Real Estate Assessment Increases 6.97% For Fairfax County Homeowners

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — More than 357,000 Fairfax County homeowners can expect to find an average increase of 6.97 percent in their updated real estate assessments for 2023. This means that the average assessment for homes countywide is $719,522, which is up from the $672,639 in 2022.

County Manager Bryan Hill released the new assessment information as part of his presentation Tuesday morning of the proposed fiscal 2024 and 2025 multiyear budget plan.

"Our economy continues to recover from the pandemic, although our over-reliance on real estate continues, particularly our reliance on residential homeowners," Hill told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. "Our needs are many and I would have loved to have been able to recommend adjustments to meet them all. But with most, we must balance our spending with the impact upon our residents, and I believe that this proposal allows us to do just that."

Based on the current tax rate of $1.11 per $100 of assessed value, the average tax bill will increase just over $520, according to the proposed budget plan.

In total, 89.5 percent of residential properties increased in value over 2022. Just 3.1 percent of residential properties experienced a decrease in value and 7.4 percent were unchanged, according to Fairfax County.

Fairfax County Property Owners: View Your Assessment Online

"The average sale price of homes sold in the county rose 7.4 percent, during calendar year 2022," Hill said. "The number of homes [on the market], however, decreased over 25 percent, as rising prices and increasing mortgage rates made homes increasingly unaffordable. Homes that sold during the year stayed on the market for an average of only 17 days, the same number of days in 2021."

• Single-family detached homes – $873,149, up 7.80 percent
• Townhouse/duplex properties – $533,968, up 6.31 percent
• Condominiums – $334,623, up 3.98 percent

Commercial properties experienced an average increase in value of 1.65 percent over 2022. This was a modest increase, despite the fact that apartments, industrial properties, and retail properties experienced significant increases in 2023. Hotels continued to bounce back from a decline in value experienced in 2021, while regional malls and high-rise office buildings declined in value.

"The county relies primarily on real estate tax to fund county needs," Hill said. "In fiscal '24, approximately 67 percent of the general fund revenue is derived from real estate taxes which are projected to increase to 6.6 percent over FY '23."

Residential properties account for 76.4 percent of the taxable parcels in Fairfax County. With an overall total of 357,540 taxable parcels in the county, 328,096 properties have an assessment change, while 29,444 have no assessment change, according to Fairfax County.

Hill proposed a FY 2024 General Fund Budget of $365.46 million, with $144.10 million in funding for Fairfax County Public Schools, $134.51 million for county priorities, and $90.22 million as an available balance for the board's consideration.

The $144.10 million for FCPS is 7 percent less than the $159 million requested by Superintendent Michelle Reid. The FCPS budget was based on a healthy increase in the sales tax, state assistance, and a compensation package for employees of 3 percent, according to Hill.

Reid also requested a salary scale extension of one step and a 1 percent retention bonus, plus an increase of at least 5 percent to maximize state revenue based on Gov. Glenn Youngkin's recommended budget. In addition, the state was expected to provide funding to offset the 1 percent pay increase.

"My recommendation of an increase of $144.10 million was based on fully funding the recurring portion of the superintendent's request," Hill said. "Thus, we recently subtracted the net $15.5 million costs of the 1 percent bonus or retention as it is the practice of the county. I think the one-time adjustments are more appropriately funded as part of quarterly reviews and we will partner with the schools to help identify funds for this bonus if necessary."

Hill told the supervisors the focus of his budget proposal was to increase compensation for county employees based on steps approved by the board in 2022 to address pay compression for public safety employees.

"We have added hiring incentives up to $15,000 to attract job applicants, particularly for our police department," he said. "We have implemented pay compression reviews to begin to address long-serving employees who have fallen behind as compared to less experienced counterparts. We have been working to incentivize the best and brightest to come to Fairfax County and build a career and for our current employees to finish their careers here. I believe this budget proposal will assist us in that endeavor."

The budget proposal includes a 2 percent market rate adjustment for employee compensation. When combined with performance, merit, and longevity increases, will provide a pay increase of 4.06 percent for non-uniformed, married employees and 4.39 percent for uniformed, married employees.

" Additionally, a number of job classes have been determined to be out of the market when compared with other local jurisdictions, including maintenance workers, custodians, programmers, trade supervisors and plant operators," Hill said. "These positions we'll see additional pay adjustments, which we are planning to accelerate to May, right after the budget is adopted."

The budget proposal also includes almost $25 million dedicated to increasing employee benefits, with the largest increases going to the county's two public safety departments.

Hill's presentation on Tuesday kicked off a months-long process in which county residents can provide feedback on the proposed budget before the supervisors make their final decision in May. Each of the supervisors will also be hosting public feedback sessions in their districts.

FY 2024 Timeline

• Feb. 21: County Executive presents FY 2024 Advertised Budget Plan
• Feb. 23: School Board adopts FY 2024 Advertised Budget
• Feb. 28: Joint Board of Supervisors/School Board Budget Committee Meeting
• March 7: Board of Supervisors authorizes advertisement of FY 2024 tax rates
• March 21: Board of Supervisors authorizes advertisement of FY 2023 Third Quarter Review
• April 11-13: Board of Supervisors holds public hearings on FY 2024 Budget, FY 2024-FY 2028 Capital Improvement Program, and FY 2023 Third Quarter Review
• May 2: Board of Supervisors marks-up FY 2024 Budget, FY 2024-FY 2028 Capital Improvement Program, and FY 2023 Third Quarter Review
• May 9: Board of Supervisors adopts FY 2024 adopted budget
• May 16: School Board holds public hearings on FY 2024 budget
• May 25: School Board adopts FY 2024 approved budget
• July 1: FY 2024 budget year begins