Second of two articles
Every now and then, David Obeid entertains a fantasy common along Jefferson Avenue. He dreams of cashing out -- selling the handyman special he bought in 1986 and living someplace else, some imagined paradise where houses are cheap, schools above average and property taxes low.
After all, his Fairfax County colonial has nearly quintupled in value; a neighbor recently sold hers for $460,000, a number whispered across front lawns and driveways up and down the block.
Charles Woody said he doesn't want to give up his neighborhood of 45 years. "Yes, I can sell, but where will I go? These are my roots here," he said.
(Lucian Perkins -- The Washington Post)
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Mostly, though, when he hears such numbers, Obeid thinks of how he, a part-time telecommunications consultant, and his wife, a nurse, will finagle another several hundred dollars out of their budget for property taxes, as assessments have risen, too -- 78 percent since 2000. And the 2005 assessments, due out at the end of the month, are expected to jump again.
"All this hype about property values doesn't do anyone any good unless you're moving," said Obeid, 45, who is staying put until his children, ages 13, 11 and 8, finish school. "In a sense, owning property is much more difficult. We haven't cut back, but we haven't increased our spending, either -- as you can see, I've got a 25-year-old car out there."
According to figures from the five largest jurisdictions and estimates based on recent real estate trends, the average assessed value of a Northern Virginia house has roughly doubled since 2000. In Arlington County, for example, the increase is 125 percent; in Loudon County, it's 112 percent.
It is the other side of a real estate boom that has meant a tax windfall for such counties as Fairfax but has begun to squeeze budgets of such homeowners as those on Jefferson Avenue, a pleasant if unspectacular street of 1940s Cape Cods and colonials just south of Falls Church, tucked behind a Toyota dealership, a Wachovia bank and La Granja de Oro restaurant.
With homes assessed, on average, at about $350,250 in 2004 -- $7,000 less than the county average -- people there are paying property taxes of around $4,000 a year. It is an amount some homeowners said is no great hardship, particularly compared with such states as New Jersey, where taxes can surpass $10,000. And in the calculus of social costs and benefits, many said it is a fair amount to pay for good schools, parks and the county's social safety net.
For others, the increasing tax bill has chipped away at the sort of life they figured would be the reward of owning a home. It has meant forgoing new cars and dinners out. It has meant buying double-stuff Oreos only when they're two-for-one. It has made stay-at-home moms consider getting paid jobs; and for one retiree, it has meant possibly having to leave the neighborhood where he's lived for 45 years.
"You work your entire life, and this is what you get in the end?" asked Charles Woody, 68.
In July, he lost his job with Verizon, where he worked in building security, and for now is living on a monthly income of $1,100 from Social Security and $700 from unemployment, which will end soon.
"Taxes are $4,200, so it doesn't take long to figure out what goes on," said Woody, whose mortgage is paid off. "I've got homeowner's insurance, gas, electric, water, car insurance. . . . I've got a plumber coming, that'll be $194. Yes, I can sell, but where will I go? These are my roots here."
Rising assessments have hit those on a fixed income hardest. "That's really where there is the biggest crunch," said Fairfax County Supervisor Linda Smyth (D-Providence), adding that the county offers tax relief for retirees whose income and assets fall below a certain level, as do other Northern Virginia counties.
Other long-timers on Jefferson Avenue, of which there are fewer and fewer, said they're managing, or else reaching the moment when they're ready to cash out.
