Real Estate Tax Rate Reduction Included In 2022 Vienna Budget

VIENNA, VA — On Monday, Vienna Town Council adopted a budget with a real estate tax rate reduction, although average residential tax bills could increase due to assessment increases.

The reduction of the real estate tax rate was the first since 2013 in the Town of Vienna. The rate in the new fiscal year as of July 1, 2021 will be 22.25 cents per $100 of assessed value, down from 22.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. The average resident's tax bill will go up by $72 due to assessment value increases. Similarly, the Fairfax County budget provided a real estate tax reduction, but assessment values will increase the average residential tax bill.

Vienna's town budget consists of four funds: the general fund, debt service fund, water and sewer fund, and stormwater fund. The $43.2 million budget adopted by Town Council is a 5.4 percent increase over the previous budget. The previous budget had been reduced due to financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The $26.6 million general fund budget accounts for increases for economic development and parks and recreation activities.

"Last year at this time it was difficult to determine if we had budgeted sufficiently to meet the economic challenges of the pandemic," said Town Manager Mercury Payton in a statement. "We were pleasantly surprised at how well Vienna survived the initial challenges and how well we are positioned to handle improving conditions."

The water and sewer fund budget increased to $10.8 million. It includes 4.3 percent rate increases attributed to increasing sewer treatment costs and funding needed infrastructure replacement. The average resident will see an $11.75 increase on their quarterly water and sewer bill, or $47 per year.

The stormwater fund will also increase to $0.47 million. This fund, designed to operate the town's stormwater management programs, gets its funding from the county stormwater tax charged on Fairfax County property tax bills.

The $5.4 million debt service fund budget represents a 2.9 percent decrease from last year. The fund pays for interest and principal on long-term general obligation debt and capital leases, typically drawn from meal tax revenues. The town is drawing less on reserves due to better meal tax revenues when expected. The town's debt service payments go down as principal is paid off.