Hey, what's that official looking letter in your mailbox?

It's your NOTICE OF 2009 REAL ESTATE ASSESSMENT.  In big bold type, the city or county government that sent you this notice informs you, that "THIS IS NOT YOUR TAX BILL"

If you own a home in the City of Alexandria, you just received (or will receive in the next day or so) your 2009 Real Estate Assessment.

For most people who own property in Alexandria, they'll see the assessed value of their home decrease quite a bit from last year's assessment.  My property tax assessment on my condominium went down about 11.4% from 2008's assessment. 

According to the City of Alexandria, here's some news about the current assessments:

2009 average assessed value for single family homes and condos is $476,490.

Single family home assessment in Alexandria averages $637,154 -- a decline of 3.5% from 2008

Average condominium assessment is $301,718 -- a decline of 7.6% from 2008.

There is some good news for Alexandria owners (besides the fact that your taxes may or may not go down).  The City of Alexandria reports that "[w]hile average home values in the Washington D.C. region have dropped some 15% over the past year, in Alexandria in 2009 the average home values dropped 4.7%."  That's a silver lining.  Despite losing home value and home equity, Alexandria homeowners are faring much better than some of the surrounding jurisdictions.

The new property tax rates will not be set by the City Council until April 27, 2009, but it has been proposed to increase the tax rate by 4.2 cents to 88.7 cents.

More information about Alexandria Virginia real estate assessments can be found at www.alexandriava.gov/realestate or by calling the Real Estate Assessments department at 703-838-4646.