Richmond’s real estate tax rate won’t change this year, city councilors decided Tuesday. The panel voted to keep the rate at $1.20 per $100 of assessed value — one of the highest in the region.
Virginia code requires City Council to vote publicly on the rate every year. Typically, the council president introduces legislation to keep the rate steady.
Before the vote, Council President Kristen Nye acknowledged having supported a rate reduction in the past.
“I just felt like it wasn’t the right year to reduce the rate. I didn’t want to see us try to cut $8 million out of this budget,” she said, referencing the fiscal year 2025 budget council approved earlier this year.
Councilors Katherine Jordan, Nicole Jones and Cynthia Newbille said they supported keeping the rate steady because of uncertainties facing the city.
“We have no idea what the next president is going to do and how it’s going to affect our budget,” said Jordan, who also expressed concern over how a reduction could impact the city’s borrowing capacity.
During the meeting, council members also approved Mayor Levar Stoney’s real estate tax relief program, RVA Stay, which includes a freeze on payments for qualifying residents 65 and older, as well as a one-time rebate of 4-cents per $100 of assessed value.
“The collective goal is to provide fiscally responsible and targeted relief to the residents who need it most,” Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Stoney proposed the relief program back in October with Nye’s support. At the time, the mayor said the one-time 4-cent rebate would be the equivalent of cutting the tax rate to $1.16 for all Richmond property owners for a single year.
RVA Stay will also move a $16-million surplus from fiscal year 2024 to a newly established real estate tax relief fund, which will issue rebate checks to eligible residents beginning next year.
Nye said that RVA Stay was packaged thoughtfully and will benefit residents who most need assistance. She urged council members to keep an eye on how the relief package is implemented.
Newbille echoed Nye’s sentiments, saying the rebate and targeted relief is a good start to ease some of the city’s housing affordability issues.
But Jones had questions about how the package will work, its timeline and how residents will be made aware of the relief.
A Stoney spokesperson previously told VPM News that the finance department will oversee certain components of the RVA Stay program. For the past 11 months, the department’s publicly dealt with staffing issues and billing accuracy problems.
Council members delayed voting on the city’s real estate tax four times before Tuesday, partly due to ongoing debates over 8th District Councilor Reva Trammell’s competing plan to cut the rate by 4 cents.
Trammell previously told VPM News an across-the-board tax cut was needed because city residents are struggling to pay their taxes as a result of rising property assessments.
Stoney’s administration argued Trammell’s proposed reduction would have benefitted the city’s wealthiest homeowners while also affecting the city’s operating budget, its ability to fund public schools and limiting services.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Trammell said she will continue fighting for a rate reduction.
“We don’t doubt that,” Nye said.
A spokesperson for Stoney’s office told VPM News that real estate tax bills are mailed out 45 days before the Jan. 14 due date.
Applications for the tax relief programs will open in January.
