Loudoun County Real Estate Assessments

Let's see....my assessment went up 8%, the proposed tax rate is going up from $1.30 to $1.33, which is an 11% increase in TAXES for me.
Even if they keep the rate the same at $1.30 (the BEST case example), my taxes go up 3%.

But then Hatrick is crying over no raises for a few years.......us Federal employees just got a 2% freeze for 2 years, with 5 years freeze being considered. Sorry, no sympathy unless he wants to trim some additional fat and provide a raise within his current budget.

 

True that! We never will win. I last read in the newspaper that they are pushing for a three cent increase in taxes over last year. I know that my taxes are gonna go up more. This royally stinks. I think Hatrick is really "screaming" for more money to keep his people "happy" at a time when the Federal govt is freezing salaries for the next 2 years. Many companies are not even giving out raises due to the lousy economy.

Hattrick, why don't you be quiet and just look at your current budget and be creative with compensation and employee motivation. A lot of us don't even get that much vacation off to boot.

 

If those companies are giving raises, I surmise that its probably small..not larger ones like the years past.

 

It isn't my opinion...Im just "guessing"...but I know in the years past, I've gotten 10%-15% raises on the average ...nowadays its either non-existent or just a wee bit. The firm is a government contractor and with the fed gov't cutting back on a lot of budgets, the firm is struggling like many other government firms are. Im grateful that Im not out of a job like a lot of folks are. I know of some former co-workers that have gotten laid off due to the economy.

 

I have to agree that things are difficult and uncertain in the current economic climate...with that being said companies have higher Cash Balances then they have in years and are spending that money to transform their businesses.....if you are in the world that helps companies transform...I am sure you are in demand and making more money....

 

When I appealed our assessment 5 years ago because neighbors with larger lots and finished basements were a great deal less than our assessment (no finished basement), they told me the basement rate was a fraction of the upper 2 stories' rate. 20% maybe. However, we finished our basement last year and my assessment went up more than $75K whereas my neighbors went up less than $25K. So I need to check their math again because they seem to be applying a great deal to my basement, a lot more than 20%.

 

Let's see.....for 2011, my taxes will have more than DOUBLED and the value of my home has gone up around 35%. Your theory doesn't work for me.

 

Actually, I bought the house for $407,000 and have a little over $32,000 in additional improvements, so I have about $440,000 into it.
I'm assessed at a little over $621,000, which is unrealistic. If anyone wants to pay me that, I'll take the money and run. Best case I could get is $590,000, which is a stretch. That's what I based my percentages on.
Taxes went up way more than the investment.

But in your example, 50% gain, 100% increase in taxes.
In the seem period, HOA fee has gone up from $50 to $68, a 36% increase.
I know HOA fees are not based on house value, but thought I'd throw that in anyway.

Comparing the dollar value increase in the house versus dollar increase in taxes, as you suggest, IS NOT an accurate comparison.
If spending remained level, a 35% increase in home value would yield a 35% increase in taxes. The extra 65% is additional spending above and beyond the direct comparison. This IS the apple to apple comparison.

 

what I never really got a sense of is the data around the population increase, student increase, new houses tax addition etc. The median price of a home in Loudoun is like $525k I think so if we add a couple thousand to the county each year... and there are about 3000 new students in the system each year... when you look at overall school system costs (including annual average capital expenses) how do the numbers shape up? Seems like we would be keeping up with the growth rates in Loudoun.

I am just curious how the BoS figures how much revenue from tax assessments are REALLY required....

 

Well some of that is easy - you take all the bonds the residents have approved (which keeps going up) and the county police and add that together with the school budget that the School board approves and you get 98% of what the tax rate is.

A meeting I went to a few years back basically showed that $.75 of each dollar we pay goes to the school board while the other $.25 goes to running the whole county. In my opinion we would be better served by receiving 2 separate tax bills one from the county and one from the school. This would show us more relistically who is spending our money and when we elect these officials we can accurately hold them accountable.

The problem with this as I was told by Robert Dupree is the school board has to look out for the students and not the residents - that is their job. They need to ask for the money (from the Supervisors) that best serves the students regardless of whether the residents can afford it. I may agree with that philosophy if the money was being spent on teachers and other items that actually benefit the students rather then Hatricks pet projects.

Staci

 

The assessment is calculated on the past year's performance and is in no way tied into speculation about what might occur in the coming year.

 

From a recent article:

The average sales price of a home this year was $362,349.

 

Gotta love statistics! Median says half the homes are priced higher, half are priced lower...averages just adds 'em up and divides...both are pretty meaningless without other supporting data