County Board members on Tuesday night voted 4-1 to advertise a 1-cent increase to Arlington’s real-estate tax rate.
That compares to no increase proposed by County Manager Mark Schwartz, and would, if fully adopted, raise a typical homeowner’s tax bill 4.7% year-over-year.
Board members voting to support advertising the higher rate said uncertainty at the federal level made it the prudent course of action.
“We don’t know all the impacts that will happen,” said Board member Matt de Ferranti, who proposed the tax-rate increase.
The current real-estate tax rate is $1.033 per $100 assessed valuation. Combining both assessment increases and the potential tax-rate increase, the average tax bill for an Arlington homeowner would rise from $8,519 in 2024 to $8,917 this year.
Every extra penny on the tax rate brings in an estimated $9.3 million, with $4.9 million going to general government operations and the remainder to schools.
For Board members, advertising a higher rate now would provide “breathing room should something go horribly, horribly wrong” in the federal-government funding stream, Board member Maureen Coffey said.
County Board Chair Takis Karantonis called it a “very small, modest cushion.”
Coffey said Board members would work to “constrain what we can down the line” to trim some or all off the advertised increase before final budget adoption.
“To me, this one cent is reserved for forces outside the county’s control,” she said. “Hopefully we do not use it at the end of the day. It is about having an insurance policy for the worst-case scenario”
The lone vote against advertising the higher rate came from the Board’s newest member, JD Spain, Sr.
He alluded to the cumulative impact of years of higher local tax bills and overall inflationary pressures on residents.
“Some folks are really suffering financially,” said Spain, who won election in November. “I made a promise to a lot of folks last year that I would not look to raise taxes as the first resort.”
County Manager Mark Schwartz’s proposed budget, unveiled Saturday, calls for spending of just under $1.7 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1. That’s up 2.1% from the current fiscal year.
Counting both assessment increases and fluctuations in the tax rate, the average real-estate tax for Arlington property owners will have increased from $5,903 in 2016 to the potential $8,917 in 2025. That’s up 51%.
The $854,900 average assessment figure for 2025 represents all types of ownership-based housing in Arlington, including single-family homes, townhouses, rowhouses, condominiums and co-ops.
In recent months, single-family detached homes in the county have been selling for an average of around $1.5 million, according to Bright MLS, the local multiple-listing service.
For the owner of a $1.5 million home, the tax bill for 2025 would be $15,495 under Schwartz’s proposal, $15,645 under the advertised rate.
Owners of commercial properties in Arlington pay the residential rate plus a 1.25-cent-per-$100 surcharge that supports transportation improvements. Depending on where they are located, owners of commercial property also are taxed to support business-improvement districts located across the county.
County Board members this week will embark on a series of work sessions with various government departments to review specific budget proposals. Public hearings on the budget plan and tax rates will be held March 25 and 27, with adoption slated for April.
Among other tax and fees, Board members advertised, subject to final decisions in April:
Meals tax: The meals tax paid for prepared foods would rise from 4% to 5%, the first increase since it was enacted in 1991.
Park Programming: Fees for Department of Parks and Recreation classes, programs, camps, sports, facilities, memberships and passes would increase by 10% to recoup additional operating costs.
The increase is expected to yield $1.5 million for the coming year, bringing revenues for park programming to about $18.2 million.
Fee reductions of 25% to 75% for those with low incomes would be retained.
Library-Loan Fee: A $5 fee has been proposed to cover the cost of intra-library loans, when an Arlington patron requests materials that have to be obtained by the county library system from another jurisdiction.
Those requesting materials also would have to pay any fee charged by the lending jurisdiction. The fee had been $3 (plus any outside fees) prior to Covid, but was eliminated at the onset of the pandemic.
County officials expect this change to bring in $7,800 over the coming fiscal year.
Personal-Property Tax: The county’s personal-property tax rate of $5 per $100 assessed valuation would remain unchanged. This is the tax that, among other things, is charged on vehicles.
Owners of personal-use vehicles would receive a 100% exemption from tax due on the first $3,000 of a vehicle’s value. For the next 17% of value, rebates would be 24% for conventional vehicles and 50% for clean-fuel vehicles. Owners would pay 100% of the tax for any valuation above $20,000.
The rate has been unchanged since 2007, and the tax brings in approximately $150 million per year.
Water/sewer: A typical Arlington single-family household would pay $857 during the fiscal year for water-and-sewer service, up 3.7% from the current fiscal year.
Increases would range from approximately 4% for those using the highest levels of water and sewer services down to 2.9% to those with the least usage.
The increase for a typical multi-family residential building would be about 4.1% and the cost to commercial customers would rise about 4.2%
Household solid waste: The cost to single-family homes for solid-waste services (trash and recycling) would be unchanged at $415.75.
Stormwater: The county government’s fees for stormwater services would remain unchanged at $258 per “equivalent residential unit.”
