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Council raises income and asset limits for elderly and disabled real-estate tax relief program
Summary
The commissioner of the revenue asked council to increase income and asset thresholds for the city’s real-estate tax relief program; council adopted proposed amendments to raise the income cap to $50,000 and the asset cap to $80,000 and simplify the program’s sliding-scale brackets.
Staunton’s Commissioner of the Revenue, Maggie Reagan, presented proposed amendments to Chapter 3.15 — the city’s real estate tax relief program for the elderly and permanently disabled — and recommended increasing program eligibility limits.
Reagan told council the Commonwealth’s enabling statute sets the framework for local programs and that Staunton’s current local caps of $35,000 annual income and $70,000 in assets date from prior adjustments. She proposed raising the income cap to $50,000 and the asset cap to $80,000, and simplifying the program’s sliding scale to four brackets rather than multiple incremental percentages.
Reagan said the program served about 110 parcels in 2024 and total tax relief granted that year was just over $125,000. She said increasing the thresholds will likely expand eligibility but that the precise fiscal impact is unknown until applications are processed under the new limits.
Council voted to adopt the code amendments as presented. The motion passed on a roll-call vote and will change the local eligibility thresholds and the benefit calculation structure for future filings. Reagan said staff will distribute application materials reflecting the new caps for the coming application cycle.
Councilors thanked Reagan for the analysis and noted the change aims to keep thresholds aligned with rising assessments and cost-of-living increases for seniors on fixed incomes.
