More pain could be on the way for Prince William County.
The Board of Supervisors — as well as a new county executive — likely will face difficult decisions about raising the property tax rate and cutting services in the next fiscal year.
A tax rate of $1.20 per $100 of assessed value would produce “basically a flat tax bill” for the average homeowner, said acting County Executive Susan Roltsch. A rate of $1.22 would be sufficient to fund high-risk items — such as funding for social services and vulnerable individuals — and would raise the average residential tax bill by 2 percent, or $60 per household. To fund high-risk items and the county’s five-year plan, which includes additional police and fire and rescue staff, the rate would need to be raised to $1.31.
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Year
Foreclosures
2006
less than 300
2007
more than 2,800
2008
more than 6,500
2009
1,514*
*Through May
Source: Prince William County government
Prince William is close to making a hiring decision on a new county executive, according to board Chairman Corey Stewart. Former County Executive Craig Gerhart retired last year to take a job with Amtrak. Stewart said the board was likely to pick a new county executive Jan. 12.
The new executive will have to hit the ground running. Finalizing a tax rate has created significant wrangling during the past two budget seasons, with supervisors deadlocking on the initial vote each time.
“There are still a lot of people in our community hurting — badly,” Stewart said. “I think the board still wants to maintain essentially a flat tax bill, or as close to it as possible.”
One positiveis that the foreclosure crisis, which decimated the county’s housing market, appears to be abating.
As the subprime-mortgage market collapsed, foreclosures in the county swelled to more than 2,800 in 2007 and more than 6,500 in 2008. The numbers appear to be easing in 2009, however, with about 1,500 through May, the county’s annual financial report said.
