Mary De Luca

Today the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority is unconstitutional. You can read the entire decision here.
The NVTA was created by the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year, to levy taxes for Northern Virginia transportation projects. I wrote about these increases in more detail back on July.
In an unanimous opinion, the court said that legislators improperly delegated taxing powers to the unelected members of the NVTA.
This decisions affects the recent increase in the grantors/transfer tax homeowners pay when they sell their homes, in addition to some other taxes that were increased in in January to help pay for the $300 million needed in bonds to finance planned transportation projects.
It’s still unclear what happens next. It’s also unclear whether people who have paid the higher grantor tax will be refunded. If you fall into this category, contact your state representative or your title company for more information. As of this afternoon – no one really knows.
But late this afternoon, Arlington County released a press release urging the Virginia General Assembly to “act quickly” to fund the project already planned.
In Arlington, these project are:

• Rosslyn Metro station access improvements
• Columbia Pike streetcar
• Crystal City/Potomac Yard transit improvements
• Columbia Pike improvements
• Re-alignment of existing roadway on Wilson Blvd
• Old Dominion Drive multi-modal improvements
• Lee Highway at Harrison Street improvements

More broadly, the other major Northern Virginia projects impacted by this decision are:
$28M for improvements to the Fairfax County Parkway $15M to widen the Prince William Parkway from four lanes to six lanes between Hoadly Road & Old Bridge Road $11M for improves bus service between the Braddock Road metro stop in Alexandria and the Crystal City/Potomac Yard corridor.
What’s not been said here is that Metro-to-Dulles project will have even more problems to deal with as the projects struggles to get started. Once again, the Northern Virginia commuter is left stranded by its government in Richmond.
People who relocate here from other parts of the country always ask me why there is no metro extending to areas where people really live in affordable neighborhoods. I always tell them– it’s because the capital of Virginia is in Richmond. And don’t you ever forget that.

Tags: Northern+Virginia+Trasporation+Authority, NVTA, Virginia+Transfer+tax, Virginia+grantors+tax, NOVA+transportation+projects, Columbia+Pike+trolley

Arlington County announced a new development project on the corner of North Glebe & Wilson Blvd. Also known as old the Bob Peck site, the new project will include:

• 400,000 square feet of office space,
• 36,000 square feet of retail space,
• 90 units of affordable housing,
• 28 town homes.

I drove around there today and realized that it’s very big space– almost 5 acres. That’s pricey real estate across from the metro $26 Million to be exact when the Peck family sold it to JBG in 2006. That’s a little more than $5M/acre!
There were also two old homes boarded up on Wakefield and another small apartment building that appear to be part of the project as is the Staples, according to the press release.
These new buildings will compliment the Ballston Mall and the other new building that emerge in recent years. One-by-one Arlington has lost it’s old landmarks. The latest, Bob Peck, was a car dealership with its 1950s retro entrance, has been around even longer. The Washington Post had a nostalgic send off when the dealership closed in 2006.
It was a time when Arlington was almost a small town– part of the post WWII boom. If you ever get a chance to watch an Arlington Historical Society show on cable access- you will hear some of those residents talk about growing up in Arlington. It sounded like a real Leave It To Beaver neighborhood.
Today its a whole another Arlington. As I roam Arlington showing property I can see the many layers of Arlington. There are the farm houses that have been here since the early 1900s, the Sears Bungalows from the 1920s-30s, the colonial developments from post-WWII boom, 70s decay, 80s revitalization up until the high-tech buildings of today.
I guess when the Bob Peck Dealership went up in the 1950s, there was someone that said- gee, with all this development I’m going to have to ride my horses all the way out in Bailey’s Crossroads.

Tags: Bob+Peck, Ballston+new+homes, Ballston+development, Glebe+&+Wilson+development, Ballston+metro

Mark your calendars for public hearing at the county.

WHEN: March 27, 2008 (Budget) March 29, 2008 (Tax rate) TIME: 7 PM, scheduled (could be sooner if other agenda items end quickly) WHERE: Room 307 #1 Courthouse Plaza, 2100 Clarendon BLVD.

What Are The County’s Plan:

1. Your Arlington 2008 real estate tax assessment increases 3.7% from your 2007 tax assessment.
2. Raise your tax rate to .838 per $100 of assessed value. A 6.2% increase over the 2007 tax rate of .789 per $100.

What Does This Mean To You?

Your real estate property tax is made of of two parts. The first is the value of your home (your tax assessment) which varies widely in a county made up of single family homes, townhomes and condo homes. The second, is the rate at which the county taxes that assessed value. Your property taxes is the major source of the local government’s revenue stream.
If the county goes forward to raise these rates, your 2008 property taxes will be going up. If you plan to attend the meeting & want to have a say, you’ll have to sign up before hand. Here are the county’s procedures on how to do that. You can even register online here. If you have any further questions: call the County Clerk’s office at 703–228–3130.
Copy of proposed resolution fixing real estate tax rate for CY 2008 is on file and available for review in Office of Clerk to County Board, Room 300, #1 Courthouse Plaza, 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. A copy of the county’s proposed budget- which is driving this tax increase can also be found on the county’s web site.

The Local Governments’ Dirty Little Secret

Most of the local municipalities in the area will be raising local real estate taxes in 2008. Many homeowners wonder how that can happen when they are seeing their neighbor’s home for sale sit on the market and ultimately sell for much less than they would have a few years ago and every night the news report about this falling real estate market.
Well– one of the residual effects of the current real estate market is that the local governments are getting less tax revenue. Every time there is a “short sale” property on the market in your neighborhood, that is one less home the local government will be able to tax. And every time that house for sale cuts its price, that is less tax money the local government will collect to support it’s local services.
Even if the local government cuts its budget, it will need to make up for that lost tax revenue somewhere- and that somewhere is mostly from the other homeowners who think that this down-turn in the real estate market is not about them. Because, after all, they are responsible and pay their mortgage on time and every month.
The local government loved the last real estate market when home prices where raising at 15–20% every year. It was a time when homeowners found their tax bill rise just as quickly. The local governments all found a way to use that money. Now it’s hard to stop spending that money.
The other dirty little secret is that most of the counties inside the beltway have shown a rise in average sales price of property. That’s right– a rise. We have such a spotty market– it changes zip code to zip code. Some zip code have seen increase, while others have seen decreases. But…on average, we have seen prices rise.

What’s a homeowner to do?

Our taxes increase in sellers market, our taxes increase in a buyers market. Maybe it is better to rent! Oh wait– rents have gone up more than 30% since 2004. Someone has to pay for a landlord’s tax increase.

Tags: Arlington+2008+tax+rate, Arlington+County+Public+hearing+for+tax+assessments, Arlington+property+taxes

The last office building planned for Shirlington is almost complete. Randolph Square will have over 200,000 square feet of office space, retail stores and a nice new parking garage to add some much needed parking.
The exciting news is that this shiny new building now has a bright new tenant: The US Patent Office.
The building is scheduled to open in April- just in time for the spring and bring with it the US Government.
Welcome to the neighborhood – you’re going to be here for the next 10 years. I hope you enjoy our little secret.
My last picture was taken when the weather was warmer– I’m such a whimp in this cold weather. It’s much further along now. I’m just too cold to stand outside to take some pictures.
And many thanks to one of my favorite local blogs: Shirlington Village Blog for being the first with the scoop.
Related Post:

• Shirlington Face Lift Is Almost Complete

Tags: US+Patent+Office, Randolph+Square, Shirlington