Isle of Wight County will keep its car tax rate at $4.50 per $100 in assessed value for another year.

County supervisors had reduced the rate 13% in 2022 to $3.90 per $100 to provide relief to taxpayers amid a surge in used-car prices, but restored the $4.50 rate in 2023 after Commissioner of the Revenue Gerald Gwaltney contended the artificially inflated 2022 valuations had returned to normal.

County supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance Thursday, Feb. 15, specifying no change to the $4.50 rate for 2024.

Since 2006, the county has received $5.1 million from the state annually to provide its residents with car tax relief. Last year, the money provided a fixed 37% rebate to each driver. This year, due to an increase in the number of cars in the county, the fixed dollar amount will only provide a 33% rebate, Gwaltney said.

According to Gwaltney, when the car tax rebate program started in 1999, the goal was to provide everyone with 70%. But to give a rebate higher than 33% this year, the county would need to subsidize the state funding with local dollars.