Fairfax County leaders’ property values tank too

Mirroring the rest of the county’s homeowners, most supervisors saw their property assessments shrink for the second straight year, hardly immune to the real estate downturn engulfing the wealthy Washington suburb. Residential values for 2010 dropped around 5 percent — not as steep as Griffin projected — continuing a downward spiral exemplified by the receding home values of those in charge of fixing the county’s problems.

Other than Griffin, Supervisors John Cook and Catherine Hudgins received the best news — their assessments remained the same.

“We haven’t quite hit the bottom yet,” said Supervisor Penelope Gross, D-Mason, who saw her Alexandria property value plummet 19 percent to nearly $340,000 this year. “We’re going to bump along the bottom for a while.”

However, Gross had no gripe with her assessment, saying it was more accurate than the inflated numbers she saw during the county’s golden years.

Declining residential values have been cited as the primary culprit for the $257 million shortfall officials will look to tackle in coming weeks.

The gap has prompted them to explore ways to diversify revenue, headlined by a proposed $33 vehicle registration fee.

About 80 percent of residential properties fell in value this year, according to the county’s Department of Tax Administration. The agency sent assessments to Fairfax residents this week.

During his annual budget proposal, Griffin suggested raising the real estate tax rate to $1.09 per $100 of assessed value, a 5-cent increase. And county supervisors will mull a steeper increase to reduce planned cuts to the police force and library and park services.

Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust remains the most likely board member to induce sticker shock. But even he saw his five-bedroom house, complete with a pool nestled on one acre in McLean, fall 5 percent — to a paltry $2.76 million.

“It’s about what I expected,” he said. “As a board member, you don’t challenge your assessment.”

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