Monday, April 12, 2010

Richmond City Council keeps Richmond Real Estate Tax Rates same; $1.20

Tonight, Richmond City Council has acted to keep the 2010 Richmond Real Estate Tax Rate the same as last year, at $1.20 per $100 in assessed real estate value. By a vote to 8-1, Richmond City Council, during its regularly scheduled Formal meeting, passed Richmond City Council Ordinance 2010-62 to readopt last year’s Richmond Real Estate Tax Rate.


RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL
Richmond City Hall - 900 E. Broad Street, Suite 200 - Richmond, Virginia 23219 www.council.richmondva.gov

COUNCIL PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWS ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, 12 April 2010

Richmond City Council keeps Richmond Real Estate Tax Rates same; $1.20

Maintains lowest rate in more than 20 years

(Richmond, Virginia) – Tonight, Richmond City Council has acted to keep the 2010 Richmond Real Estate Tax Rate the same as last year, at $1.20 per $100 in assessed real estate value. By a vote to 8-1, Richmond City Council, during its regularly scheduled Formal meeting, passed Richmond City Council Ordinance 2010-62 to readopt last year’s Richmond Real Estate Tax Rate.

The Richmond Real Estate Tax is the main funding source Richmond citizens use to pay for local government services. Each one cent in real estate tax equates to an estimated $1.9 million in city revenue. Historic Richmond Real Estate Tax Rates, include:

Richmond Real Estate Tax Rates (Per $100 in Assessed property value)

Year Rate
2010 $1.20
2009 $1.20
2008 $1.20
2007 $1.23
2006 $1.29
2005 $1.33
2004/2003 $1.37955
2002 $1.38975
2001 $1.41
2000-1997 $1.43
1996-1994 $1.445
1993-1992 $1.45
1991-1990 $1.46
1989-1987 $1.53

In this action, Council chose to not adopt any of the possible options for changing the Richmond Real Estate Tax Rate, which included $1.23, $1.22, $1.21 and $1.19.

Each year a number of possible Richmond Real Estate Tax Rate options are typically introduced as proposed Ordinances in anticipation of adopting a new Richmond Government Budget (Fiscal Plan) for the upcoming Fiscal Year. As a real estate tax rate must be set by April 15 annually, and sufficient time must be given between introduction and adoption to allow for review and public comment, a number of rates are introduced at the same time to allow for flexibility in adopting a new rate.

CONTACT For more information, please contact President Kathy Graziano, Richmond City Council, Southwest 4th District, 804.320.2454 or kathy.graziano@richmondgov.com

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BACKGROUND ON RICHMOND REAL ESTATE TAX ASSESSMENTS
As Richmond Citizens, we pool our resources to own and operate our government and decide what public services we want to invest in; the priority (investment levels) for these services; and, how we pay for them. Examples of our services include the management, oversight and delivery of such things as clean/safe water; streets/parks; firefighting/ rescue; trash/sewage removal; laws, police/courts; public transportation; and, our children’s education. Together, we own, operate, use and benefit from these services every day.

We as citizens have determined that a fair way to help pay for these services is for real estate owners to annually contribute funds, based on a percentage of the value of the real estate they own in the city. This process includes that each year, the fair market value of real estate in the city is assessed and the value is set Jan. 1 and an annual Richmond Real Estate Tax Rate is set by Richmond City Council by April 15. This rate is the percentage, based on $100 of value, which a real estate owner will contribute to help pay for government services in the city.

Our real estate tax is the largest single funding source we use to pay for our public services and is used statewide to pay for local services. There are approximately 73,000 real estate properties in Richmond and to help ensure fairness, Virginia State Law requires that Richmond perform annual real estate assessments to determine fair market value.

Real estate owners pay their share annually, based on the value of their real estate and the tax rate by June 15. For example, if a person owns $100,000 in real estate and the tax rate is $1.20 per $100, their share is $1,200 for that year.

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