What's in your wallet? Not as much!

Loudoun County property assessments were mailed last week. The assessor  indicates that the average property assessment is down 8% from last year with the eastern part of the county down even more. The west shows more modest decreases with some areas increasing slightly.

Kirby Bowers, the county Administrator, has proposed a 25.6 cent increase in the tax rate to fund what he says is the most "lean" budget in years. The proposed tax rate would be a 26.6% increase over the 96 cent 2007 rate. So lets do the math assuming your assessment is down 8% on a $1,000,000 home in Raspberry Falls:

1997: $1,000,000 assessed value at 96 cents per $100 = $9,600 property tax bill.
1998: $920,000 assessed value at $1.216 per $100 = $11,190 property tax bill.

The result is equal to a 17% increase. But, if your assessment is like mine which went up slightly, we are going to be paying a bit more than the stated 26.6% increase due to the proposed tax rate.

So, I say watch your assessment. The last time I checked, Raspberry homes sold in  2007 were selling for much less than what they sold for in 2006.

The County Supervisors will no doubt pare the proposed budget by some amount but the result will still be a hefty increase.