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Loudoun County (web | news) , Va. - As local governments all over the D.C. metro area face revenue shortfalls, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors caught a glimpse of what it will be dealing with as the county assessor revealed the average home assessment dropped by about 12%.

As the housing boom in Loudoun County came to a halt, the board anticipated property values would decline for 2008. The county is already looking at a $176 million shortfall for the 2010 fiscal year.

For Loudoun residents, the housing market is a double-edged sword. "If you don't own a home, it's a good thing because home prices are down that obviously helps you out. If you are an existing homeowner, it's not as good because if you're trying to use that as a springboard to something else, then the amount of equity you have in your house is down and nobody wants that," said Loudoun County resident Paul Meade.

Nobody wants to sell their house for less than what they bought it for. "I think it's a national concern, but I think Loudoun County has been affected a lot more than other counties in the nation just because Loudoun County was thriving," said area resident Mo Gray.

County assessor Todd Kaurman says there is a 7% decline in Loudoun's real estate portfolio with the average single family home declining 12% or $52,000 in value. "The biggest factor that impacts that 12% are townhouses and condos. They've seen an overall decline since last year, anywhere from 15 to 40% in Loudoun County so basically entry level housing has taken the greatest hit," said Kaurman.

While the Board of Supervisors doesn't know if Loudoun's 1.14 tax rate will go up, she says the county will have to find ways to make up on lost revenue. "There's likely to be a reduction in services and programs because we need to save costs and we are far beyond the situation of just tightening our belt. We did a lot of that last year and so now we have to go one step further to actually cut costs," said Vice-Chairman Susan Buckley, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors.

The county assessor will continue to evaluate the 115,000 parcels in Loudoun County before he makes the final assessment by January 1. Then, the county executive will look at it and make recommendations for the board and the board as a whole will decide if they want to adjust the tax rate.

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