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.
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.
“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.
Two thing are for sure: 1) This rail will cost way more than the quoted price, and so will maintenance costs. 2) The property value of those living within ~2 miles (or whatever the determined number is) of the rail stops will shoot up tremendously. As such, it is only fair that those living within that distance pay much larger property taxes, no exceptions. The vote to accept the Silver Line burden was based upon this district taxation. Although it is customary these days for governments (e.g. US government) to do what is necessary to ease the pain to their constituents (i.e. do what is necessary to keep them in office), often by simply putting things on their credit card (like bloated social programs, wars, etc.), we can not do that here. A very extreme decision was made in building this metro, an associated extreme decision was made to PAY for it. Do what you said you were going to do, no parcel removals, no exceptions!
Feel free to post a "Fair Share" comment and then let's discuss where we can meet to have further discussions. Have had enough!
You have to remember that an increase of say 30% on home value (e.g. $500,000) equals an increase of $150,000 for the owner (tax free at that). Where as a property tax increase of 30% on a tax of $6000 is equal to $1800 (and you get to write that money off). So yes, those enjoying the property value increase stand to reap huge rewards, even though they will be paying much higher taxes. The rest of us though who have to take the toll road, and who will never use the metro, and will gain no increase in property value, will be faced with higher taxes (just wait and see), and insane toll road fees. ...They are already insane, I need a more descriptive word...
Dusty, thanks for the explanation - there's a lot of bad information out there that is dragging down this process, but its the same information that was released before the July vote. Concerned Citizen - my kids have been bringing oddball supplies to class since 2003. Inconvenient, yes. But, its certainly not part of Metro or the proposed tax plan. That's just how schools are and none of those supplies on your list were a direct result of Metro, considering the school supply lists are available at the end of each school year (May).
CC, my point was only that this project is one that should never have been started - here in Loudoun County I mean. The Loudoun BOS, by their own admission, does not know how much this project will cost (it will absolutely cost more than their estimate), how much future expenses will be (maintenance, etc.), nor how they will raise the money to pay for it. I was being a bit sarcastic by pointing out that the county can not afford basic schools supplies (when I am paying ~$9000/yr in county taxes), but they think they can afford ~$500 Million in train stations. It was a foolish decision by foolish board members that will haunt us (in the form of increased taxes and tolls) for the foreseeable future, and I was just reiterating that opinion.