Taxes
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Real Estate Tax Rates Finalized in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County |
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 The real estate tax rates have been finalized for the 2019-20 fiscal year...
For some context...
For an even broader context...
And to translate it into monthly costs...
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Real Estate Tax Rate Likely To Increase Slightly In Harrisonburg |
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 The City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County are going through their annual budget process and while Rockingham County has proposed a budget that does not include any changes to the real estate tax rate, the City of Harrisonburg's proposed budget for next fiscal year requires a $0.01 increase in the real estate tax rate. Read more about the City's forthcoming budget via... | |
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Owners, Operators of Short Term Residential Rentals in Rockingham County to Pay Transient Occupancy Tax |
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 If you are renting part or all of your Rockingham County home out on AirBNB you will need to start collecting and paying a transient occupancy tax of 5% of the gross rent starting January 1, 2019. Read on from yesterday's update from Rockingham County... ### NOTICE TO ALL OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF SHORT TERM RESIDENTIAL RENTALS LOCATED IN ROCKINGHAM COUNTY Beginning January 1, 2019, all owners of residential properties located in Rockingham County, Virginia, who rent all or any portion of a residential property for not more than 30 consecutive days must collect from the tenant the transient occupancy tax of 5% of the gross rent and remit the tax collected to the Commissioner of the Revenue for Rockingham County. The tax must be collected at the time of rental, and the remittance is made quarterly with the filing of a return. Owners and operators of short term rental properties should contact the Office of the Commissioner of the Revenue of Rockingham County for more details and information. 540-564- 3073. ### A short term rental is defined here as being a rental period of less than 30 days. | |
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How To Appeal The Assessed Value of Your Home in Rockingham County |
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 Do you live in Rockingham County, and is your home's assessed value too high -- causing you to pay more real estate taxes than you think you should be paying? If so, now is the time to appeal that assessment. The Board of Equalization of Real Estate Assessments is meeting over the next month and you can make your case for having the assessed value of your home adjusted. Here are the dates of the hearings, each being from 9AM - 12PM:
Call 540-564-5079 to schedule a time and date for a hearing with the Board of Equalization. Of note -- in my experience, most assessed values in Rockingham County are not higher than market value. | |
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How Are Your City of Harrisonburg Tax Dollars Spent? |
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 I found the infographic above to be helpful. The largest portions of our local tax dollars are being spent on Education, Public Safety and Public Works! If you found the above interesting, you'll likely enjoy reading the entire (8 page) "Budget in Brief" developed by the City of Harrisonburg this year, with a high level analysis of the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget for the City of Harrisonburg. Click below to download the report.  | |
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Land for New High School Was To Be Student Housing, then Convocation Center |
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 Have you heard Harrisonburg needs a second high school? The current (only) high school in the City is beyond capacity. As such, the City has been evaluated various pieces of land to find a suitable new site for the new high school -- and now they have made a decision. Background... Owners of median priced City homes might have to pay $26 more per month to fund new City high school So, back to the location... The parcel of land shown above is 60 acres located between South Main Street (Route 11) and Interstate 81. The City intends to purchase this land for five million dollars from JMU. But JMU has actually owned it for a few years. You see, this land was actually originally slated to be used for college student housing! More background... So... the land was originally going to house 466 apartments for college students...  And then it was to be the site of JMU's new convocation center...  And now, the site of Harrisonburg's second high school. Read today's Daily News Record article for further context... | |
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2018-19 Rockingham County Budget Reflects No Change in Real Estate Tax Rate |
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 The budget shown above is the proposed budget for 2018-19 in Rockingham County, VA. This reflects no change in the real estate tax rate -- it would remain at $0.74 per $100 of assessed value -- though the tax revenue will increase due to increases in assessed values.  Interestingly (above) the real estate tax rate in the County has been above $0.70 before -- between 2000 and 2005 -- and at that time it was well above the City's real estate tax rate! Stay tuned for news of changes in the City real estate tax rate.... | |
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Increasing Home Values Can Lead To Increased Real Estate Taxes |
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 It's exciting if your home value is increasing, right? Well -- mostly, it seems. Certainly, if you bought your home for $250K and it is now worth $260K or $270K or even $300K -- that can be a good thing. At some point in the future, you'll recoup that equity when you sell your home -- plus or minus any shifts in value between now and then. But in the near-term, increasing home values can actually hurt a bit. The amount of real estate taxes that a homeowner pays to their locality (city, county) are based on two factors -- the assessed value of the home, and the local real estate tax rate. In Rockingham County, the current real estate tax rate is $0.74 per $100 of assessed value....  Tomorrow, the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to receive input before adopting a real estate tax rate for fiscal year 2019 -- which runs from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019. But here's the thing -- even if the tax rate remains the same (at $0.74) there are many homeowners who will see an increase in their real estate taxes -- because of increases in home values, and thus increases in assessed values. Rockingham County revises their property assessments once every four years -- and the most recent increase resulted in a 2% increase in the assessed value of an average home. This is good news for the County, as the increase in property values, even with no change in the real estate tax rate, will likely generate over $2 million in additional tax revenue. It is sort of good news for County property owners -- because it means your property value is (likely) increasing -- but it is also potentially bad news, as your tax bill will likely be increasing. To put some numbers to it:
And -- you can both celebrate and mourn the news that property values are increasing, and that your real estate tax bill likely will be as well. | |
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Owners of median priced City homes might have to pay $26 more per month to fund new City high school |
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 Numbers are funny. All of these statements are true based on current projections:
I'm guessing that if you ask most parents of school aged kids in the City if they'd be willing to pay $26 per month such that their child would not be in an overcrowded, not-so-ideal, learning environment for high school, they'd likely be quick to say yes. That said, this $26 per month increase would need to be paid for 25 years -- but for a parent of a child in the school system, I'm guessing that would still seem to be a reasonable cost. I'm also guessing that City property owners who do not have children in the local school system would LOVE for their property taxes to NOT increase. And I'll even go a step further -- I am guessing that they don't really want school aged children to have an overcrowded, not-so-ideal, learning environment -- it's probably just more about the increased tax burden. Anyhow. Numbers are funny. Read today's Daily News Record article, and feel free to form your own opinions. There seem to be plenty of them circulating through our community about this topic. :) | |
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Make your voice heard in the updated Comprehensive Plan for the City of Harrisonburg |
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 The City of Harrisonburg is in the midst of updating the Comprehensive Plan for the City. As per the City.... The Comprehensive Plan presents a vision of Harrisonburg's future. It identifies steps to move toward that vision by providing information about current conditions, long-term goals and objectives, and recommended implementation strategies. As described in the Code of Virginia, the Comprehensive Plan is general in nature. Harrisonburg's Plan addresses a wide range of issues including but not limited to: land use, housing, education, transportation, recreation, the preservation of historic and natural resources, and economic development. The plan serves as a long-term guide for the community, and it helps City leaders with setting policies and decision-making. So, basically, what do you want the City of Harrisonburg to be in 10 or 20 years? Discussions taking place and decisions being made right now will affect that future, and you have the opportunity to be a part of the conversation! Better yet -- there are several Public Workshops coming up that will allow you to chime in on topics near and dear to your heart.... Education; Arts, Culture, and Historic Resources; and Community Engagement & CollaborationSo, mark your calendars, and get involved in the discussions and decisions to help shape the future our our great City! Also of note.... Lots of Q&A's about the Comprehensive Plan update can be found here. General information about the Comprehensive Plan update can be found here. | |
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Harrisonburg could never have enough student housing! |
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 OK, OK, that's probably not true -- Harrisonburg probably does not have an infinite need for student housing. Just consider my title, then, to be an intro to all of the alternative perspectives that have been shared with me since I wrote these two posts.... Does Harrisonburg need more Off Campus Student Housing? Does New College Student Housing Increase the Demands on Local Elementary Schools? OK -- here goes -- all the reasons I might be wrong, and all of this new student housing might be OK, or even a good thing.... 1. JMU is growing! All of this student housing is necessary -- JMU is continuing to grow, and they are not building on campus fast enough for their growth, so the private sector must build and rent housing to students in order to meet that growing demand. 2. Denying growth just pushes it elsewhere. If the City decided to stop permitting new student housing communities to be built, that would just push developers to build them in the County, or push students to live in otherwise owner occupied neighborhoods. 3. This is an affordable way to get workforce housing. There isn't much truly affordable rental housing being built -- and older student housing complexes being effectively turned into workforce housing by virtue of students being attracted to new student housing communities is not necessarily a bad thing. It may be the most affordable way to create affordable or workforce housing. 4. Bring on the wrecking ball. If even more student housing is built, the rental rates will fall even lower on the oldest complexes, devaluing those properties to the point where it will make sense to just knock them down and build new housing -- thus, eliminating the older, outdated housing. 5. How much regulation do you want "the government" to do? If the government (planning commission, city council, staff) should start making judgement calls about how much student housing is too much student -- and thus regulating what landowners (and student housing developers) can and cannot do -- should they also start governing other segments of the private sector? Should they regulate how many hair salons exist? How many banks are permitted to operate? How many restaurants can open? How many Realtors can sell homes? :) OK -- again -- I don't necessarily agree with all of the perspectives above, but I believe it is important to consider these counterpoints when thinking about how our community should be planning for the future as it pertains to student housing, land use, property taxes, schools, etc. And, as I mentioned to a reader in response to their comments.... I don't know if new student housing projects should or should not be denied - but I think the local community needs to fully understand the impact of continuing to approve more student housing communities. If older student housing communities become workforce housing, great, no problem -- but let's realize that this is the result of approving new student housing communities, and make sure that infrastructure (schools, for example) are in place for the new workforce housing that we have indirectly created. | |
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Harrisonburg Real Estate Tax Rates in a Historical Context |
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 Per a reader's request, I have updated this super-long historical context of real estate tax rates in the City of Harrisonburg. This graph can be a bit deceiving in its attempts towards being legible -- the y-axis does not start at zero. As such, it makes some of the historical tax rates (around $0.60) seem closer to zero than they really are. That said, the trajectory of the real estate tax rate over the past five-ish years is quite striking in a historical context. OF NOTE -- the 2017 value ($1.025 per $100 of assessed value) is a proposed, not approved, tax rate. | |
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How do YOU think Harrisonburg should accommodate an increasing high school student population? |
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 Have you heard? There are more high school students to be taught in Harrisonburg than can readily fit inside of the high school! There are three options being considered:
 A rendering of the potential ADDITION from Mosely Architects....  There are pros and cons of each option, but the High School Space Study Committee has recommended building a new high school. But YOUR OPINION is wanted, needed, welcomed! Click here to read up on the options, pros and cons. Click here to voice your opinion. | |
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Construction Progressing on Bluestone Elementary |
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 click the image above for a larger version of this photo Construction is moving right along on Bluestone Elementary, being built on Garbers Church Road across from Harrisonburg High School. Excerpts follow from an April 23, 2016 Daily News Record article....
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How Much Will A New High School Cost City Homeowners? |
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 Here is a grand oversimplification:
As shown above, it depends on the value of your home. These examples are based on the potential need for a $0.175 increase (per $100 of assessed value) in the tax rate. Increasing the tax rate from $0.85 to $1.025 would result in....
So -- yes -- this would be a drastic increase (20.5%) one-year increase in the real estate tax rate. But when broken down to the actual increased cost per month, it does not seem quite as overwhelming. Further reading from the Daily News Record: | |
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Proposed Budget for Rockingham County |
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 Click on the image above for a PDF of this summary of the proposed 2017-18 Rockingham County budget. As shown, this would require the real estate tax rate to increase from $0.70 to $0.74. Which turns out to be less than the proposed increase in the City of Harrisonburg....  Read lots more about WHY the tax rate needs to increase here.... County Eyes More Taxes, Fees Daily News Record, April 5, 2017 No Comments At Budget Hearing Daily News Record, April 13, 2017 | |
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City of Harrisonburg Proposes 9% Increase in Real Estate Tax Rate |
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The City of Harrisonburg has published their proposed 2017-18 budget, which includes a proposed increase in the real estate tax rate from $0.78 per $100 of assessed value to $0.85. This would mark a 9% increase in the real estate tax rate in one year, and a 35% increase over a four year period. A budget summary follows, or you can find the entire proposed budget here.  | |
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Rockingham County Likely to Increase Real Estate Tax Rate by Four Cents |
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 Rockingham County's budget for the 2018 fiscal year (which begins July 1) includes a proposed $0.04 increase in the real estate tax rate, which would increase from $0.70 to $0.74 per $100 of assessed value. Some context....
Read lots more about WHY the tax rate needs to increase here.... County Eyes More Taxes, Fees | |
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Dirt is moving to build new elementary school (Bluestone Elementary) in Harrisonburg |
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 view a larger image Dirt is moving on Garbers Church Road as the City of Harrisonburg works to construct a new elementary school -- next to Heritage Oaks Golf Course and across the street from Harrisonburg High School. Read all about the plans for this school in this Daily News Record article from April. | |
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City of Harrisonburg approves budget with 8% increase in real estate tax rate |
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 In the end, the Harrisonburg City Council decided to increase the real estate tax rate by $0.06, from $0.72 to $0.80 per $100 of assessed value -- instead of the $0.08 increase proposed by the City Manager. Big ticket items in the 2017 city budget include building schools, and a 2% pay raise for City employees. Read more in today's Daily News Record article. | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
Licensed in the
Commonwealth of Virginia
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