The Falls Church City Council is keeping the door open to maintaining the same tax rate in the coming fiscal year.
Council members unanimously voted on Monday night to advertise a maximum tax rate of $1.21 per $100 assessed valuation — unchanged from the current rate.
This is greater than the proposed tax reduction to $1.185 per $100, which City Manager Mark Shields requested just a few weeks ago to fund his budget package.
Uncertainties about the local economy have caused Council members, who have until May 12 to make a final decision, to hedge their bets.
Despite advertising no cut, “many of us are interested in reducing the tax rate,” Council member Debora Schantz-Hiscott said on Monday.
Even with a rate cut, Falls Church homeowners would be paying more in the coming year, as the average home assessment in the city rose about 8.6% over the past year.
With a median home assessment value of just over $1.02 million, the tax bill on a typical property would be $12,115 at the $1.185 rate and $12,371 at $1.21.
Also under consideration is increasing the personal property tax on vehicles from $4.80 per $100 to $5 per $100; increasing sewer service fees from $10.86 per $1,000 gallons to $11.15; and increasing the stormwater utility rate by 2.7% to $21.33 per 200 square feet of impervious surface.
Some on the Council voiced unease about the cumulative impacts.
“I just have a concern that across every single place where people are paying money — whether it’s fees or through taxes — all of these continue to add up,” Council member Erin Flynn said.
The net result would be “difficult for people who are very cost-burdened right now,” she said.
In neighboring Arlington, County Board members this year advertised a higher real estate tax rate but ultimately kept the existing rate of $1.033 per $100 unchanged. Fairfax County officials currently are working through their annual budget process and have not set a tax rate.
At the April 14 meeting, Council members also continued their discussion on how to charge for trash collection. Currently, the costs are included in the overall budget, but some on Council have sought to move to a fee-for-service model.
Such a switch would benefit owners of commercial property, apartment buildings and individual condominiums, whose taxes fund trash collection but who do not receive collection services.
Most owners of single-family homes, which do receive trash collection, would likely end up paying more in fees than what they had paid through a portion of their tax bills.
Shields said that if the Council could not decide whether to make the change by May 12, it could come back later in the year and address it.
If the city moves to a fee-based trash collection model, the city’s real estate tax rate could be retroactively lowered up to 1.5 cents per $100, as long as action by Council is taken before tax bills are mailed out in November.
Council member David Snyder, who has voiced concerns that the trash collection proposal was being advanced without sufficient public input, advocated for a delay in making any action.
“To rush a decision would unnecessarily divide the community,” he said. “It would be a mistake. We can end up with a better product by not rushing it.”
