Braxton County Accountability Report

1 Executive summary

In Braxton County, Edith 'Edie' Tichner’s office assesses residential property with a coefficient of dispersion (COD) of 27.3 — a measure of how evenly comparable homes are valued — against an IAAO target of 15 or below, where the county ranks 17th of 54 for uniformity. Vertical equity (PRD 1.109, PRB -0.0437) shows a regressive tilt — lower-value homes carry a heavier assessment burden than high-value homes. Of the roll, 11.3% is stale (≥20% uncaptured market movement); the county ranks 26th of 55 for reappraisal currency. Overall the office meets 1 of 3 iaao standards — reported per standard, with no single overall grade.

COD (uniformity) FAIL

COD 27.3 (IAAO ≤ 15)

Ranks 17th of 54 for uniformity

PRD (vertical equity) FAIL

PRD 1.109 (IAAO 0.98–1.03)

Ranks 28th of 54 for vertical equity

PRB (vertical equity) PASS

PRB -0.0437 (IAAO ±0.05)

Ranks 24th of 54 for vertical equity

Reappraisal cadence PASS

11.3% stale (IAAO < 15% stale)

Ranks 26th of 55 for reappraisal currency

2 Uniformity — Coefficient of Dispersion (COD)

27.3 IAAO target ≤ 15 (improved residential)

FAIL

COD 27.3 — uneven assessment across parcels (>20).

Statewide context: the median county COD is 31.6; this county is more uniform than the typical WV county.

Among all 55 counties, Braxton ranks 17th of 54 for uniformity (1st = most uniform).

3 Vertical equity — PRD & PRB

1.109 Price-Related Differential · IAAO 0.98–1.03

FAIL

PRD 1.109 (regressive — high-value homes under-assessed vs low-value).

-0.0437 Price-Related Bias · IAAO ±0.05

PASS

PRB -0.0437.

Regressive assessment. Lower-value homes are assessed at a higher ratio of market value than high-value homes — the burden tilts onto the people who can least afford it. This is the most consequential equity finding in the report.

On vertical equity (|PRB|), Braxton ranks 24th of 54 for vertical equity of the 55 counties (1st = most equitable).

4 Reappraisal cadence

11.3% stale IAAO/best-practice target < 15% of roll stale · avg 1.9 yrs since last value change

PASS

11.3% of the residential roll has ≥20% uncaptured market movement (avg 1.9 yrs since last value change) — roll is current.

Statewide context: the median county has 11.6% of its roll stale.

Braxton Ranks 26th of 55 for reappraisal currency (1st = most current roll).

5 Level of assessment (context only — not graded)

Median sales ratio — context only, never graded

0.8727 CONTEXT

Appraised at 87% of market. WV runs below 100% (reappraisal lag + market) — reported as context, not graded.

Why this is not graded: West Virginia’s mandated reappraisal cycle and the housing market — both largely outside any one assessor’s control — push the level (whether values sit at, say, 84% vs 95% of market) far more than assessment practice does. A county can be perfectly uniform and equitable while still sitting below 100% simply because the cycle hasn’t come around. So the level is reported as context.

6 Assessor tenure scorecard

Each graded assessor era, scored on its own roll against the same IAAO standards. WV assessors serve four-year terms; the seat is on the ballot in November of a term’s end year.

Edith 'Edie' Tichner term 2025–2028

current officeholder

On the ballot 2028 — this seat is up for election in November 2028.

Larry Clifton (2003–2008)

n=111 · Confidence: Low · 2 of 3 standards met

COD WARN 18.9 PRD PASS 1.024 PRB PASS 0.0243 Level ratio 0.8931 (context)

Arlene Herndon (2009–2012)

n=94

Not graded — only 94 attributable sales (need >= 100).

Brenda Mollohan (2013–2020)

n=314 · Confidence: Medium · 0 of 3 standards met

COD FAIL 30.0 PRD FAIL 1.113 PRB WARN -0.0663 Level ratio 0.8830 (context)

Edith 'Edie' Tichner (2021–2024)

n=106 · Confidence: Low · 0 of 3 standards met

COD FAIL 30.2 PRD FAIL 1.128 PRB WARN -0.0824 Level ratio 0.8393 (context)

Term-over-term trend

From Brenda Mollohan (2013–2020) to Edith 'Edie' Tichner (2021–2024). Lower COD = more uniform.

▼

Uniformity (COD) worsened by 0.2 COD points (30.0 → 30.2) under Edith 'Edie' Tichner vs. Brenda Mollohan.

7 Methodology & integrity

Real elected officials. Level (median ratio) is confounded by the statewide reappraisal cycle and the housing market; COD/uniformity is the more assessor-attributable signal. Not a judgment of any individual.

Grades rest on a direct, time-matched sales-ratio study: the assessor’s own appraised value in the sale year divided by the actual arms-length sale price. There is no model and no prediction. Grading gates: an era is graded only with ≥100 attributable sales across ≥2 distinct sale years; the current roll year (2025) is excluded until it settles.

Confidence tiers (by attributed sales): High ≥ 1,000 · Medium 300–999 · Low 100–299 · Insufficient < 100.

Targets: COD ≤ 15 (IAAO, improved residential); PRD 0.98–1.03 (IAAO); PRB ±0.05 (IAAO); cadence < 15% of roll stale; level context only — confounded by reappraisal cycle + market, not graded.

Data sources: county assessor records — appraised values from parcel_tax_history, arms-length (validity-code 0) residential (class R) sales from parcel_sales_history. This dataset contains no billed tax dollars.

These are assessment-practice metrics, not a judgment of any individual, computed the same way for every county. Full detail: Methodology & Data →