Two homes for sale this fall can both carry a "Warrenton, VA" address and still have very different monthly bills. At 7,000 gallons a month, a home on town water inside the town limits pays about $242 for water and sewer under the rates adopted in June. A home outside the limits that is also on town water pays about $363 for the same 7,000 gallons. A home on the Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority system pays $220.70. That works out to more than $1,400 a year between the highest and lowest of the three. The listing price shows none of it, and the mailing address doesn't either.
The direction each bill is heading matters more than the gap between them. The town system has just put through what its own rate study calls the final year of double-digit increases. The county authority is at the start of a planned series of 9% yearly increases. If you're comparing homes around Warrenton, today's cheaper bill and next year's cheaper bill may not be the same house.
The tax line is the smaller part of the difference
Homes inside the incorporated Town of Warrenton pay real estate tax to both Fauquier County and the town, a structure FauquierNow described when the council set this year's rate.
The county rate for 2026 is 89.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, down from 96.7 cents. The lower rate did not mean lower bills. When supervisors adopted the budget on a 4-1 vote, FauquierNow reported that the average homeowner's taxes would still rise by $321.43 a year, because home values had gone up nearly 16% in the 2026 reassessment.
The town rate rose from 5.5 to 7.5 cents per $100 this year. That followed the 2025 increase to 5.5 cents, which FauquierNow noted was the town's first in eight years. The Fauquier Times estimated that the new rate adds about $142 a year to the bill on a home valued at $472,200.
For a sense of scale, take a home assessed at $645,000, which was the county's median sale price in August 2026. At these rates the county portion comes to about $5,773 a year and the town portion to about $484. The town tax is real money, but it's less than a tenth of the combined bill. The utility differences below can be several times larger than that $484.
What the same 7,000 gallons costs on each system
The Warrenton Town Council adopted Ordinance 2026-07 on June 9, effective July 1, 2026. It sets two schedules, one for customers in town and one for customers out of town. For a standard 5/8-inch residential meter, the base charge covers the first 2,000 gallons each month. That charge is $43.52 in town and $65.28 out of town. Every 1,000 gallons above that costs $39.72 in town and $59.58 out of town. Out-of-town customers pay about one and a half times the in-town rate at every step.
You can check that math against the town's own example. Its budget says an in-town household using 3,000 gallons a month pays $83.24, and $43.52 plus one $39.72 increment comes to exactly that. Using the same method at higher usage gives the estimates below. The FCWSA figure is the authority's own example of a single-family bill at 7,000 gallons.
| Monthly use, 5/8-inch meter | Town water, in town | Town water, out of town | FCWSA single-family |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 gallons | $83.24 | about $124.86 | not published at this level |
| 5,000 gallons | about $162.68 | about $244.02 | not published at this level |
| 7,000 gallons | about $242.12 | about $363.18 | $220.70 |
Except where the town or FCWSA published the figure, these are estimates calculated from the adopted rate schedules. The two systems price water differently. The town charges one flat rate per 1,000 gallons above its base. FCWSA, as of bills dated October 1, 2026, charges a single-family water base of $27.91 and a sewer base of $29.18. Its water usage is priced in four tiers that rise from $7.46 to $22.36 per 1,000 gallons, and sewer usage is $12.99 per 1,000 gallons. Low and high users come out differently on each system, so a seller's actual bills will tell you more than any example.
The town's steep climb is ending as the county's begins
The town numbers come from a long run of increases. In June 2025, FauquierNow reported that town water and sewer rates were rising 23% for the third consecutive year, and that future increases were expected to taper to about 6% a year. This June brought another 23%. The town's budget document explains why. A 2023 rate study recommended phased increases combined with borrowing to modernize aging infrastructure, and the document calls fiscal 2027 "the final year of double-digit rate increases recommended by the study." The same budget finances the town's capital program with bond debt for the first time in town history, including updates to the wastewater treatment plant, according to the Fauquier Times.
FCWSA is moving the other way. Its fiscal 2027 budget adopted 9% annual water and sewer increases starting October 1, 2026. The rate plan in the authority's May 26 public hearing materials continues 9% a year through fiscal 2031 and then 5% a year after that. Under that plan, the 7,000-gallon single-family example rises from $202.50 in fiscal 2026 to $220.70 now, $240.58 in fiscal 2028, and $262.20 in fiscal 2029. Those later figures are a planning schedule, not adopted rates. Still, the planned fiscal 2029 figure is higher than today's in-town estimate at the same usage.
FCWSA serves a long list of communities around the town. Its hearing materials name New Baltimore, Bealeton, Marshall, Opal, The Plains, Catlett, Turnbull, Auburn Crossing, Whitewood Forest, Waterloo Estates, Green Meadows, and Bethel Academy, among others. Its budget also notes that Vint Hill's water system has transferred to the authority. For a buyer choosing between a home in one of those communities and a home inside town limits, today's FCWSA advantage of about $21 a month at 7,000 gallons is shrinking under FCWSA's own plan.
Beyond either system, everything runs on groundwater
Fauquier County's water resources page says county residents outside the Town of Warrenton rely exclusively on groundwater. The county looked at reservoirs and other surface water options years ago and dropped the idea because of cost, impact on historic and environmental resources, and public opposition. So the authority's systems draw on the same groundwater that supplies homes with their own wells. A home with a Warrenton address on acreage may have no water bill from anyone. Its costs depend on the well itself, which is a different kind of due diligence from reading a rate schedule.
For new construction or a property that isn't yet connected, the authority's fee schedule lists availability fees of $19,750 for water and $19,250 for sewer on a standard residential meter. Where it applies, there is also a Route 29 sewer surcharge of $4,000 per equivalent meter unit. On a land purchase, those fees can add up to more than several years of water bills.
The market gives buyers time to ask
Greater Piedmont REALTORS figures for Fauquier County in August 2026, published by FauquierNow on October 9, show a median sale price of $645,000, compared with $650,000 a year earlier. There were 85 sales, down from 89, and homes spent a median of 16 days on market, up from 10. Sixteen days isn't a slow market, but it's more time than buyers had a year ago. That's enough time to ask for a property's utility history and to find out where the town line runs before you make an offer.
Questions to settle before writing an offer
- Is the property inside the incorporated Town of Warrenton, or does it only have a Warrenton mailing address?
- Which system supplies its water and sewer: town water at the in-town rate, town water at the out-of-town rate, FCWSA, or a private well?
- What did the last twelve months of water and sewer bills actually come to, and at what monthly usage?
- If the home is on FCWSA, what does its planned 9% yearly increase mean for your expected usage over the next few years?
- For land or new construction, does the lot need a new connection, and do availability fees or the Route 29 surcharge apply?
A few quick answers
Does a lower county tax rate mean a lower county tax bill? Not in 2026. The rate fell more than seven cents, but rising assessments meant the average homeowner still paid $321.43 more a year, according to FauquierNow's account of the budget vote.
Will the town's water rates keep rising 23% a year? The town's budget calls fiscal 2027 the final year of double-digit increases recommended by its rate study. Future rates still need council approval.
When did FCWSA's new rates take effect? They apply to bills dated October 1, 2026 and later.
This post is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rates and assessments change, so please confirm the figures for a specific property with the town, the county, FCWSA, or a qualified professional.
If you're weighing a home in town against one just outside it, Paul Wesley Real Estate can help you gather the utility history and rate details for each property, so you can compare the full monthly cost of owning before you decide. Contact Us whenever you're ready to start.
