Charlottesville property assessments up average of 7.74 percent in 2025

The development of Charlottesville’s fiscal year budget for the year beginning on July 1 got a little more clear today with the announcement of the property assessments for the year.

“When residential, commercial, and new construction are averaged together taxable properties in the City increased by 7.74 percent in 2025,” reads an information release sent out this morning.

• Residential property was up an average of 8.81 percent with nearly 95 percent increasing in value
• Commercial property was up 6.37 percent with nearly 82 percent increasing in value
• Mixed-used property was up 7.36 percent

Assessment notices will be mailed out on January 29.

“The 2025 reassessment appeal period will begin when reassessment notices are mailed on January 29, 2025,” reads the city assessor’s website. “The Board of Equalization (BOE) will meet May 13-15, 2025 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m in City Hall Council Chambers at 605 E. Main St.

The city’s Geographical Information System had not been updated with the new figures at publication time.

The land book for 2025 will not be finalized until later in the spring, but the increased assessment will likely bring in additional funding for a city that has seen both property values and real property tax revenue skyrocket since the pandemic.

In 2019, the total value of taxable land and buildings in Charlottesville was close to $7.65 billion and yielded $72,654,984 in property tax revenue based on a tax rate of $0.95 per $100 of assessed value.

In 2024 the total value increased to just over $10.9 billion and brought in over $106.8 million in potential property tax revenue based on a tax rate of $0.98 per $100 of assessed value.

Council voted for a penny increase in the real property tax rate in 2022 as part of the budget process for FY2023. A two cent increase was approved last year as part of the FY2025 budget. That action yielded an additional $2.18 million for the city.

Council also raised the meals tax, the lodging tax, and the personal property tax in 2025.

When an elected body votes to increase a rate, it applies for the entire calendar year. That is one explanation for the $22.4 million surplus for FY2024. I’ll have more on those details on the surplus in the next edition of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter.

Before you go: This article was originally sent out as part of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter in the January 24, 2025 edition. Both are functions of Town Crier Productions. You can support the work by purchasing a paid subscription or contributing monthly through Patreon. You can also send in a check or send an email, but drop me a line first.