The proposed fiscal 2023 Fairfax County government budget outlined by County Executive Bryan Hill last week was another clear indication the preservation of a vibrant, home-owning middle class is not necessarily up there at the top of the county government’s priority list.
Hill put forward a package with no cut in the real-estate tax rate. Couple that with yet another year of higher assessments, and you’ll see homeowners of modest means continuing to be priced out, should the Board of Supervisors not ultimately cut the tax rate. And even if the rate is cut, it will not come close to offsetting the effective tax increase.
Yes, we’re living in a new inflationary environment, and yes, homeowners are benefiting (should they choose to sell at this moment) from a still-warm-if-not-necessarily-hot homes market. So if the increase in tax bills was just a one-year phenomenon, we could accept it.
But in Fairfax, growth in tax bills has been far outpacing wage growth for a decade, so the upcoming grab into homeowners’ wallets is just more of the same.
Yes, wealthy homeowners are probably not going to feel the pinch. But there are many, many Fairfax homeowners not in that category. They are, whether they like it or not, increasingly being priced out.
Keeping the tax rate where it is, or reducing it by a token amount, would be a clear indication that those at the top rungs of Fairfax’s government believe they are entitled to residents’ money more than residents are.
And given the smug self-satisfaction of many on the current Board of Supervisors, we doubt they woul lose much sleep over the real-world implications of what they are imposing.