Item 102.X of Chapter 725 of the 2025 Acts of Assembly (2025 Budget Bill) directed the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to identify programs designed to keep long-term residents in their primary homes as real property taxes increase and to make recommendations for eligibility criteria for long-term occupant real property tax relief in Virginia. In forming these recommendations, the Budget Bill directed DHCD to convene a group of tax and housing experts to provide assistance, referred to as the Longtime Owner Occupancy Program (LOOP) Workgroup. With the support of the LOOP Workgroup, the Department of Taxation, and the Commission on Local Government, DHCD developed this report to (i) identify real property tax relief programs currently offered in Virginia and other states, (ii) highlight the issues faced by long-term residents as property values and taxes rapidly increase, and (iii) make findings and recommendations regarding real property tax relief eligibility criteria that may be considered to keep long-term residents in their primary homes. The LOOP Workgroup met once, and a summary of the meeting is included in the Appendix.

DHCD, with the assistance of the Department of Taxation, the Commission on Local Government, and tax and housing experts participating in the LOOP Workgroup, made several findings and recommendations related to potential longtime owner real property tax relief in Virginia. These findings and recommendations were made through LOOP Workgroup discussion and background research, which was part of a fact-finding exercise that sought to review the various considerations related to a potential program for longtime owner real property tax relief in Virginia. DHCD presents these findings and recommendations as factors that should be considered when analyzing a longtime owner tax relief proposal. The categories of these findings and recommendations (financial indications, feasibility and efficiency of administration, equity, and eligibility criteria) are based on the Budget Bill language that authorized this report.