Real estate taxes
Thursday update (01/17): Real estate tax relief
Weekly update of my legislative agenda issue. If there is a topic that has generated more bills than real estate taxes, I haven’t seen it. (OK, maybe immigration ) In any event, I have limited my list of bills to those that provide real estate tax relief. There are others not on my list. Head … Continue reading
My legislative agenda: real estate tax relief
I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to roll out my legislative agenda. This is the third in the series. No one doubts that the rapid increases in real estate assessments that we have experienced over the last few years has come to an end. Nevertheless, the need for real estate tax … Continue reading
Why won’t a tax cap work in Virginia?
The above is the title of an op-ed piece by 87th House district challenger Hank Giffin which appeared in The Virginian Pilot last week. In it, Giffin argues that a tax cap is in place in other areas and that Virginia doesn’t have the cap because it lacks the votes in the legislature to enact … Continue reading
Norfolk candidates forum: 87th House and 6th Senate
The Bayview, Cottage Line, Ocean View, East Ocean View and Pinewell civic leagues held a combined candidates forum last Wednesday night for the candidates in the 87th house district – incumbent Democrat Paula Miller and Republican challenger Hank Giffin – and the 6th Senate district – incumbent Republican Nick Rerras and Democratic challenger Ralph Northam. … Continue reading
Real estate tax cap a bad idea
The Virginian-Pilot editorial today weighs in on the 5% cap in real estate taxes being touted by Republicans Nick Rerras and Hank Giffin. A great line: GOP leaders have responded with an outpouring of enthusiasm generally reserved for Brussels sprout casserole day at the Capitol cafeteria. The editorial then makes the point that I’ve said … Continue reading
“Legislative GOP propose property tax cut already in works”
The above is the headline of an AP story by Bob Lewis available here. I couldn’t have come up with a better one myself House and Senate Republicans proposed a property tax break Monday for homeowners – legislation already in the pipeline that was initially offered two years ago by Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. … Continue reading
Beach proposes real estate tax cut; Norfolk not yet
The Virginian Pilot is reporting that the Virginia Beach city manager Jim Spore is proposing a six-cent cut in the real estate tax rate, from 99 cents to 93 cents per $100 of assessed value. Also discussed was an interesting proposal: …council members threw their support behind a measure by Councilman Bob Dyer to create … Continue reading
Norfolk citizens speak: lower the rate
Last night, a public forum was held at Lafayette Winona Middle School on the subject of lowering the real estate taxes. Sponsored by the Norfolk Tea Party II, the forum invited all eight members of council to participate and all but the mayor, who was out of town, appeared. The Virginian-Pilot has an article here … Continue reading
Real estate tax relief reports out of House P&E
SJ354, patroned by Norfolk Senator Nick Rerras (R-6th), unanimously reported out of the House Privileges and Elections Committee today. Bill summary: Authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities to exempt or from real property taxes or defer real property taxes up to twenty percent of residential or continuous-habitation farm property that … Continue reading
Governor proposes homestead exemption, other items
Here’s a piece of legislation that I sincerely hope to see passed. The governor, Tim Kaine, has proposed a homestead exemption, which will allow a certain amount to be exempted from real estate taxes. The text of the announcement: The Governor’s homeowner tax relief plan calls for a state constitutional amendment to allow local governments … Continue reading
16,000 and 19,298: All politics is local
I spend a lot of time dealing with numbers. So it is only natural that the above two numbers jumped out at me. The first, 16,000, is the number of signatures presented to council yesterday by the Norfolk Tea Party II in their effort to convince council that the real estate tax rate should be … Continue reading
Report: Norfolk Tea Party II Rally
I was still a bit on the fence this morning about whether to attend the Norfolk Tea Party II rally until I saw this morning’s paper and the article about it. (Note: while taxes in Norfolk are high, the article contains a significant inaccuracy. One person claimed that his taxes were $1,000 per month on … Continue reading
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