East End property tax hikes outpace city's—and last year's

The air is getting crisp, Fat Rabbit is retiring its summer cookie, and Halloween decorations have even started popping up on porches. Which is a little ridiculous, if you ask me, but you didn’t, and besides, the general point I’m trying to make here is that fall has once again arrived in Church Hill. So of course, the city of Richmond’s 2026 property assessments have, too.

Renting sucks for all sorts of reasons, but local lessees are at least lucky to sidestep this annual rite of revenue-raising. (Directly, at least; rising property taxes are often a factor in rent hikes.) For one thing, it can be confusing stuff. The city’s finance department is notoriously error-prone, and earlier this year, it sent some homeowners citywide a duplicative payment notification that caused some agita. But most of the reason assessment season is so nerve-wracking is the hike. In November 2024, a majority of Richmond City Council members, including the 7th District’s Cynthia Newbille, voted once again to maintain the longstanding property-tax rate of $1.20 per $100 of assessed value, opting to back then-mayor Levar Stoney’s targeted relief/rebate package rather than deliver the across-the-board one-year rate cut the 8th District’s Reva Trammell had agitated for.

For East End homeowners, this maneuvering all foreswore two things: a small one-time rebate check, and a 2026 property tax bill riding entirely on city assessors’ valuations.

And so, a deluge of envelopes from 900 East Broad Street flowed forth, arriving in Church Hill’s mailboxes in late August and early September. The upshot: recent assessment increases for homeowners in this part of town have been higher than this year’s… but they’ve been lower, too.

A quick analysis by The Lookout indicates that East End voting precincts saw year-over-year assessment increases between 3.92-14.64% on average, for a blended average of 7.62%. That figure outpaced the 2025 citywide average of 5.74%, and came in between the East End averages of 2023 and 2024 (10.32% and 6.76%, respectively.) If you’re interested, I highly recommend clicking around through the interactive map The Richmonder’s Michael Phillips put together, which breaks out precinct-level hikes across the entire city. (You can also check out the previous years’ data visualized at Axios Richmond.) “Property taxes for all types of property this year are expected to net the city $523.1 million dollars,” Phillips reported.

If you’re a homeowner and this year’s increase on your assessment has you all red-assed, you have two modes of recourse.¹ You can rant about it in the comments here, or on r/rva, which won’t accomplish anything financially, but might briefly make you feel better, and isn’t that what it’s all about, really? Or you can appeal the figure with the assessor’s office.

At Richmond 5×5, former Richmond City Council member John Baliles laid out the steps (and the case) for lodging your appeal in a post that’s a bit more pleasant to read than the city’s own guidance. This a particularly strategic year to push back on City Hall if you believe their numbers are off: assessments will be frozen next year to align that calendar with the city’s overall budgeting process, which somehow wasn’t already a thing. So winning a lower assessment—and thus, a lower property tax bill this year—actually pays off double. Appeals are due October 1st. Good luck to you.

📜 Possum Poetry

Possum Poetry is original verse written exclusively for The Lookout by Penelope Poubelle, the Lookout’s litter critter-at-large. If you spot roadside trash you’d like her to immortalize in doggerel, email a photo to [email protected]. All submissions anonymous!

🏡 Decking down, fundraising efforts up for Libby Hill Park House

Since The Lookout last checked in on the progress of the renovations of the Libby Hill Park House in early August, I’ve heard from several excited tipsters about some apparent activity at the agéd structure. It’s true: on a recent stroll through the park, I noted that the decking has been replaced on the building’s covered porch. For those of you keeping score at home, here’s where that puts the punch list:

1. Repairing and painting the roof.

2. Replacing the porch flooring and trim, and repairing the porch column bases.

3. Replacing the building’s siding.

4. Painting the exterior and interior of the building.

5. Addressing various needs in the basement rooms, and with the shutters.

6. Repairing external masonry.

Speaking of progress: the Church Hill Association’s (CHA) Parks and Beautification Committee recently posted a clever poster on the side of the Park House itself that shows the progress the group has made in its latest round of fundraising. As you may recall, over the summer Historic Richmond approved a $10,000 “challenge” grant for the project that’s contingent on CHA raising that same amount first. Since I snapped the photo above, the total take has swelled to nearly $5,000, per the org’s online tracker. Halfway to go! Alright, not really: the total estimated cost of the fix-up stands at around $85,000. But, y’know: one step at a time.

📊 The results are in on The Lookout’s first-ever reader survey

Big thanks to all of you who cast votes in the coverage poll I’ve been running for the past couple weeks. As a reminder, the question was “What should The Lookout's first expansion be?” Here’s how the ballots landed:

First of all, it’s extremely funny to me that literally no one chose a pickleball tournament. Fuck pickleball, I guess? (Personally, I prefer being a mediocre tennis player, myself. Maybe Lookouts feel likewise!) Second of all, as a guy who writes words for a living, imagine my sweet relief seeing relatively little appetite for The Lookout to launch a TikTok account. Short-form video is hard work and takes an inordinate amount of time and even if 100% of respondents asked for it I would be very reluctant to pursue it at this stage. Due to bAnDwIdTh, and all that.

The clear winner in this poll was an East End history podcast, which net something like 28% of votes. Podcasts also take a ton of work, at least good ones. So that’s a consideration as I ponder The Lookout’s expansion. But that’s all in the future. And I should note, only around 20% of the readership responded to this poll. So this is hardly a mandate. That said, thanks again to all who did vote. And of course, if you have other thoughts on on The Lookout’s future that weren’t captured in this very rudimentary poll:

Or reach out directly. I’m always all ears.

📢 Happenings on The Hill

• Ribbon, cut: Richmond’s Department of Parks and Recreation officially opened the $20-million, 30,000-square-foot community center at Luck’s Field earlier today. Read more about the program here.

• Bake bread, make bucks: In a sign that hopefully augurs its imminent return to business as usual on Jefferson Ave., Sub Rosa Bakery is hiring for two full-time baking positions. More details here.

• Love your Mother: the James River Association’s second-annual EcoFest is Saturday (9/13) from 11am-4pm down by the river. Info here.

• Stitch ‘em up: Top Stitch is hosting its monthly gathering Saturday from 11am-3pm on N. 23rd St. The Exit Plan will be matcha-ing. Here’s the flyer.

• Spin it: Records and Relics is celebrating its seventh anniversary with a sidewalk sale this Sunday (9/14) at 10am. Scope the sale.

• Get you some culture: Second Bottle’s monthly Culture Club is back on Monday (9/29) with author Jessica Hendry Nelson, author of Joy Rides through the Tunnel of Grief, as the guest. Tickets are now on sale. Grab yours.

Happenings on The Hill is a digital bulletin board for events, causes, and other items of interest to East Enders that don’t necessarily merit full editorial treatment. Got something for a future edition? Email the relevant details, links, etc. to [email protected] for consideration!

📸 A Very CHill Photo

Want to share your Very CHill Photo from the neighborhood? Email it to [email protected] with your name as you’d like it to appear for publication, and the camera you shot it on.

1  Folks 65 and older can also explore their options through the city’s Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities tax-relief program. This does not preclude them from getting red-assed.