Botetourt County, Virginia Tax Rates

Botetourt County Tax Rates - At a Glance

Botetourt County Current Tax Rates Summary (TY2025)

Tax Type	County Rate (per $100)	Notes
Real Estate	$0.700	Plus Town of Buchanan levy if inside Buchanan town limits (see overlay table below). Fincastle and Troutville do not levy town real estate tax for TY2025.
General Personal Property	$2.940	Personal use vehicle rate may differ - confirm with the Commissioner of the Revenue
Machinery and Tools	$2.000	Business tangible personal property classification
Merchants' Capital	$0.000	Botetourt County does not levy a countywide merchants' capital tax (TY2025)
Sales Tax	5.3% (4.3% state + 1.0% local; not in a regional transportation district; qualifying groceries 1.0%)

All rates from Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey TY2025 (Tables 1 and 3). Verify current adopted rates with Botetourt County and the relevant town.

Real Estate Tax

Rate and Assessment

Botetourt County's real estate tax rate was $0.700 per $100 of assessed value countywide for tax year 2025, as reported in the Virginia Department of Taxation Local Tax Rates Survey Table 1 (County Levies). The rate is set annually by the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors. Botetourt County uses fair-market-value assessment under Code of Virginia § 58.1-3201.

Properties inside the Town of Buchanan are subject to an additional town real estate levy on top of the county rate (Virginia DOT TY2025 Table 3 - Town Tax Rates). Properties inside Fincastle (county seat) or Troutville pay only the $0.700 county rate because both towns report zero town tax for TY2025. Properties outside any incorporated town also pay only the $0.700 county rate. Botetourt County does not appear in DOT Table 4 (County District Levies), so there are no countywide sanitary, transportation, or special-service district levies.

Verification note: Rates are from the Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey (tax year 2025). Verify the current adopted county rate at botetourtva.gov or by contacting the Botetourt County Commissioner of the Revenue.

Incorporated Town Overlays

Three incorporated towns are inside Botetourt County per the Virginia DOT TY2025 Local Tax Rates Survey Table 3 (Town Tax Rates). Only the Town of Buchanan levies a non-zero town tax in TY2025; Fincastle (county seat) and Troutville report all rates as $0.000.

Botetourt County Town Tax Overlays (TY2025 per DOT Table 3, per $100 assessed value)

Town	Real Estate	Tangible Personal Property	Machinery & Tools	Merchants' Capital
Buchanan	$0.143	$0.320	$0.100	$0.320
Fincastle (county seat)	$0.000	$0.000	$0.000	$0.000
Troutville	$0.000	$0.000	$0.000	$0.000

Total inside Buchanan town limits equals the county rate ($0.700 RE / $2.940 TPP / $2.000 M&T / $0.000 MC) plus the Buchanan town rate above. Inside Fincastle or Troutville the total equals the county rate only because the towns levy zero. Verify current town rates with each town government before making financial decisions.

Exemptions and Relief Programs

Botetourt County offers tax relief programs for qualifying senior citizens and disabled residents. Disabled veterans who are 100% service-connected disabled may qualify for a full real estate tax exemption on their primary residence under Code of Virginia § 58.1-3219.5. Contact the Botetourt County Commissioner of the Revenue for current eligibility thresholds and procedures.

Source: Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey TY2025 (pdfplumber extraction, direct from source).

Vehicle Personal Property Tax

Rate and Assessment Method

Botetourt County's general personal property tax rate was $2.940 per $100 of assessed value countywide for tax year 2025, as reported in the Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey. Properties inside the Town of Buchanan are subject to an additional town personal property levy (see town overlay table above). Under Code of Virginia § 58.1-3503, localities assess vehicles using a recognized pricing guide as of January 1 of the tax year.

Important note on rate classification: The Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey reports the general tangible personal property rate. The DOT survey explicitly states that "certain items of property, including vehicles, may be considered separate classifications and may be taxed at a different tax rate." The current personal use vehicle rate in Botetourt County may differ from the $2.940 general rate. Contact the Botetourt County Commissioner of the Revenue to confirm the rate that applies to your vehicle.

PPTRA Relief

Virginia's Personal Property Tax Relief Act (PPTRA), Code of Virginia § 58.1-3524, provides partial state-funded relief on the first $20,000 of assessed value for qualifying personal use vehicles. Virginia distributes a fixed annual block grant of $950 million among all localities. Botetourt County calculates its annual PPTRA relief percentage based on its share of that grant and the total qualifying vehicle assessed value in the county. This percentage changes each year. For a deeper explanation of how PPTRA works, see our Virginia PPTRA explained guide.

PPTRA percentage pending official confirmation. Contact the Botetourt County Commissioner of the Revenue or visit botetourtva.gov to confirm the current-year vehicle personal property tax rate and PPTRA relief percentage.

Rate source: Virginia DOT Local Tax Rates Survey TY2025 (pdfplumber extraction, direct from source).

Sales Tax

Rate and Composition

The combined sales tax rate in Botetourt County is 5.3%. Botetourt County is not within the Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, or Central Virginia regional transportation districts, so no 0.7% regional levy applies. The standard Virginia statewide rate applies countywide. Towns do not add their own sales tax in Virginia.

Botetourt County Sales Tax Rate Breakdown

Component	Rate
Virginia state rate	4.3%
Local rate	1.0%
Combined rate	5.3%

Qualifying food and grocery items are subject to Virginia's reduced 1.0% state rate. Adjacent live county pages: Roanoke County (also at 5.3%; south), City of Roanoke (also at 5.3%; inside Roanoke County), and Bedford County (also at 5.3%; southeast).

Source: Virginia Department of Taxation - Retail Sales and Use Tax (tax.virginia.gov)

Town of Buchanan vs Buchanan County Disambiguation

The Town of Buchanan and Buchanan County are different jurisdictions. The Town of Buchanan is an incorporated town inside Botetourt County in western Virginia, on the James River about 25 miles north of Roanoke. Buchanan County is an entirely separate Virginia county located approximately 200 miles to the southwest in the coalfield region near the Kentucky and West Virginia borders. They share only the name "Buchanan." A resident of the Town of Buchanan pays Botetourt County tax rates and the Town of Buchanan town levy, not Buchanan County rates.

The DOT TY2025 Local Tax Rates Survey confirms this distinction: Table 1 lists Buchanan County separately (with countywide RE $0.390, TPP $1.950, M&T $1.950, MC $2.000), while Table 3 lists "Buchanan Botetourt" (the Town of Buchanan inside Botetourt County, with rates RE $0.143, TPP $0.320, M&T $0.100, MC $0.320 applied on top of Botetourt's $0.700/$2.940/$2.000/$0.000). The "County" field in the DOT Table 3 row identifies which county the town belongs to - in this case, Botetourt.

Botetourt County: One of the Original Virginia Counties

Botetourt County was formed in 1769 from Augusta County and is one of the historic original Virginia counties. The county is named for Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, the colonial governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770. At its formation, Botetourt County's territory extended west to the Mississippi River and included parts of what later became West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois. Over the following decades, those western lands were carved into new counties and later new states, leaving modern Botetourt County as the surviving core in the upper Roanoke Valley.

The county seat has been Fincastle since 1772 - one of the longest continuously serving county seats in Virginia. The historic Fincastle Courthouse and surrounding downtown district are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Note that Fincastle reports zero town tax for TY2025: the town levies no separate real estate, personal property, machinery-and-tools, or merchants' capital tax, so a Fincastle property's total rate equals the Botetourt County rate.