Arlington County Tax Rate Set To Jump By 5.6%
The Arlington County Board is set to adopt the FY 2012 budget tomorrow morning that will include an effective increase of 5.6% in the real estate tax rate. (Back on February 19, 2011, we growled on how to compute the effective tax rate.) However, here’s how the county spinners described the increase in the real estate tax rate in a press release yesterday:
"Real estate tax rate unchanged
“The real estate tax rate will remain the same, 95.8 cents per $100 of assessed value (including the sanitary district tax). The overall tax and fee burden for the average Arlington homeowner will increase 1.4% -- or about $7 a month -- due to increases in real estate assessments. The increase is less than the current Baltimore-Washington region inflation rate of 2.3%.”
The press release also provides a link to a three-page County Board document that provides details on most of “the Board’s adjustments.” These include “an additional $2.8 million for safety net and critical support for human services, housing, and related programs,” which was over-and-above the $11 million in the Manager’s proposed budget. The Board also added $1.5 million for a total of $5.5 million in to the affordable housing fund, and allocated $507,000 for mental health and substance abuse, as requested by the Community Services Board. Finally, the Board made several restorations to services eliminated in the prior year.
Take a few minutes to read the Board’s entire list of adjustments!