Rob Schneider’s split-level, 1,232-square-foot home in Manassas was assessed at $430,000 this year — an 43 percent jump from last year.
He compared his assessments with his neighbors with similar houses and discovered that some properties saw a 49.6 percent hike.
“The shocking factor is what it is going to do to our wallets. Most of us receive raises of 3 percent,” said Schneider, who said he has weathered increases in bills and health care. “The city comes in and lays down the largest whopper of them all, basically obliterating everything we got.”
The Manassas City Council is discussing a 17-cent decrease in the tax rate due to a 34 percent average increase in real estate assessments — the highest in the region — to “mitigate the effect” of the “surprisingly high” assessments, said Larry Hughes, Manassas City manager.
The average tax bill will have an 11 percent increase over last year.
“We have been giving double-digit increases on the average property tax bill for several years now. If we could make the rate 81 cents, the average increase on people’s property tax would be just under 10 percent,” said Council Member Jackson Miller.
“We are sticking out in Northern Virginia because of our so-called affordable average values prior to this year,” said John Grzeika, the city’s commissioner of revenue, who said home sales prices are starting to mirror those in the rest of Northern Virginia.
Grzeika added that next year’s estimates show a 5 percent increase in home values.
NVa’s rising values
Northern Virginia 2006 residential assessments:
Alexandria » 19.5 percent increase
Arlington » 19.4 increase
Fairfax » 20.6 increase
Manassas » 34 increase
Prince William » 27 increase
