Six more cents is what Loudoun homeowners may have to pay on their tax bills. The increase will add another $404 to the average homeowner's tax bill, a 14 percent increase to what homeowners pay for every $100 of assessed value.
The Board of Supervisors recessed Monday's board meeting until 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday to consider approving the budget, tax rate and appropriations resolution for Fiscal Year 2004, along with the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for FY-04-08 and the proposed fee schedule for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services.
"When we concluded the meeting last week, we were technically done," said Chairman Scott York (R-At large).
At the March 11 work session, the board took a straw vote for a $1.11 real property tax rate and an appropriation total of $799.1 million. Last year's tax rate was $1.05 and the appropriation was $865.3 million.
County Administrator Kirby Bowers proposed a $1.105 tax rate for FY-04 and advertised a maximum $1.16 tax rate to allow full funding of the School Board's proposed budget of $407.6 million, which exceeds the supervisors' target by $19.3 million as set in October 2002. The target limits the school system to a 1 percent increase in local per-student spending, or $22 million.
With straw votes, the board favored restoring several programs at a cost of $39,400, reducing the FY-04 subsidy for the Northern Virginia Park Authority by $100,000 and eliminating funding for the Health System Agency.
Charles Harris (D-Broad Run) moved to set the tax rate at $1.12 to provide additional revenue for the school system, then withdrew his motion.
In the next motion, James Burton (I-Mercer) moved to adopt the $1.11 tax rate. The motion passed 5-4 with Harris, Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling), Mark Herring (D-Leesburg) and Drew Hiatt (R-Dulles) voting against.