Va. lawmaker proposes setting different real estate tax rates for housing and the land it sits on

The press frames this as a tidy “fix” for homeowners being priced out, but it skips a basic question: who decides what your home is “worth” and how fast government can raise the bill. Splitting the tax rate between a house and the land beneath it sounds clever, yet it is still a way for localities to keep revenue flowing while pretending they are easing the burden.

Conservatives are not indifferent to seniors and longtime residents getting squeezed. But the answer is not another valuation scheme that invites gamesmanship and pushes costs onto renters, small landlords, and new families. It also risks turning city budgets into a planning tool instead of a service contract.

If Virginia wants fairness for homeowners, it should start with tax predictability, tighter limits on annual increases, and transparent assessments. Public trust grows when government lives within bounds, not when it invents new ways to tax what people cannot move. Property rights should not depend on a spreadsheet.