Leesburg adopts Fiscal Year 2022 Budget – Maintains real estate tax rate at 18.4 cents

The Leesburg Town Council adopted the real estate tax rate for the 2021 calendar year and approved the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget and the six-year Fiscal Year 2022-2027 Capital Improvements Program.  The council maintained the current real estate tax rate of 18.4¢ per $100 of assessed value.

“We are taking a very conservative, cautionary approach with the Fiscal Year 2022 budget,” explains Kaj Dentler, Leesburg’s Town Manager. “We know we are not out of the woods with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to position the town to handle the uncertainties of the upcoming year.”

The adopted Fiscal Year 2022 General Fund Budget, including debt service, totals $65.3 million which is a 4.6 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2021. Only two enhancements are included in the budget: $300,000 for increased emergency and weather response efforts and $177,086 to continue the downtown outdoor dining program that began last year.

In addition, the council adopted the Fiscal Year 2022-2027 Capital Improvements Program. The CIP includes 69 projects, totaling $210.1 million over the six years of the program. For Fiscal Year 2022, the CIP is $48.2 million and includes 33 projects.  Major capital projects that began in previous years or will be under construction in Fiscal Year 2022 including the Route 7/Battlefield Parkway interchange, the widening of Evergreen Mill Road, the expansion and renovation of the Leesburg Police Headquarters on Plaza Street, and improvements at Veterans Park at Ball’s Bluff. Council also approved the Lawson Road Pedestrian Bridge project to start design in Fiscal Year 2022 with construction to start in Fiscal Year 2023.

The newly adopted Fiscal Year 2022 Budget and the Fiscal Year 2022-2027 Capital Improvements Program will be available for download from the Town’s website at www.leesburgva.gov/budget within the next month. The proposed budget document is available now.