next session, I’ll fight a little harder for this thing now that I know how ignorant our Senators can be on this issue.
Sorry…meant to say burden of proof on the “municipality”
In my opinion, this bill would add costs to the taxpayers and overburden an already outdated taxing system.
If you spend any amount of time at appeal hearings, you would know most of the cases involve property owners who have done no research. The main thrust of their argument is that the assessment is generally too high and that therefore, the assessor (or the BOE) should grant them a special decrease (to the detriment BTW of every other taxpayer). This bill would allow people to overload the appeal hearings with merit-less complaints, which is not fair to any owner who has taken the time to produce evidence of a mistake or information not known at the time of the assessment.
The assessment is allowed the benefit of doubt not because the assessment is perfect or infallible but because of the recognition that having defended the assessment to the Dept of Tax and the BoA, the assessor has met his burden. One can argue that the penalty for not pleasing the DoT is too light but thats not merit for this bill.
Until the Legislature allows localities to tax by another method, this system is the best we have. Personally, I would like to see a move to sales tax.
If anyone knows who the “tax collector from Augusta County” is, please pass it along. We are still in the tax battle in Augusta County where we have discovered real estate assessment laws are some of the worst in the nation. The citizen has practically no say.
When the pro bono lawyer here took up the case of 10,500 citizens who protested their 2009 tax assessments, the county crushed down on him every way they could while using our tax money to do so. His tax records were exposed to the newspapers, he was bashed publicly by the appraisal company involved, and the county countersued him and asked for financial sanctions that were granted by the judge who called him a supposed Robin Hood.
Basically this attorney has been sanctioned and ridiculed all because he stood up for citizens who had nowhere else to turn.
There are other localities around Virginia where citizens have also protested assessments. What recourse do they have against local governments using taxpayer money to go after those very taxpayers for daring to protest?