The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering a program to expand property-tax exemptions to groups that use land for patriotic, historical or other “benevolent” purposes.
The board will vote Monday to set a public hearing on a motion to enable certain nonprofit property owners to opt out of the tax by applying to the county, a program allowed by the Virginia General Assembly.
The exemptions could also be granted to groups that use property for public parks, playgrounds or charitable and cultural purposes, according to a Fairfax County staff report. But such an exemption will not address the county’s real problem, said Arthur Purves, president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance. It will not aid most residents who are finding Fairfax County unaffordable to live in because rising real-estate costs have not been matched by increases in incomes.
“This strikes me as a case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” Purves said.
Each year, almost $6 million in real-estate taxes in the county are exempted for charitable organizations, according to the staff report. It is unknown, the report said, how many organizations would apply for the new exemptions.
A proposed public hearing on the measure could be set for Oct. 23. If the ordinance is adopted then, exemptions could go into effect as early as January, the staff report said.
