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By John W. McCarthy
County Administrator
Taxpayers have by now all (generally unhappily) received their notice of reassessment for real property that they own in Rappahannock County.
Many have been surprised at the increase in assessed value of both land and improvements, and some have expressed concern at this “raising” of their taxes. A little clarification may be in order about the process of real property taxation in Virginia.
Counties need money to provide the various services and facilities their citizens want, or which are mandated by state or federal law. These include the public schools, solid waste disposal, fire and rescue services and law enforcement.
The county also maintains a reasonable surplus to cover emergencies, to soften the impact of reduced state and federal revenues, and to avoid the budgetary predicament in which both the state and federal government now find themselves.
A county is limited by state law as to how it may go about raising the money it needs resulting in the majority of it coming from taxation of real estate, including the improvements.
Setting tax rate
In setting the annual real estate tax rate, the county, through its annual budget process, first projects what amount of money it will need. After taking into account other sources of revenue, it then knows how much money must be raised through real estate taxes.
In the manner hereafter explained, the county then establishes the fair market value of the real estate which will be subject to the tax; this is the “assessed” value. These two figures: the sum necessary to be raised and the assessed value, then establish the “tax rate.”
The tax rate is the number
95.1%