Fairfax County Board Expected To Approve Lower Real Estate Tax Rate In FY'24 Budget

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw expressed confidence that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will include a reduced real estate tax rate when it votes on the fiscal year 2024 budget in May.

On March 7, Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill released a fiscal year 2024 budget proposal with an advertised real estate tax rate of $1.11 per $100 of assessed value, which is the county's current rate. The same rate or a lower rate can be adopted during the budget process, but a higher rate cannot be considered.

Fairfax County homeowners had an average increase of 6.97 percent in their 2023 real estate assessments. The average tax bill would increase by just over $520 under the proposed tax rate. But some residents saw a 10 percent or higher increase in their 2023 real estate assessments, which would burden them even more with higher tax bills.

“I am confident that the board will reduce the tax rate to minimize” the impact of the real estate assessments on homeowners, Walkinshaw said Monday at the Braddock District town hall on the Fairfax County fiscal year 2024 budget.

READ ALSO: Higher Real Estate Tax Rate Ruled Out By Fairfax County Supervisors

For vehicle taxes, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a 15 percent reduction in the assessment ratio for cars in its fiscal year 2023 budget. That meant cars were assessed at 85 percent of the fair market value rather than 100 percent to calculate the car tax.

Walkinshaw said that he expects the board will once again approve a reduction in the assessment ratio for cars when it votes to adopt the fiscal year 2024 budget in May. In his budget proposal, Hill suggested vehicles gets taxed at 90 percent of the fair market.

In the coming weeks, Walkinshaw's office will be hosting two tax relief workshops. The workshops will include representatives from the Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration, who will be available to assist attendees with filing for tax relief.

Fairfax County, for example, provides real estate tax relief and vehicle tax relief to residents who are either 65 or older, or permanently and totally disabled, and meet the income and asset eligibility requirements. The county also assists disabled veterans and surviving spouses of disabled veterans, members of armed forces killed in action, or first responders killed in the line of duty with state exemptions for real and personal property.

The first tax relief workshop will be on Tuesday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the second one will be on Tuesday, April 4 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Both workshops will be held at the Braddock Hall at 9002 Burke Lake Rd. in Burke.

At Monday's town hall, Walkinshaw also emphasized that Virginia law does not allow members of the Board of Supervisors to raise their own salaries. The board can only adjust compensation in an election year and following a public hearing, and the change can only be applied to the next members of the Board of Supervisors, sworn in after Jan. 1.

The Board of Supervisors' salary was last increased eight years ago and has only been increased once in the last 16 years, he said. Since the last increase in board pay, cumulative inflation has been 25 percent. Currently, supervisors are paid $95,000 and the chairman $100,000.

The board is holding a public hearing on Tuesday, March 21 to consider an increase in salaries for members of the board from 2024 to 2028.

Looking ahead to the fiscal year 2025 budget, Hill said higher interest rates and a continued inflationary environment could affect the county's budget. Higher mortgage rates, for example, could soften the residential real estate market.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to mark up the fiscal year 2014 budget on May 2 and vote to adopt the budget on May 9.

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