City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: FEBRUARY 4, 2015
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, ACTING CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of the Calendar Year 2015 Real Property Assessment.
BODY
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ISSUE: (1) 2015 Notices of Assessment will be mailed to property owners on February 10; and (2) DREA staff will present the new real estate values at the February 10 City Council legislative meeting.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receives the report.
BACKGROUND: Included in the attached report are the annual changes in real property assessments from CY 2014 to CY 2015 and historical statistics related to assessment appreciation/depreciation, new construction, and residential sales activities.
Assessment notices will be mailed to property owners on February 10 and reflect updated market values of as of January 1, 2015, as well as those for the previous two years. The comparative estimates are mandated by a 2014 amendment to ?58.1-3330(B) of the Code of Virginia which requires disclosure of the assessment (land, improvements, and total), tax rate, tax levy, and percent change for the previous two years. The 2015 tax rate, which will apply to the January 1, 2015 assessed value, is scheduled to be set by the City Council on May 7, 2015 and therefore a 2015 tax rate is not reflected on the forthcoming assessment notices.
DISCUSSION:
OVERALL CHANGE IN CY 2015 REAL PROPERTY TAX BASE
This year, the City's overall real property tax base increased 3.5% from the original January 1, 2014 assessment to January 1, 2015, or $1.25 billion from $35.90 billion in CY 2014 to $37.15 billion1 in CY 2015 (Attachment 1, Page 2, Line 74, Column 6). This increase reflects continued improvement in the residential and rental apartment sectors of the market. However, while the overall residential tax base was...
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