The Arlington County Board unanimously voted Saturday to increase the residential property tax rate by 3.5 cents.
As a result of the vote, the tax rate will be $1.006 per $100 of assessed value. According to The Washington Post, that would mean that the owner of a home valued at $524,000, the county average, would pay $5,278 in residential property taxes.
"It is with great reluctance that the board is raising some taxes and modest amount," Arlington County Board Chairman J. Walter Tejada told the paper. "It is so the community remains strong and prepared."
County Manager Barbara Donnellan had originally recommended a rate increase of 3.2 cents. The larger increase was adapted at the insistence of Arlington County school officials, who said the increase was needed to pay for an expected increase in enrollment. The higher rate increase was ordered by the board Tuesday.
The board also voted to restore $3.2 million in ongoing funding and 29 of the 46 positions that Donnellan had proposed cutting in February.
