Fairfax County Taxes: How High?

The GoReston blog contains an account of Monday's "district meeting" regarding the indoor recreation facility. The account repeats a claim that pops up almost any time the discussion turns to public services. The GoReston blogger claims that Fairfax County and Reston Association are pricing families out of the county.

According the figures compiled by the Tax Foundation, Fairfax County's real estate taxes in terms of dollar amount rank 34th among counties with more than 20,000 inhabitants. Sounds impressive... and onerous. Nevertheless, the same figures show that Fairfax County's real estate taxes as a percentage of house value (0.8%) rank 918th among such counties. Interestingly enough, that figure would put Fairfax County below nearly all California counties, where by law real estate taxes cannot exceed 1.0% of property value. And most observers consider California's real estate taxes far too low to support reasonable public services. Fairfax County's real estate taxes as a percentage of family income (3.7%) rank 260th. So much for the idea that the County's taxes are too high for most families.