Loudoun Board of Supervisors adopts FY 2026 Budget

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has approved a budget totaling approximately $4.7 billion in total appropriations for the general county government and school system for Fiscal Year 2026. The adopted budget includes a real property tax rate of $0.805 cents per $100 in assessed value for tax year 2025, which is six cents cent lower than the current tax rate. Based on the adopted tax rate, the average homeowner’s tax bill will decrease slightly from $6,337 in tax year 2024 to $6,280 in tax year 2025.

The adopted budget also plans for a reduction to the personal property tax on vehicles in tax year 2026 of $3.09 per $100 in assessed value, which is $1.06 lower than the current rate. The general personal property tax rate for tax years 2025 and 2026 remains the same as the current rate: $4.15 per $100 in assessed value.

The adopted budget fully funds the Loudoun County School Board’s requested budget increase of $111.8 million and reserves up to $8 million in county contingency to address potential state revenue changes.

The FY 2026 adopted budget also includes:

• $22 million in base budget adjustments to continue providing core services.
• An increase of $24.7 million for employee compensation to keep Loudoun competitive in the market, which consists of a:
  • 4% merit increase for the general county workforce.
  • 2.5% salary scale adjustment and a step increase for Fire and Rescue, for an average pay increase of 5.5%.
  • 5% salary scale adjustment and a step increase for Sheriff’s deputies, for an average pay increase of 8%.
• The addition of 240 positions in 30 departments, including a substantial number of positions associated with opening new facilities over the next two years.
• $17.3 million for affordable housing, which comes from the dedication of the equivalent of a full penny of the real property tax rate to affordable housing needs.
• $39.7 million for the Revenue Stabilization Fund, created by the Board of Supervisors in 2023 to address differences between budgeted revenues and actual revenues received from data centers.

The Board also amended the FY 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) that totals approximately $3.8 billion for the six-year planning period and includes county and school projects.

The category with the largest expenditure percentage is transportation projects at 40% followed by county projects at 33% and school projects at 27%.

A limited number of new projects have been added to the CIP in the categories of Pedestrian, Bridge, and Bicycle Facilities; Major Transportation Corridors; and Space Strategy and Facility Renovations.

The FY 2026 budget will go into effect July 1, 2025. The real property tax rate of $0.805 per $100 of assessed value and the general personal property tax rate of $4.15 per $100 of assessed value are effective as of Jan. 1, 2025, and will be used for the spring tax collection. 

The complete adopted budget document will be posted on the county’s website by the start of FY 2026, which is July 1, 2025. Information about the county’s budget is posted at loudoun.gov/budget.