Government
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Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority in Planning Stages of a 1,000 Unit Housing Development Across From Harrisonburg High School |
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 Specific details are still relatively limited, but the Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority is planning a LARGE development on land that stretches from Erickson Avenue to Garbers Church Road. Here are some of the details that have been made public thus far...
More details here. Stay tuned for more details as they are made public. | |
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Real Estate Assessments On The Rise, Big Time, In Rockingham County |
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 If you own a property in Rockingham County you likely received a notice in the past week or so that your property has a new tax assessed value! I have heard from quite a few folks who are very surprised by the large increase in the assessed value of their property -- and the corresponding increase in their tax bill. Some property owners seem to have seen a 20%, 25%, 30% or an even larger increase in the assessed value of their property and their tax bills. A few important notes... Rockingham County reassesses real estate every four years. Even though it might seem like this increase in the assessment of your property is a one year change, from 2021 to 2022, it's really not. The last time your property was reassessed was back in 2018. Thus, this increased assessment is based on how the value of your property has changed over the past *four* years. The 2018 assessment would have been largely based on 2017 sales data and the median sales price (per the HRAR MLS) of detached homes in Rockingham County during 2017 was $220,000. The median sales price of detached homes in 2021 was $288,000. That change from $220K to $288K is a... 31% increase in the median sales price of detached homes in Rockingham County. That's some very rough math - but it would seem that many property values have likely increased 30% (or slightly more or slightly less) over the past four years. As such, it makes sense that assessed values would also have increased by a similar amount between four years ago and today. Finally, don't panic (yet) thinking that your tax bill will increase 25% or 30% this year. It might, but it seems likely it will not. The potential tax bill shown on your notice of a new assessed value is showing you what your tax bill would be with your new assessed value and the current tax rate. But... the County has not yet set the tax rate. Will the County keep the same tax rate, leading to you having to pay as much in property taxes as shown on your notice of your new assessed value? Let's see what would happen if they did keep the same tax rate... Per the "Budget in Brief" for 2021-2022 for Rockingham County (here) it seems that the revenue for property taxes in the budget was $101,297,000. Yes, that is 101 million dollars. Working backwards, given the current tax rate of $0.74 per $100 of assessed value, that means that all of the real estate that was taxed had an approximate combined value of $13,688,783,783. Yes, that is almost 14 billion dollars. So, let's say the 14 billion dollars (approx) of real estate increased in value by 25% given the new assessments. I rounded down a bit from the 31% referenced above. That means the combined taxable properties may very well be worth $17,110,979,730 today -- yes, a bit over 17 billion dollars. Stick with me here -- if the tax rate ($0.74 per $100 of assessed value) remains the same in 2022 it would potentially generate tax revenue of $126,621,250. This would be over 25 million dollars more tax revenue for the 2022-23 budget than existed in the 2021-2022 budget. So, will your property tax bill increase by as much as is shown on the notice of your updated real estate assessment? Maybe -- if the County needs an additional 25 million dollars of revenue to balance their budget. :-) Is that likely? It doesn't seem like it to me. While expenses may be increasing, I doubt there are 25 million dollars (a year) of new expenses that would require that much additional tax revenue. So, in summary, for Rockingham County property owners... 1. The change in your assessment really marks the change in your property value over four years -- not over one year. 2. Real estate values in Rockingham County (per sales prices) seem to have increased by about 30% over the past four years. 3. The actual amount of your property tax bill won't be known until the County sets the tax rate as a part of the budget process. Questions? Feel free to ask me... or call the Rockingham County Reassessment Office at 540-564-5079. :-) | |
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Median Residential Harrisonburg Real Estate Assessment Increases 10.5% In 2022 |
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 If you own a property in the City of Harrisonburg you likely recently received a "Change of Assessment Notice" in the mail. Harrisonburg updates the assessed value of every parcel of real estate every year... and some years (like this year) the assessed values increase quite a bit! The sample change in assessment notice above, for a townhouse in the City of Harrisonburg, shows the following assessed values...
You might also note that the tax rate changed a bit over time...
The increased assessed value, combined with the increase in tax rate results in the following increase in annual taxes...
In speaking with Lisa Neunlist, the real estate director for the City of Harrisonburg, she shared that there has been a 10.5% increase in the median assessed value of the approximately 9,600 residential properties (single family, townhomes, duplexes, condos that are not primarily students) in the City of Harrisonburg. Should this increase in assessed values surprise us? Probably not. The median sales price in our local area (City+County) has increased 12% over the past year. As such, a 10.5% increase in the median assessed value is not shocking. It will be interesting to see whether the tax rate is changed at all for 2022. The tax rate increased 4.6% (from $0.86 to $0.90) between 2020 and 2021 -- at least in part to help pay for building a second high school in the City of Harrisonburg -- though there was discussion of a possible need to increase that rate even further in 2022. Perhaps the increase in tax assessed values of properties in the City of Harrisonburg will provide enough additional tax revenue that the tax rate will not need to increase further at this time? Of note -- for the sample property I referenced above, if the tax rate remains at $0.90 in 2022 the annual taxes will increase by $176, which is a $15 per month increase. | |
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265 (More) Apartments Planned For Stone Spring Road |
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 Harman Realty and Stone Spring Holdings LLC are proposing to build 265 apartments in a development to be called EPOCH on Stone Spring Road, between The Overlook at Stone Spring and Squire Hill Apartments. These apartments would be built on the 17 acres shown above. The proposed site plan references cottages, townhouses and apartments -- but they all seem to be multiple dwelling units per building, so they might all feel like apartments? City staff recommends approval of this proposal, as does the Planning Commission. City Council will have the final say on the matter in the near future.  | |
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Does An Increase In The Real Estate Tax Rate Directly and Significantly Affect Housing Affordability? |
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 The City of Harrisonburg recently increased the real estate tax rate from $0.86 per $100 of assessed value to $0.90 per $100 of assessed value. Does this affect housing affordability for home buyers and homeowners? I tried to say "yes and no" for this question -- but it's somewhat difficult to say that the increase in the real estate tax rate (alone) has a meaningful increase on housing affordability. Technically, yes, the increased tax rate does increase the cost of owning a home -- but not by much... For a property assessed at $250,000...
So, for the house assessed for $250,000 -- the monthly payment would increase by $9 per month based on this change in tax rates. So, certainly an increase in monthly housing costs, but not much of one. To put this change in monthly housing cost in context... If a homeowner had financed 90% of their purchase price of $250K at 3.5%, their mortgage payment would likely be right around $1,243 before the change in tax rate -- and right around $1,251 after the increase in real estate taxes. So, this change in tax rates increases their monthly payment by less than 1%. Am I saying that the City of Harrisonburg can just keep on raising the real estate tax rate forever without any impact on housing affordability? No. But it's hard to argue that this increase in the real estate tax rate, on its own, dramatically changes the financial picture for many or most homeowners. Now, I'll pivot a bit to a few other common talking points related to real estate taxes... Increased Tax Rates + Increased Assessed Values If we look at both at the increase in property values AND the increase in the real estate tax rate, then yes, the change in one's real estate tax bill is more significant. That said, the assessed values of real estate do not (at least right now) seem to be increasing as quickly as sales prices are in the current real estate market. While the median sales price has increased by about 10% over the past year, this year's property value assessments increased a net of 2.9%. As such, we shouldn't hastily calculate the increase in a tax bill using the increase in our local median sales price to show a large increase in real estate taxes, because market values are currently escalating much more quickly than tax assessed values. Tax Rate Increases + Income Changes A somewhat common refrain is to say "real estate tax rates increased by __% over such and such timeframe -- but my income didn't increase by that much during that timeframe!" This argument doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Let's make it as extreme of a point to point comparison as possible. The real estate tax rate was $0.59 ten years ago and is now $0.90. That is a 53% increase over a ten year period. So, per the argument above, I'd need a 53% increase in my income during the same time period in order to afford those higher real estate taxes, right? Well, probably not. :-) I'm going to use very rough, inaccurate numbers here, but let's pretend Fred owned a home assessed for $150K ten years ago and today it is assessed at $250K. His annual tax bill would have been $885 a decade ago at that $0.59 tax rate and that would have increased to an annual tax bill of $2,250. That's quite an increase! In fact, it's a $1,400 increase in annual real estate taxes over ten years. So, per the prior argument, he probably needs to have seen a 53% increase in his income because the real estate tax rate increased 53% over a decade, right? Well, maybe not. If Fred was earning $35,000 a decade ago, a 53% increase over the past ten years would mean that he would be earning $53,000 today. If you made it through all of my ramblings, thanks for reading and engaging on this topic. Do I think higher taxes are OK or good or great? No. I would love for everybody to pay the same or lower taxes forever and ever. Do increases in the local real estate tax rate directly and significantly affect housing affordability? In the short term it's very hard to say "yes" to this ($9/year) based on the information above. Over the mid to long term, certainly, this does have a cumulative impact - but I believe we should be precise with our language. Do you agree or disagree or have another counterpoint? Email me at scott@hhtdy.com. | |
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City Approves Increase In Real Estate Tax Rate, No Change In County |
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 If you own real estate in the City of Harrisonburg, you'll be paying slightly more in real estate taxes due to a recently approved increase in the real estate tax rate. Previously, properties were taxed at a rate of $0.86 per $100 of assessed value. Now, the tax rate has increased to $0.90 per $100 of assessed value. For a property assessed at $250,000 this means...
As a point of comparison, for the same value of property in the County...
At least part of the reason for the increase in the real estate tax rate in the City is to fund the new high school. | |
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City of Harrisonburg Considers 5% Increase In Real Estate Tax Rate |
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 Here's the current lay of the land as it relates to real estate taxes in the City of Harrisonburg...
Harrisonburg City Council is considering an increase in the real estate tax rate...
Stay tuned for further news of decisions from City Council as to changes in the real estate tax rate! | |
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34 Single Family Home and Duplex Lots Planned At Highview Estates, Just North of Harrisonburg City Line |
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 view a larger map here Per recent versions of the Rockingham County Planning Commission meeting packets, a new development is being planned for Route 42 North -- just barely outside the City of Harrisonburg, The site plan currently on file with the County is shown below, though it is likely not the final site plan. Per the County's notes it is "awaiting corrections and resubmittal." The current version of the site plan shows (18) single family home lots and (16) duplex lots -- for a total of 34 homes.  view a clearer plan here This is one of the many new residential developments in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County that are under construction or in planning phases as outlined here. | |
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How Do YOU Think Downtown Harrisonburg Should Look in 2040? |
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 The City of Harrisonburg and Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance (HDR) have launched Harrisonburg Downtown 2040, a community-driven plan for our beloved Downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia. Above is a snapshot from the collaborative map that the community is building showing... Special Places (stars) - important places in Downtown and stories about why these places matter Ideas (light bulbs) - ideas for improving Downtown including places to be change or preserve, things that are missing from Downtown, etc. Problems (cones) - problems or concerns to be fixed View (and contribute to) the collaborative map here. Read more about the Downtown 2040 project here. | |
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337 Homes To Be Built On Pleasant Valley Road |
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 A new neighborhood is coming to Pleasant Valley Road, across the street from The Springs at Osceola. Way back in 2009, this land was rezoned as a part of the 282.86 acres of land that was to be developed as The Springs at Osceola. Now, however, the developer plans to develop the 71.502 acres on the west side of Pleasant Valley Road as a separate neighborhood, Wingate Meadows subdivision. Wingate Meadows would consist of 337 homes, including...
County staff recommended approving this rezoning on January 28, 2021. The Planning Commission recommended approving this rezoning on February 2, 2021. The Board of Supervisors approved the subdivision on February 24, 2021. You can download the rezoning packet here, and this is the proposed layout...  view a larger version here | |
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Site Plan and Renderings For Boyers Crossing, Proposed Mixed Use Development |
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A developer is proposing that Rockingham County rezone a 5.69 acre parcel at the corner of Port Republic Road and Boyers Road for...
The developer has now published renderings of the proposed development which can be found on their website.  Some additional details are now available from the proposed development's website...
This is a proposed mixed use development, and you can read more about the mixed use developments that do and do not already exist locally here. Feedback about this potential rezoning can be sent to... | |
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Mixed Use Developments in Rockingham County, Looking Around and Looking Forward |
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 Given all of the developments popping up along Boyers Road it is probably a good time to pause and remember that this (Boyers Road) is one of the main areas where Rockingham County anticipates seeing further development in the years (and decades) to come per the Stone Spring Urban Development Plan. The Stone Spring UDA provides a blueprint for the potential development based on a traditional town pattern in four geographic areas that they have called Stone Port, Stone Ridge, Boyers Crossing and Crossroads. Here's the big picture, per Rockingham County... "The UDA Plan presents a vision for the development of new, walkable mixed-use neighborhoods, within the four neighborhood focus areas while preserving existing neighborhoods." "Plans and development scenarios are conceptual and would be phased over the ensuing 20 years, contemplating future generations of development and adaptive reuses of certain parcels over that period. Recommended conceptual alignments, structures and functional uses do not account for parcel boundaries or topographic constraints." One main thing to note here is that the County has a vision of these four areas being developed as mixed use developments. We can think about this most simply as residential and non-residential uses. Non-residential uses might be office space or retail, etc. This type of development (mixed use) will look and feel different than most of the areas that folks are familiar with in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County because there are not many mixed use developments currently in existence in our area. A few examples and non-examples... Crossroads Farm could sort of be seen as almost being a mixed use development in that a bank was built at the corner of the neighborhood where Cross Keys Road and Spotswood Trail intersect. That's probably a bit of a stretch though, as these two areas (residential neighborhood, bank) do not connect for vehicular or pedestrian traffic. Urban Exchange is a mixed use development in downtown Harrisonburg (yes, in the City, not the County) because it has apartments over top of retail and office space, though it is all in one connected building, as opposed to a mixed use development in multiple buildings spread out over a tract of land. Preston Lake was always intended to be a mixed use development with commercial space on the edge of the original development plan, and as a part of the current development plan, but it's only a residential development thus far with detached homes, duplexes, townhomes and now an adjacent apartment complex under construction. Again, all residential development - though there is still a possibility it will have some non-residential development as a part of it at some point in the future. Stone Port, located catty-corner to Sentara RMH Medical Center would seem to be one of our area's first mixed-use development, because it has residential uses (apartments) and non-residential uses (retail, office, etc.) Stoney Ridge is a proposed/planned mixed use development on the south end of Harrisonburg and partially in the County. It would almost entirely be residential development (apartments, townhouses, duplexes, detached homes) but does have some intended commercial lots on the front of the property. Boyers Crossing is a proposed mixed use development on the corner of Boyers Road and Port Republic Road including apartments, commercial space and storage units. More on this in the coming days. Am I missing any current or proposed mixed use developments? If so, email me. I suspect we will continue to see further proposals for mixed use developments in the four areas in the County referenced above. Perhaps as further mixed use developments take shape we will become more accustomed to them and more comfortable with them in this marketplace. | |
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142 Unit Multi-Family Development, Two41, Proposed At Intersection Of Blue Ridge Drive, Country Club Road |
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 Bluestone Land, the development entity behind The Colonnade (in downtown Harrisonburg) and Preston Lake Apartments (currently under construction) is proposing to build 142 apartments at the intersection of Blue Ridge Drive and Country Club Court. The proposed site plan is shown above, and here's a rendering of what one of the apartment buildings would look like...  The current owner of the property (alongside the proposed developer) is requesting that the property be rezoned from R-1 to R-5 and is asking for a special use permit to allow for more than 12 units per apartment building. Here are some further details of this proposed community...
You can read more about this here: Updated 2/11/2021: Per the 2/21/2021 Daily News Record, the Planning Commission recommended denial of this rezoning request and City Council sent the request back to Planning Commission for further review. | |
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Rockingham County Completed (in August 2020) Purchase of 28.878 Acres for Stormwater Management |
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 (view a larger image here) I'm late to the party. Thankfully, someone asked if this land transfer had happened, and when I looked, I was surprised to find that it had taken place! As I have mentioned before, Rockingham County had been considering the purchase of approximately 27 Acres between Barrington and Lakewood for stormwater management purposes. This was the lay of the land back in July 2020...
I'll work on getting an update on any potential plans for a layout for use of the land. But in the meantime, I'll point out that the sale of the land has been completed. The "Lake Shenandoah Stormwater Control Authority" purchased 28.878 acres as shown above back in August 2020 for $1,850,000. I'll save you the math and let you know that it sold for approximately $64K per acre. | |
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Office Building, 77 Apartments and 93,600 SF of Storage Units Proposed Amidst Residential Developments, Church, Rescue Squad and Hospital in Rockingham County |
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 View a larger version of the map here. In what would seem to be a bit of a controversial proposed rezoning, Baum Investments LLC is proposing the rezoning of a 5.69 acre parcel at the corner of Port Republic Road and Boyers Road. The property is currently undeveloped, but Baum Investments would like to develop it to include...
As noted in the headline above, and on the map above, these proposed uses would be amidst residential developments, a church, the rescue squad and the hospital campus. You'll find the rezoning packet here. The County approved an Urban Development Area Plan (UDAP) for this area in late 2019 though it is not clear whether this rezoning request align with the County's vision for the area. The above referenced UDAP shows as example of mixed use and townhomes as a good potential fit for this property. Sometimes "mixed use" means a mix of commercial space and residential space -- but the UDAP document describes "mixed use" as developments that include "public amenities such as event and recreation space and fine dining." So, you tell me -- do the proposed uses (office building, apartments, storage units) fall within the scope of how the County thinks a parcel in this general location should be developed (townhomes, event space, recreation space, fine dining)? Am I reading the County's vision document too narrowly? Should we understand their vision document to mean that any sort of commercial use is fine within areas where they show potential mixed use? The Rockingham County Planning Commission meets on February 2nd to discuss this proposed rezoning. If you have comments about this proposed rezoning, you can contact... Updated 1/27/2021 per input from Bradford Dyjak, Director of Planning, Rockingham County - The UDA plan does offer examples of potential appropriate mixture of uses, and a broader definition of "mixed use" is also contained within the UDA Plan glossary, "Mixed of Uses - combines residential, commercial, civic, recreational and open space uses in a diversified but seamless arrangement; also combines first floor retail with second floor apartments and/or offices." Updated 1/29/2021 - Case #REZ20-333 has been postponed by request of the applicant and will not be heard February 2nd. It will be rescheduled and re-advertised at a later date. Full disclosure -- I live in one of the neighboring residential developments, about a half a mile from this proposed rezoning. | |
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Are You The Parent Of A JMU Student Looking To Buy A House For Your Son Or Daughter To Live In With Friends? |
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 With some regularity, I'll hear from parents of JMU students who are interested in buying a house in Harrisonburg, near the JMU campus, with the intent of having their son or daughter live in the house with friends. Not a bad idea, right? Instead of paying rent for several years, you (and the friends of your son or daughter) can be paying off the mortgage on your newly acquired house! But before you sign a contract to purchase a house, keep this in mind... Most (but not all) single family homes (as opposed to duplexes or townhomes) in Harrisonburg are zoned R-1 or R-2. This limits occupancy of the property to no more than to unrelated people - with one exception which I will mention below. So -- before you go buy a five bedroom house with the idea that Johnny and his four best buds can live there -- you should definitely check the zoning of the property. If the house is zoned R-1 or R-2, it will just be able to be Johnny and his best friend living at the house. But wait -- what if you put Johnny on the deed to the house, making him one of the owners of the house -- would this change anything? Why, yes, it would! While Johnny would not then be able to invite all four of his friends back into the fold, he would be able to have his two best friends living there at the house instead of just one friend. Stated more simply... An R-1 or R-2 property can only be occupied by two unrelated people if the owner is not living there, but it can be occupied by the owner plus two unrelated people if the owner is living there! You'll find all the details here. If you're a JMU parent, looking to buy a house off campus, I'm happy to help with the process -- but don't let Johnny get too many friends excited about the idea until you have reviewed the information above. A few final notes... 1. There are some properties in Harrisonburg that have been in non-conforming use (many unrelated people living in them) since before these current zoning regulations were put in place. Those properties are "grandfathered in" and can be continued to be rented in that (non-conforming) manner until/unless there is a 24 month interruption in the non-conforming use. So, technically, you could buy a house for Johnny and his four friends -- but we'd have to find a property that is grandfathered into that non-conforming use and those properties don't come on the market very often. 2. There are likely some property owners out there, now, who are renting their properties to more unrelated people than are legally allowed to live there. Before you jump to "well if they can do it, then I should also be able to do it" I will encourage you to only consider making an investment purchase that allows you to rent the house in a manner that is legal according to local zoning ordinances. It's not worth the risk to try to skirt the zoning regulations. | |
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Overbrook Subdivision in McGaheysville, Virginia Slated to Expand To A Total of 230 Homes |
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 Overbrook, a single family and duplex community in McGaheysville, Virginia is expanding. As currently developed - as built homes or platted lots - the neighborhood includes...
The developer is in the process of getting County approval for an additional 125 homes -- some of which will be single family homes and some of which will be duplexes. This will bring the total size of the development to 230 homes. Here's the proposed site plan - where you'll note that the dark green areas are common areas (including a walking trail) and the light green areas are where homes will be built.  | |
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November 19 Meeting To Discuss Harrisonburg Comprehensive Housing Assessment and Market Study |
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 Mark your calendars for Thursday, November 19th at 6:00 PM to tune in to hear a presentation of the findings of the initial draft of the City's Comprehensive Housing Assessment and Market Study! From the press release from the City...
Here's how to tune in to this meeting... Watching on a computer or mobile device via GoToWebinar. Register in advance here - Webinar ID: 281-556-371. Calling in to listen by phone at +1 (951) 384-3421, Access Code 484-931-436. Watching the meeting live on Public Education Government Channel 3 | |
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Tell the City of Harrisonburg What You Think Should Change (or stay the same) In The Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances |
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 The Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances for the City of Harrisonburg have not been thoroughly updated in over 20 years! There have been a variety of smaller updates to the ordinances over the years, but, as the City points out the result of all of these small changes since 1996/1997 have been... "ordinances containing outdated requirements, internal inconsistencies, and ordinances that can be difficult for community members to comprehend" The City is currently in the midst of updating these ordinances, and they'd like your input! Click here to take a community survey to provide input as the City works on updating these ordinances. Click here to read more about the process for updating the ordinances. | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
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