Vienna Budget Approved With Real Estate Rate Reduction, Pay Increases

Vienna VA

17 May, 2022

1:42 PM

Description

VIENNA, VA — Vienna Town Council gave final approval to the town budget Monday, addressing employee compensation and lowering the real estate tax rate by 1.75 cents. Under the approved 2022-2023 budget, the real estate tax rate is 20.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. Town of Vienna property owners pay the rate on top of Fairfax County's real estate tax rate, which is $1.11 per $100 of assessed value in the approved fiscal year 2023 budget. This is the 10th straight year the Vienna real estate tax rate has either been lowered or remained the same. The 1.75-cent reduction is more than the 1-cent reduction originally proposed by Town Manager Mercury Payton. The higher reduction was possible through a surplus from "conservative budgeting, a strong business and state recovery from the pandemic and robust real estate development," according to a town news release. Even with a rate reduction, some tax bills could still increase based on property assessment increases. The 2022-2023 budget of $48.7 million covers four operating funds: general, water and sewer, debt service, and stormwater. The budget is a 12.7 percent over the last budget, largely reflecting recovery of revenues from the COVID-19 pandemic. About $30.5 million of the budget is for the general fund, which includes pay increases for eligible town employees and adds no new programs. The budget also provides a new pay structure for the police department to address recruitment and retention. The water and sewer fund is approximately $11.5 million, while the stormwater budget is $531,000. Water rates will increase by 2.6 percent, sewer rates by 6.3 percent and fixed service charges by 4.8 percent. The debt service fund totals $6.4 million. Budget approval followed a two-month budget process with Town Council work sessions and public hearings. The budget applies to the fiscal year between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. The approved budget will be available at a later time on the town's website.