Politics & Government

Public Hearing Set for Metro Tax Districts

Revenue from proposal would fund construction, operation, maintenance of Silver Line in Loudoun.

Moving forward with the hope of creating a , the Loudoun Board of Supervisors has set an Oct. 17 public hearing for residents to weigh in on the proposal.

The tax district plan actually calls for three districts: one overall district to pay for construction, operation and maintenance, and two smaller districts, which will remain in place after construction is completed to pay for ongoing operation and maintenance expenses. The prososed maximum tax rate for the distrcit is 20¢ per $100 of assessed value.

For the most part, existing residential homes are not part of the district, but future homes close to rail stations planned at Routes 606 and 772 will be taxed.

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Loudoun County is on the hook for at least $270 million in Metro construction costs, plus ongoing operations and maintenance estimated at $18 million per year. In addition, Loudoun is expected to find a way to construct three parking garages, estimated to cost up to $150 million.

This week, supervisors indicated parcels have been added to the district since it was first proposed, and more parcels may still be added. One supervisor said he plans to request the removal of some parcels.

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“We did tweak the tax district somewhat from what was proposed,” Supervisor Matt Letourneau (D-Dulles) said, adding some of those parcels are in his district. “Basically, what we tried to do was clean up some of those areas that weren’t logical to be excluded.”

Supervisors must re-advertise the public hearing or plan another one if parcels are added.

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) inquired about what the process would be if he "wanted to take out a parcel or an area … for example, I want to exempt Glenn Drive,” he said. “Those people don’t want to be in the district.”

County Attorney John R. “Jack” Roberts said he believed parcels could be removed without re-advertising, but wanted to research the issue a bit more because it involves a targeted tax.

Supervisors who wanted to add or remove properties did not have the parcel ID numbers, so any changes will come at a later date, but are expected by the board’s next regular meeting Sept. 18.

Supervisor Shawn Williams (R-Broad Run) said he hopes the board can move forward respectfully.

“I hope that we don’t try to play politics here,” he said. “We really need to get these districts in place so we can begin collecting revenue.”

The PDF included at the top of this story shows maps of the districts as well as a list of all parcels now considered for the district — excluding the additions mentioned above.

For more information about the Metro project, go to the county’s Metro web page. Additional information can be found on the project’s website. Readers may also find more information by reading past stories about the project on Patch.


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