A recent County Board work session touched on the question of who should be responsible for assessing Arlington real estate values.
Officials briefly considered the possibility of moving assessments from the government’s Department of Real Estate Assessments to Commissioner of Revenue Kim Klingler’s independent office. However, they put off any more serious discussion until later.
Currently, the commissioner of revenue is responsible for “all the [assessments] except for real estate,” Board member Susan Cunningham noted at the March 3 meeting. She asked whether it might be preferable to add real estate to the commissioner’s portfolio.
Klingler noted that Loudoun and Fauquier counties had recently done just that, handing real-estate assessments back to their commissioners of revenue. But, the commissioner said, she wasn’t at present advocating for doing the same in Arlington.
“It is something I am learning more about and researching and investigating,” Klingler said.
Klingler’s predecessor, Ingrid Morroy, long pressed for shifting responsibilities to her office.
“Almost every year, she came up with a proposal to move the assessment function,” County Manager Mark Schwartz said.
“We didn’t think that was necessary,” Schwartz told Board members.
It won’t be Schwartz, but Board members, who will have the final say.
“I’m certainly open to that conversation,” Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said at the work session.
But not necessarily immediately, he said.
“We can work on it over time,” de Ferranti said.
Schwartz’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal anticipates collecting $963 million in real estate taxes, about 57% of total General Fund revenue.
The next-largest revenue source, personal property tax, is estimated to bring in about $151 million, mostly from vehicle taxes. Collection of those taxes is the responsibility of the elected county treasurer, Carla de la Pava, and her staff.
The position of commissioner of revenue in Virginia dates back to 1786, when the General Assembly created the posts and delegated appointment powers to local judges. Electing a local commissioner of revenue in Arlington (then known as Alexandria County) began in the 1870s.
Klingler was elected to succeed Morroy in 2023, and is the 10th elected commissioner of revenue in county history.
Her post is one of five Virginia “constitutional offices,” whose duties are detailed in the state constitution. The others are treasurer, clerk of the circuit court, commonwealth’s attorney and sheriff.
Not all jurisdictions have all five. Fairfax County does not have an elected treasurer or commissioner of revenue, and responsibilities for assessment and tax collection there are handled by county staff.
