By Channing Shilling
Buena Vista lowered its property tax rate to below the state average, but some homeowners will still face higher tax bills this December because property values have soared 60%.
The city council in July slashed its property tax rate by 36 cents to 91 cents per every $100 of a home’s assessed value, down from $1.27 per $100 value, which was one of the highest in Virginia.
“A 60% increase was just tremendous for homeowners,” said Ashton Dorton, Buena Vista commissioner of revenue. “We tried to do everything that we could to help our citizens.”
The city’s total revenue from property tax will still be about the same even after the rate cut.
Buena Vista homeowner Jim Grant said his taxes went up by over 37% before the rate cut. His home is currently listed for sale at $469,000, nearly two times Buena Vista’s median home price.
Since 2020, the median sale price of homes in Buena Vista has more than doubled, according to Redfin, a real estate website. The Virginia Realtors Association projects a 3.4% growth in home prices across Virginia in 2024.
Home values have soared nationwide. Buena Vista’s average home value has increased by more than double the national average, according to Zillow, a real estate website.
Buena Vista home values and sale prices have been on the rise for several reasons. Michelle Wheeler, a real estate agent at Wheeler and Associates Realty, said that the steep prices in Lexington real estate push potential buyers to Buena Vista.
In addition, the economic conditions have been better than in some regions.
“We had a period of strong growth from our manufacturers, so we had strong employment and then we also had, in that same period, growth from SVU,” said Tom Roberts, Buena Vista’s director of planning, zoning, and community development. “We’ve had consistently high demand for housing for the last six, eight, 10 years.”
Roberts said that the city has also been trying to attract new residents by improving the public park, downtown area and building the new town square.