PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — Are your property taxes about to go up?
It’s budget season for Northern Virginia’s cities and counties, most of them anticipate raising real estate tax rates.
Where are tax rates are going up?
Arlington County, Fairfax County, Fauquier County and the city of Alexandria have all advertised an increase in the real estate tax rate.
What does that mean for families?
In Arlington County, it'll be an average increase of about $390 per home. In Alexandria, that is about $490 per home. Fairfax County would see the biggest increase with an additional $524 per home.
It’s already starting to spark outrage. Fairfax County is in the middle of a three-day hearing for the 2025 budget. Folks have already lined up to speak out against the increases.
“We can’t afford a tax rate increase,” one man told the Board of Supervisors.
“My real estate bill has gone up 20 times since 1969,” another protested.
Now in Loudoun and Prince William Counties, they are not doing a tax rate increase. One of the reasons: Data Centers.
The Prince William County Board of Supervisors has a proposal to keep taxes rates down for their residents, by raising taxes on data centers.
“Data centers are paying far less in Prince William County than in neighboring jurisdictions,” Board chair Deshundra Jefferson said. “That’s why we are gonna raise it and use that to offset what we are charging property owners and home owners.”
Despite not raising the tax rate, residents in both counties will see an increase in real estate taxes simply because home values have risen across the area. Although the increase is less than the others.