Arlington County Moves in Lockstep
A new study by the Tax Foundation (Fiscal Fact #243, August 31, 2010) found that between 2007 and 2008 property taxes increased nationwide as property values fell.While property values fell 16, according to the Case-Shiller index, per capita property tax collections increased 4.2% nationwide. The Tax Foundation explains:
“The recession that began in December 2007 was precipitated by a financial crisis which in turn was triggered by the popping of a real estate bubble, particularly in residential property. And indeed, property values did decline dramatically. The Case-Shiller index, a popular measure of residential home values, shows a drop of almost 16 percent in home values across the country between 2007 and 2008. As property values fell, one might expect property tax collections to have fallen commensurately, but in most cases they did not. (emphasis added)
“Data on state and local taxes from the U.S. Census Bureau show that most states' property owners paid more in FY 2008 (July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008) than they had the year before (see Table 1). Nationwide, property tax collections increased by more than 4 percent. In only four states were FY 2008's collections lower than in FY 2007: Michigan, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont. And in three states—Florida, Indiana and New Mexico—property tax collections rose more than 10 percent.”
In Virginia, per capita property tax collections increased from $1,304 to $1,362, an increase of 4.5%, and ranked 30th among the states.
From 2007 to 2008 in Arlington County, according to the FY 2011 adopted budget, the average assessed value of the average single family home, to use the terms used in the the county’s adopted FY 2011 budget, decreased from $537,500 to $530,800, or 1.25%. During the same period, the average real estate tax payment increased from $4,397 to $4,501, or $2.37%.
Although residential property values in Arlington County did not drop as dramatically as they did nationwide, the solons on the County Board did raise the real estate tax rate from $0.818 per $100 of assessed value to a rate of $0.848. Just keeping the size of local government growing, eh?

