$500 Real Estate Tax Hike In Arlington County's FY2025 Budget Proposal

ARLINGTON, VA — If the Arlington County Board adopted the tax rate County Manager Mark Schwartz included in his Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal, property owners would see an average increase of $500 in the their residential tax assessments next year.

"To meet the board's direction to focus on critical needs, especially in housing, behavioral health care and the environment, and also what's going on with Arlington Public Schools, I'm proposing a 1.5 cent tax rate increase to ensure we have ongoing funds to meet those challenges," Schwartz told board members on Saturday.

The county board is scheduled to meet Tuesday to determine the advertised tax rate for FY 2025. Whatever tax rate the board adopts at that meeting, that will be the highest the board can approve when it votes on the final budget on April 20. The new fiscal year will begin on July 1.

If Schwartz's 1.5 cent tax rate increase were adopted, that increase would be offset by the elimination of the 1.7 cent stormwater rate. So, with the value of real estate expected to grow by 2.5 percent, homeowners would see property rates of $1.028 per $100 of assessed value.

"For our average homeowner, this would equate to an increase in their real estate taxes of 4.8 percent, which includes both appreciation and property value and the change proposed to the tax rate," Budget Director Richard Stephenson told board members on Saturday."Including other taxes and fees paid by residents in a single family dwelling, the total tax and fee increase is estimated at about $500."

That 4.7 percent increase includes the following:

• $389 increase in real estate taxes
• $122 increase in stormwater fees
• $10 increase to household solid waste fees
• $38 increase in water/sewer rates
• $59 decrease in the personal property tax burden.

Despite the increase in the real estate tax rate, Schwartz told board members that he was proposing a balanced budget, which included cuts of more than $10 million and the elimination of 33 positions.

"I never take pleasure in proposing eliminating positions," he said. "I hope that as we go through, this people will keep in mind that there are employees who've been affected by those decisions."

The budget proposal includes $1.62 billion for general fund operations, which is a 4.7 percent increase over the FY 2024 adopted budget. The proposal includes a little over $627 million for county schools, which is a 3 percent increase over the current fiscal year.

"The county's operating total, which increases 5.7 percent, includes the county share of local tax revenue, as well as non-tax revenue, and one-time funding carried over from Fiscal Year 2023," Stephenson said. "The schools increase as a percentage is just the growth in tax revenue."

County residents living in apartments will see an approximate increase of 6.6 percent for the average apartment unit.

"After all the recommendations by the manager in the proposed budget, there remains $1.3 million in one-time funding, which is unallocated at this time to be considered as part of the budget adoption process," Stephenson said.

APS Superintendent Francisco Durán will be presenting his FY 2025 budget proposal during Thursday's school board meeting, which takes place 7-9 p.m., at the Syphax Education Center at 2110 Washington Blvd. The meeting can be viewed on Comcast Cable Channel 70 and Verizon FIOS Channel 41. It will also be live-streamed.

Between March 5 and April 16, Arlington County Board will be conducting budget work sessions with county departments.

Members of the public will have two chances to provide feedback on the FY 2025 budget proposal. The first public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m., on April 2 and April 4, which a budget wrap-up session on April 11, from 3-5 p.m. Final budget decisions will be made during the April 16 budget mark-up session, from 3-5 p.m. This will be the last meeting before board members vote to formally adopt the final budget on April 20.

Members of the public who wish to sign-up to speak at a budget public hearing or at the tax rate hearing can do so online.

All work sessions and public hearings are open to the public and will be live-streamed and broadcast on Cable Channel 70 and Verizon FIOS Channel 41.