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Loudoun Now for Jan. 4, 2023

Page 1

n LOUDOUN

Pg. 4 | n LEESBURG

VOL. 8, NO. 7

Pg. 10 | n EDUCATION

Pg. 12 | n OBITUARIES

Pg. 17 | n PUBLIC NOTICES

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Pg. 25

JANUARY 5, 2023

Supervisors Target Tax Rate Cut in Tight Budget BY RENSS GREENE

rgreene@loudounnow.com

County supervisors are aiming for a one-cent cut to the real estate tax rate, although homeowners will likely once again see higher tax bills next year. And the board is looking ahead to the toughest decisions on the annual budget than it has had to make. Supervisors on Jan. 3 instructed County Administrator Tim Hemstreet to propose a fiscal year 2024 budget based on a real estate tax of 88 cents per $100 of assessed value, along with a five-cent cut to the personal property tax rate to $4.15 per $100 of value. And this year, that budget will send a set 60% of the year-over-year growth in tax revenues to the school district, skipping the debate over how much to grow the school budget. The revenue generated by a half penny of the tax rate will be directed into the county’s housing fund. Hemstreet’s budget proposal will serve as the starting point for supervisors’ annual budget talks. Based on preliminary estimates from Commissioner of the Revenue Bob Wertz’s office, an average home in 2023 will be worth $642,300, and the owner of that home would pay a $6,077 real estate tax bill next year at that tax rate. That’s an increase of $361 over this year’s bill as their home value climbs faster than the tax rate falls. As supervisors prepare for their annual budget and tax rate deliberations in March, county budget staff estimate each half-penny on the real estate tax rate will cost the average homeowner $35, and each penny will add $12.7 million to the county budget. Supervisors will face tough choices in the next budget that could push them toward a higher tax rate. The 88-cent tax rate is projected to raise enough money for the county government to cover usual budget growth such as employee raises, annual inflation and opening new facilities under construction now when they are finished. But it is not expected to leave much else

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Whites Ferry has been closed since December 2022, following a legal battle more than 11 years long between the ferry operator and the owners of the Virginia landing, and after the cable that guided the ferry across the Potomac River—now coiled on the Maryland side of the river—broke.

On Second Anniversary of Closing, Poolesville Rallies at White’s Ferry

BY RENSS GREENE

rgreene@loudounnow.com

A long-running land dispute in Loudoun County led to a rally across the Potomac River as people living in and around Poolesville, MD, gathered Dec. 29 to mark the second anniversary of the closing of White’s Ferry.

The ferry closed in December 2020 after a more-than 11-year legal battle between the owners of the Virginia landing at Rockland farm and the then-owners of the ferry, and after the cable that guided the ferry across the river snapped. And while the land dispute is in Virginia, the nearby small, rural town of Poolesville has felt its impacts

most strongly. Poolesville Commission President Jim Brown led the rally, including a call-and-response chant in the crowd: “Two years! Too long!” Poolesville Chamber of Commerce President Tom Kettler said

TAX RATE CUT continues on page 47

WHITE’S FERRY continues on page 47

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