By Annie Gowen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 3, 2005; B01
Alexandria last night passed its $468 million spending plan for next year, capping a budget season in Northern Virginia where the hot real estate market has meant rising tax bills for homeowners and more money for governments to spend. Throughout the region, localities voted to cut tax rates to help homeowners burdened by rapidly rising real estate assessments -- even vying with each other to claim the biggest cut. But homeowners still will see tax bills increase, on average from $128 (in Prince William County) to $482 (in Arlington County). Alexandria officials trimmed the city's tax rate by 8 cents, but that will soften the increase -- still hefty at $418 on average -- only slightly. The city joined its neighbors in boosting public safety and school spending -- adding 14 new police positions and increasing school money by 6.6 percent. Throughout Northern Virginia, homeowners are paying far more -- as much as 70 percent -- in taxes than they did five years ago, and they are increasingly shouldering a larger percentage of local government spending. In Maryland, where localities levy an income tax and where property tax increases are capped, the uptick in tax bills has been far less severe. Yet taxpayer anger was muted in much of Northern Virginia, particularly in the outer suburbs, where growth is steepest and the need for new schools and services greatest. "I think people realize there is a cost to growth," said Scott K. York (I), chairman of the Board of Supervisors in Loudoun County, one of the nation's fastest-growing counties, where 3,500 new students arrive annually. "We're opening up five schools next school year, so until we get growth in a manageable state, we're going to see taxes increase because we've got to build schools." Inside the Beltway, taxpayers were less patient. In Arlington, three dozen Republicans waved bright signs decrying tax rates at the Arlington County Board when its members recently approved a $759 million budget. In Alexandria, more than a dozen neighborhood associations endorsed a plan to cap city spending by 3 percent, and proponents wearing little red "3%" stickers showed up at City Council meetings. "The community has come to a breaking point," said Chip Carlin, 51. "Folks feel a line has been crossed and their good will has been taken for granted." But the mini-tax revolt was stymied last night, as council members approved a budget with an 8.1 percent increase in spending while cutting the tax rate to 91.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. The board also approved new taxes on cellular telephone use, a 20-cent-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax and a new 50-cent tax on admissions to movies and other entertainment events. Noting that the city's tax rate was at its lowest in a quarter-century, Mayor William D. Euille (D) praised the plan. "We have fine-tuned this budget to the best of our ability, and I think the citizens will be pleased with the final outcome," he said. Skyrocketing costs on pricey capital improvement projects rankled some residents in closer-in suburbs. In Fairfax County, for example, the cost of a new emergency communications complex has ballooned in the past three years, to the latest estimate of $122 million. "They spent that much money because they had it," said Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully), who cast the lone vote last month opposing Fairfax's spending plan. "It's that simple." And in Alexandria and Arlington, part of the spending increases are due to debt service on two massive school overhauls -- the $99 million renovation of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria and in the new $95 million Washington-Lee High School building in Arlington. This year, rising assessments are taking center stage in the governor's race, as candidates from both parties propose limiting the size of yearly assessment increases. In his campaign, Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) is pushing a constitutional amendment that would allow local governments to exempt as much as 20 percent of a home's value from taxes. His opponent, former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore (R), wants to constitutionally cap annual assessment increases to 5 percent. In some cases, local legislators received stern warnings about spending from citizen advisory groups concerned that the jurisdictions cannot rely forever on funds generated by the fevered real estate market. Fairfax County officials are considering guidelines to limit the increase in school spending next year. In Alexandria, council members who had been irked by a request from the School Board for 39 new positions in a district that is losing students slashed $1.2 million from the board's request. Also in the inner counties -- where older apartments are rapidly being replaced by luxury condominiums and townhouses -- legislators gave affordable housing programs big infusions of cash in an effort to try to help stem the flood of middle-income residents to the more affordable exurbs.