Arlington’s tax-delinquency rate ticked up slightly over the past year, but remains at a level the county’s new treasurer says is not cause for worry.
The county’s 0.2% delinquency rate for fiscal year 2026 was up just a hair from 0.18% in 2025 and 0.17% in 2024, Treasurer Kim Rucker told ARLnow on Sept. 21.
Delinquent personal-property taxes on vehicles were the largest driver of the increase, said Rucker, who in July succeeded Carla de la Pava as treasurer.
Though up, the delinquency rate could be the lowest in Virginia, although most jurisdictions do not publish their rates. Rucker, who has worked in the treasurer’s office for more than three decades, said she doesn’t see the year-over-year uptick as a cause for meaningful alarm.
“The rate is still less than one-quarter of one percent of the total levy [of] $1.17 billion. As I have said before, our overall tax delinquency rate is likely to fluctuate at this extremely low range,” she said.
Despite the higher delinquency rate on car taxes, both the number of personal property accounts cleared and the dollar amount collected exceeded last year’s totals, the treasurer’s office said.
Rucker told ARLnow:
“Of the car tax accounts that were left unpaid at the end of the fiscal year, 70% were closed accounts, where the vehicle was either sold or moved out of the County. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that we are much more effective at collecting accounts that are still open. Of course, we will continue to attempt to collect these accounts until they reach the five-year statute of limitations.”
Delinquencies on real-estate taxes remained low, officials said. Rucker plans to provide full data and an analysis of current conditions at the November County Board meeting.
Over the past year, the treasurer’s office has launched several initiatives to give taxpayers more information and more options for payment.
At the end of the 2026 fiscal year in June, the treasurer’s office had granted three times as many payment plans to taxpayers as a year before.
“Unfortunately, the economic pressures of the past two years — including job market volatility, income disruption and a higher cost of living — continue to be a factor for taxpayers,” Rucker said.
In a report accepted by County Board members on Tuesday (Sept. 22), Rucker’s office detailed current tax delinquencies:
- Delinquent real estate taxes for tax year 2025 and 19 prior tax years: $177,987.30
- Delinquent personal property taxes for tax year 2026 and five prior tax years: $1,916,629.31
- Delinquent business tangible taxes for tax year 2025 and four prior tax years: $217,468.97
- Delinquent business license taxes for tax year 2026 and five prior tax years: $1,003,738.04
- Delinquent meals taxes for tax year 2026 and five prior tax years: $423,448.25
- Other delinquent local taxes for tax year 2026 and five prior tax years: $13,714.77
The next major deadline for county taxpayers comes in early October, when both vehicle taxes and second-half real estate taxes are due.
Arlington’s tax-delinquency rate stood at about 8% when Frank O’Leary was elected treasurer in 1983. Over the next three decades, O’Leary and his staff whittled the rate down to 0.33%.
De la Pava, who succeeded O’Leary upon his 2014 retirement, was able to further reduce the rate before the recent upticks.
Because Rucker was serving as chief deputy treasurer when de la Pava retired over the summer, she automatically became treasurer. In a Nov. 3 special election to fill the final year of de la Pava’s term, Rucker is being challenged by Aasim Rawoot.
Having won the endorsement of the Arlington County Democratic Committee, Rucker is the odds-on favorite in the race.
