The Finance, Government Administration and Economic Development Committee voted Nov. 14 to maintain the current property tax rate of 87.5 cents per $100 in the fiscal year 2025 budget plan.
The commission voted 4-0-1 to direct the Board of Supervisors to approve a tax rate of 87.5 cents for planning purposes. Supervisor Matt LeTourneau (R-Dulles) was absent to vote.
Citing increased personal property tax revenue, County Commissioner Tim Hemstreet also recommended reducing the personal property tax rate from $4.15 to $4.10 during the 2025 tax year. The tax primarily applies to data center computer equipment and personal and commercial vehicles.
Based on the guidance of the full committee, the county budget office will prepare a budget proposal that will be released in February. The board typically votes to adopt a budget in April.
Under these tax rates, the county would earn an additional $218.4 million compared to the current fiscal year. “This allows us to fund the majority of the needs of the county that we are aware of at this time and the majority of the needs of our school division that we are aware of at this time,” Hemstreet said. Ta.
Because property values typically increase each year, most homeowners would see a nominal increase in their tax bill if regulators adopted a flat tax rate. If tax rates are equalized, the average tax amount will remain the same in nominal terms, but in real terms revenue will decrease.
The county’s estimated spending increase for fiscal year 2025 is $281.3 million, of which $131 million will come from Loudoun County Public Schools. According to a memo from LCPS Chief Financial Officer Sharon Willoughby to Superintendent Aaron Spence, $77 million of LCPS’ fiscal year 2025 spending increase will come from salaries and benefits.
Alternatively, even if the board were to adopt a flat tax rate (83 cents for real estate), that would not generate enough revenue to cover the county’s anticipated payroll and base budget increases, Hemstreet said. Stated.
“Tax rate equalization is not an issue for me at all,” said Supervisor Coran Sains, a Sterling Democrat. “…There’s no way that’s going to work.”
Chairwoman Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) said there is a lot of uncertainty with a brand new school board and many new General Assembly members.
“This is a tough year to plan for because we have a completely new school board. And 17 of our state senators are new and 38 of our state representatives are new, so that’s a lot. ” she said. “…I think there are some interesting things that will happen between now and the final guidance in January.”
Unlike state and federal legislators, county supervisors are required to adopt balanced budgets. Their two main sources of revenue are real estate taxes (which account for about half of Loudoun’s total local tax revenue) and personal property taxes, which primarily tax computer servers in data centers. You can get it by doing this.
Supervisors have lowered real estate tax rates annually for years, from $1.145 in 2016 to $1.035 in 2020. However, average residential real estate taxes increased as property values increased faster than tax rates declined.
Loudoun’s real estate tax rate is the lowest of any Northern Virginia county, primarily due to taxes paid by data centers within the county.