Homeowners in Arlington will face a double-whammy of higher assessments and an increased tax rate under the record $1.65 billion fiscal 2025 budget adopted April 20.
County Board members voted to increase last year’s tax rate of $1.03 per $100 assessed valuation to $1.033 per $100, while also moving from a 1.7-cent stormwater surcharge to a fee-based system determined by the impermeable surface on lots.
Assuming that a typical homeowner will pay roughly the same stormwater fee in 2024 as was paid as a stormwater tax in 2023, the effective tax rate would be $1.05 per $100 assessed valuation to fund what County Board Chairman Libby Garvey called a “practical and caring” budget.
That will be on top of the higher amount paid owing to increasing assessments, which have risen significantly since the pandemic real-estate boom that began in late 2020.
The owner of a single-family home valued at $900,000 last year that saw a 5.5-percent assessment increase this year (to $949,500) would see tax bills (including the stormwater bill) rise from $9,270 in 2023 to $9,970 in 2024 – an increase of 7.5 percent and an all-time record.
But it’s a record that likely will be shattered in coming years, as the county government grapples with major problems in its commercial-real-estate sector. Somewhat or completely empty buildings are leading to lower assessments, which unless the county government is willing to ease its appetite for taxpayer cash is likely to continue to push the tax burden more and more onto homeowners.
