Higher personal property taxes proposed as Stafford County home values rise

Did you get your property assessment in the mail?

Those important documents that tell Stafford County residents the value of their home, which affects the average tax bill and can affect monthly home payments, were mailed out this week.

Overall, home values and commercial property values in the county are up over last year.

And, when it comes to the base value of the residential home values across the county, the numbers are back up to pre-2006 levels which were higher prior to the 2008 recession.

With this round of assessments, the average median home value in the county is $325,500. The average tax bill for county residents would be about $3,287 based on the proposed $1.01 tax rate for every dollar of assessed home value for FY2021.

The assessments increase would hike the average tax bill about $130 if the $1.01 is approved.

Home values have increased by about 7%, up from an average of $320,700. Property values in Stafford County are reassessed every two years.

The value of the commercial property is also up countywide about 2% from $3.1 million to about $3.2 million.

According to Commissioner of the Scott Mayausky, the reassessment serves two purposes. The first has to do with the county’s annual audit made by the state, the accuracy of the assessments is important because if they fall below 70% accuracy then the Commonwealth could potentially have local funding sources either reduced or withheld from the county.

The second purpose has to do with property owners and having an accurate assessment of their property ready for tax filings in April. Owners had their new assessments mailed to them on February 13 and if they don’t agree with the assessments then owners have until March 10 to appeal that decision with the Board of Equalization, of which Mayausky is not a member. The members of that Board are appointed by the Circuit Court.

“It’s important that folks look at these notices. We want to make sure we get them right,” said Mayausky. “This is not an adversarial process.”

In addition to the property tax, it’s also likely that personal property taxes for things like cars, boats, and RVs will also be hiked to pay for a $50 million road bond that was approved by voters last fall. A per-penny breakdown is expected to be included in tax bills to be mailed to residents later this year.

*This story has been corrected.