Tax Issues in Fairfax County
Another “Unsustainable” Tax Increase
By Pat Herrity
On May 1, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 8 to 2 for a 2.25 cent increase in the tax rate on homeowners (2 cent real property and .25 cent increase in storm water tax). Together with the rise in assessments, taxes on the average homeowner will go up over 4.5% this year and 26% over the last five years. In addition, the Board voted to increase a number of other fees and taxes including the sewer rate. It is clear that taxpayers were an afterthought and not a priority in this budget. Supervisor Cook and I voted against the tax increases and budget. Just over a year ago our taxpayers sent a message they had been taxed enough—soundly defeating….
FCRC Statement on the FY 2019 Fairfax County Budget Markup
In her 4/24/18 Bulova Byline email, County Chairman Sharon Bulova’s statements on the proposed FY2019 real estate tax increase are misleading. Her proposed FY2019 rate of $1.15 per $100 of assessed value omits the stormwater rate. When the stormwater rate is included the proposed FY2019 rate is actually $1.1825.
She states that new budget includes a 2-cent increase in the real estate tax rate but this omits the additional tax increase due to the 2.2% increase in average residential assessments. The effective rate increase when assessments and the additional stormwater rate increase (1/4 cent) are included is 4.7 cents, not 2 cents.
The typical Fairfax County homeowner’s real estate tax bill will increase by $258, a 4.2% increase, while Loudoun County cut its real estate tax rate by 4 cents.