LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Why the News Media Owes Us an Apology

The overlooked equalized tax rate deserves better coverage by the media.

Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash

For decades, the same journalistic ritual has played out. A commissioner of revenue completes a routine reassessment of real property and presents the results to the local governing body. The next day, headlines trumpet the percentage increase in assessments.

This increase in assessed values, though, is almost completely irrelevant in determining the real estate tax rate to be set for the coming year. If you find this hard to believe, blame the media. Shocking — but true — the most important number in such presentations is what’s known as the equalized tax rate.

In completing state-mandated reassessments, a commissioner of revenue is also required to calculate the ‘equalized’ tax rate for the new year that will produce revenue only 1% higher than what the previous year’s assessments would produce. For example, Spotsylvania’s 2025 tax rate was 73.43 cents. Its reassessment results in a 2026 equalized tax rate of 68.90 cents. Per state law, Spotsylvania must reduce its tax rate to the equalized rate; its Board of Supervisors cannot increase the rate from 68.90 cents until after conducting a public hearing.

Of course, budgets increase, and taxes must be raised to fund them. There are plenty of acceptable reasons for increasing the tax rate from the equalized rate to accommodate various budget increases – inflation, increased population needs, unfunded state and federal mandates, etc. But that difference between the previous rate and the equalized rate always seems to get lost in media reporting on finalized post-budget tax rate increases. No wonder the public is confused.

The media’s misunderstanding of this whole process, and the resulting public confusion, means the majority of people ignore government budget increases while they fruitlessly rail against irrelevant assessment increases.

There seems to be a shift among commissioners in apparent attempts to do something about this. Stafford Commissioner of the Revenue Scott Mayausky was instrumental in getting 2024 state legislation passed that requires inclusion of more clarifying data on real estate assessment notices.

Also, we haven’t seen our commissioners making their presentations to their respective boards of supervisors in this reassessment year. While this may avoid misleading headlines, it doesn’t help correct the public’s deeply held misconceptions.

Without commissioner presentations on reassessment results, the media will be silent on the topic. The budget process will be allowed to go on as usual, avoiding the scrutiny it should be receiving from a public concerned about the wrong thing. How do we fix that?

Quiz: Spotsy has proposed a 2026 tax rate of 77.66 cents. How much of an increase is that?

Susan Doepp
Fredericksburg

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