Property Values

Property value is what someone is willing to pay for a property and the amount the seller is willing to accept. The value of an individual property determines the tax amount that the property owner pays to the government.

Public schools are primarily funded by property tax collected within a certain area. Meaning: If the property value is low, the dollar amount of taxes collected is low, which leads to underfunded public schools. The process of redlining determines which property taxes pay for which school. The main four areas that make up "K-Town" have seen siginficant increases and decreases over the years. All four areas experienced a large decrease in value in late 2020.

Redlining is defined as the discriminatory practice in which services are withheld from potential customers who reside in neighborhoods classified as "hazardous" to investment. This practice was created by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, and its affects were felt throughout the country. Oftentimes these properties are home to racial and ethnic minorities. Redlining prevents property values from increasing by denying services like banking, insurance, health care, and new business structures to the affected areas. Redlining keeps allows for the financial record of an area to be deemed as a "risk" to bank lenders by activitly keeps real estate prices low.

The 1990 census determined that Roanoke, Virginia had the most segregation of black and white people amongst the entire Commonwealth.

Today it is estimated:

60% of the Roanoke City population is 60% white and 40% black or brown.

AND

The average value of homes in the area is roughly $140,600

Studies show that schools previously in redlined neighborhoods less resources per student, a higher non-white population, and lower test scores.

In Roanoke City Public Schools, approximately 43% of students are black, 32.2% are white, 15.8 are Hispanic, and 9% are Asian or another race. Overall, there are about 13,000 students enrolled in the RCPS system. During the 2021-2022 school year, the budget for RCPS totaled to $254,041,895. 40% of the budget is acquired by Local Tax Revenue (which includes income/sales taxes and property taxes).

Please Note: The funding support for RCPS from the local tax revenue has drastically increased in the last year.