Loudoun Rejects Ferry Offer Over Property Tax Worries
The effort to relaunch service at White’s Ferry hit another brick wall Tuesday with the announcement that Loudoun County will reject the Kuhn family offer to donate their Montgomery County operation to the Loudoun County government.
Loudoun officials say constantly rising Montgomery County property taxes and related costs make the offer a perilous proposition.
"Why do you think Montgomery rejected the Kuhn's offer first?" Prudence Spendwell, Loudoun Commissioner of Revenue, asked rhetorically. "They know what's coming."
For 2025/26, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has proposed a hefty property tax increase, a doubling of solid waste fees, and a big jump in property assessments. Major Montgomery County tax hikes were approved just two years ago.
"Commercial business investment across the Potomac is a losing proposition. Montgomery has been redlined by the national real estate industry, is bleeding thousands of jobs, and on the precipice of financial catastrophe from lost state and Federal money," Loudoun's Spendwell said.
Loudoun County has a current property tax rate of 86.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, with a potential reduction to 80.5 cents this year. "Montgomery's latest bump would put it at $1.06 per $100. Loudoun can't justify launching an operation in a recession bound county where the only solution is tax, tax, tax." Spendwell said.
This afternoon the Kuhn family wrote on social media, “It was worth a try. We can't blame Loudoun County leaders for making a smart decision for Loudoun residents. Something will work out. We are talking with Melwood."
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Editor’s Note: that was a satirical story peppered with a lot of facts. Facts are shown in italics below.
The Kuhn family offer[ed] to donate their Montgomery County operation to the Loudoun County government. Montgomery rejected the Kuhn's offer first
For 2025/26, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has proposed a hefty property tax increase, a doubling of solid waste fees, and a big jump in property assessments. Major Montgomery County tax hikes were approved just two years ago.
Montgomery has been redlined by the national real estate industry, is bleeding thousands of jobs, and on the precipice of financial catastrophe from lost state and Federal money.
Loudoun County has a current property tax rate of 86.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, with a potential reduction to 80.5 cents this year. Montgomery's latest bump would put it at $1.06 per $100.
