DC Property Tax Assessments Show Decrease in Value

• February 26th 2010

by Mark Wellborn

DC’s Office of Tax and Revenue sent out 2011 tax assessment notices to property owners today, and most owners will likely be disappointed by what they get in the mail as residential property assessments dropped by an average of 3.7 percent. The average change for residential properties in fiscal 2010 was -3.67 percent.

Areas with the biggest drops were Hillcrest (-15 percent), Congress Heights (-13.2 percent), Deanwood (-12.6 percent) and Randle Heights (-10.8 percent). Last year, the hardest hit neighborhoods were Michigan Park (-15.57 percent), Crestwood (-13.36 percent), Petworth (-11.71 percent), Woodridge (-10.99 percent), and Riggs Park (-10.10 percent).

Very few neighborhoods actually saw assessments rise, and if they rose at all, it was modest. The three neighborhoods leading the way were: Berkley (5.1 percent), Kent (3.51 percent) and Central (2.09 percent). Last year, the top neighborhoods were Forest Hills (+1.82%), Burleith (+1.78%), Central (+1.73%), Palisades (+1.51%), and Foggy Bottom (+1.20%).

Owners will likely be further perturbed by the effect of legislation that has now gone into effect requiring homeowners to pay at least 40 percent of a property’s assessed value. On average, that bumps up property taxes by about $345.

This news comes on the heels of the report we featured yesterday that indicated home prices in the DC area had increased noticeably over the last year. The report did factor Virginia and Maryland into the increase and it was also hard to tell from the language if the report was talking about an increase in a home’s valuation or an increase in what homes were being listed for when they hit the market.

For the DC government’s full list of percentage change by neighborhood, click here.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_property_tax_assessments_show_decrease_in_value/1822.