Montgomery County looking at lowering real estate tax rate to balance assessment hikes, proposing $.03 cent increase

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - In Montgomery County’s first proposed FY24 budget, the real estate tax rate is decreasing, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be be paying less.

Montgomery County assesses property values every four years. This most recent assessment came back an average of 30 percent higher than four years ago.

“The board will use a neutral revenue tax rate, which is $.70 to bring that balance of the high reassessment values into alignment with that,” Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chair Sherri Blevins said.

The current tax rate is $.89 per $100 assessed value. The county’s proposed plan is to drop that to $.70. Then the county will add a $.03 increase making the rate $.73.

“That means that would need to be advertised as a tax increase if the board votes to go that way,” Blevins said.

Jonathan Everett, a real estate professor at Virginia Tech, broke down these numbers using a home previously assessed at $250,000.

With no tax rate decrease and a 25% assessment increase, a homeowner’s bill would increase by $556 in real estate taxes this year.

With the proposed changes and a 25% assessment increase, this year’s bill would be $56 more compared to last year.

The county says this increase will likely pick up the tab for more public safety measures.

Overall, the fiscal year 2024 budget sits around $240 million.

“Everyone is feeling the pinch with the inflation costs, and the supply chain demands,” Blevins said. “All of those play a factor into it costs more to run the county just like it costs more for you to buy things in the store.”

The county plans to have a budget finalized in April.

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