Roanoke apartment operating costs are driven mostly by a handful of public charges an owner cannot negotiate: a real estate tax of $1.22 per $100 of assessed value, a stormwater fee tied to paved and roofed area, a city solid waste fee, Western Virginia Water Authority water and sewer rates, and Appalachian Power electricity for common areas. Add Virginia’s landlord-tenant requirements and, in parts of the city, a rental inspection program, and you have the core of a Roanoke operating budget before insurance, payroll and repairs.
This article walks through each of those lines with current published rates, shows how they add up for a hypothetical building, and points out where costs are likely to change next.
The Roanoke rental market behind the budget
Roanoke is an independent city, separate from surrounding Roanoke County, so one local government assesses and taxes real estate inside city limits. The city’s Office of Real Estate Valuation appraises all real property in the city under City Code § 32-40. The Census Bureau’s QuickFacts for Roanoke describe a stable, rent-heavy market:
- 100,011 residents in the 2020 Census and an estimated 99,111 on July 1, 2025.
- 43,575 households and an owner-occupied housing rate of 52.4% for 2020–2024, meaning nearly half of households rent.
- A median gross rent of $996 a month for 2020–2024.
Carilion Clinic, listed in the 10,000-plus employee range on the Roanoke Regional Partnership’s list of leading regional employers, anchors much of the local job base. The rent figure matters for budgeting because fixed public charges take a larger share of revenue in a market where median rents sit under $1,000. A cost that is a rounding error in a high-rent city can be a meaningful percentage of income here.
Real estate taxes: the largest public line
Rate and billing
The city’s tax information page states, “The tax rate is $1.22 for every $100 of your property’s assessed value.” Taxes are due April 5 and October 5 each year, bills are usually mailed at the end of February and the end of August, and late payment carries a 10% penalty. The city adopted its $421.5 million fiscal year 2027 budget at a May 11, 2026 special session.
At $1.22 per $100, each $100,000 of assessed value costs $1,220 a year. A building assessed at $2.4 million would owe $29,280 a year, split into two installments of $14,640.
Annual reassessment and appeals
Roanoke reassesses every year. Property is appraised at 100% of market value annually under Virginia Code § 58.1-3201 and City Code § 32-40, and the city notifies owners of their new values each January. That annual cycle means assessments track the market closely, so rising sale prices in a neighborhood show up in tax bills within a year or two rather than waiting for a multi-year reappraisal.
Owners who disagree with an assessment start with the Office of Real Estate Valuation, by the deadline on its published “Important Dates” schedule. After that, they can appeal to the Board of Equalization, which the city describes as “a three member citizen panel, appointed by the Circuit Court each March.” For income-producing property, a current rent roll and operating statement are the most useful evidence, especially when a building’s actual income lags what comparable sales imply.
Personal property tax on vehicles
Roanoke also levies a personal property tax of $3.45 per $100 of assessed value for the 2026 tax year on vehicles, trailers and similar items “garaged, parked, or stored” in the city. For an apartment owner, that mostly matters for maintenance trucks or trailers kept on site or registered to the property.
Stormwater: a fee based on hard surfaces
Roanoke charges a stormwater utility fee based on impervious area: roofs, parking lots, sidewalks and other hard surfaces. According to the city’s stormwater fee and credits page, the charge is $1.55 per monthly billing unit, or $18.60 per year, with each billing unit equal to 500 square feet of impervious area, rounded to the nearest whole number. Tax-exempt properties pay the fee too.
Apartment complexes with large parking lots feel this charge more than compact buildings. A property with 30,000 square feet of roof and pavement has 60 billing units, which comes to $1,116 a year. A garden-style complex with 120,000 square feet of impervious surface would pay $4,464.
Earning a credit
Larger properties can reduce the fee through the city’s commercial credit. Those credits are awarded based on the impervious area actually served by each stormwater best management practice (BMP), and the BMP must be listed in the Virginia BMP Clearinghouse. Applications are due by June 1 to take effect on the October bill, and fee appeals are due within 30 days of the bill. The city’s 50% residential credit applies only to single- and two-family homes, so it does not help apartment owners.
Trash and bulky item rules
Roanoke’s solid waste fee page lists a charge of $218.40 a year “for properties with more than one home (like apartments),” billed separately on the fall and spring real estate tax bills. The city’s FY2025 fee compendium lists the same multifamily fee. The published material does not spell out how the fee applies to larger complexes, and city collection is described as serving “homes and some small businesses,” so owners of bigger properties should confirm with the city whether they are covered or need a private hauler, which would be a separate line item.
The enforcement rules matter for turnover costs. After an eviction or when more than three bulky items are set out, the owner or manager has 24 hours to clear them, or the city will collect them and bill the owner. Budgeting a small amount for bulky-item removal and building it into move-out procedures avoids those charges.
Water and sewer from the Western Virginia Water Authority
The current rate schedule
The Western Virginia Water Authority provides water and sewer service in Roanoke, and its board approves rates each June. The authority’s rates and fees page links to the schedule that took effect October 1, 2026. Its key figures are:
- Water volume charges of $3.65 per 1,000 gallons in the first tier, $5.50 in the second and $6.00 in the third. Commercial customers move into the second tier after 40,000 gallons and the third after 80,000.
- Sewer volume charges of $4.50 per 1,000 gallons in the first tier and $5.00 in the second.
- Monthly water base charges by meter size of $18.05 for a 5/8-inch meter, $45.15 for 1-inch, $144.40 for 2-inch and $541.50 for 4-inch.
- Monthly sewer base charges of $25.90 for a 5/8-inch meter, $64.75 for 1-inch, $207.20 for 2-inch and $777.00 for 4-inch.
- A late fee of 10% or $1.50, whichever is greater.
What the schedule means for a master-metered building
Meter size drives the fixed portion of the bill. A building on a single 2-inch meter pays $351.60 a month in combined water and sewer base charges, or $4,219.20 a year, before a single gallon is used. At first-tier rates, each additional 1,000 gallons costs $8.15 for water and sewer combined.
Meter size alone can move the fixed cost by hundreds of dollars a month. Combined water and sewer base charges come to $43.95 a month for a 5/8-inch meter, $109.90 for a 1-inch meter and $1,318.50 for a 4-inch meter, so an oversized service on a modest building is worth reviewing with the authority.
Usage charges climb through the tiers as well. For an account billed under the commercial tier thresholds, 100,000 gallons of water in a month would cost $146 for the first 40,000 gallons, $220 for the next 40,000 and $120 for the final 20,000, or $486 in water volume charges before sewer.
That combination makes water a controllable expense. Low-flow fixtures, leak detection and prompt toilet repairs reduce volume charges directly, and in buildings where the owner pays water, a ratio utility billing system can shift part of the cost to residents where leases allow it.
Electricity and Appalachian Power rate cases
Appalachian Power serves Roanoke, and its rates move through cases before Virginia’s State Corporation Commission. In most apartment buildings, residents pay for electricity in their own units, while the owner pays for common-area lighting, laundry rooms, exterior lighting and any owner-supplied heat or hot water.
The last base rate case added relatively little. Cardinal News reported that in November 2024 the commission approved an increase that raised the average residential bill by about $1.39 a month, compared with the roughly $10 the company had sought. A new request is pending. According to Appalachian Power’s Virginia rate page, the company filed on May 29, 2026 for an increase of approximately $61.4 million that would add about $9.10 a month for a residential customer using 1,000 kWh, after $8.38 in securitization savings, and “no changes will occur until March 2027.” Cardinal News reported that the commission must rule by January 15, 2027, and that commission staff recommended a $5.5 million decrease instead. Owners should treat the requested figure as a proposal until the commission decides.
Rental inspections and code compliance
Roanoke’s Rental Inspection Program
Roanoke runs a Rental Inspection Program in designated areas of the city. Units in those areas must pass an inspection at least once every four years, and a passing unit receives a Certificate of Compliance valid for four years. The 16 listed areas include Belmont, Gilmer, Hurt Park, Melrose/Rugby, Morningside and Washington Park, among others. Inspections follow the Virginia Maintenance Code and are carried out by the city’s Code Enforcement division.
The fees themselves are small. The city’s FY2025 fee compendium lists $25 for each initial or periodic inspection and $50 for each follow-up compliance inspection.
State limits for larger buildings
Virginia Code § 36-105.1:1, which authorizes local rental inspection programs, gives larger buildings some protection. For multifamily developments with more than 10 units, the locality inspects only a sample of 2% to 10% of the units, and it cannot charge a fee for inspecting more than 10 units unless violations are found. Units that pass are exempt for at least four years. For an apartment owner, the real cost of the program is rarely the fee; it is the repair work an inspection turns up and the follow-up visits needed to clear it.
Landlord-tenant rules that carry a cost
The Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sets duties that translate directly into budget lines:
- Section 55.1-1220 requires landlords to prevent the accumulation of moisture and the growth of mold and to address visible mold promptly, which supports budgeting for ventilation, roof and plumbing maintenance.
- The same section requires a smoke alarm certificate no more than once every 12 months and the supply of heat, hot water and “reasonable air conditioning if provided.”
- Under § 55.1-1229(E), a landlord must install a carbon monoxide alarm within 90 days of a tenant’s written request and may charge the tenant a reasonable fee to cover the cost.
- Under § 55.1-1226, a security deposit may not exceed two months’ rent, and the itemized disposition is due within 45 days after the tenancy ends.
None of these are large on their own, but together they argue for a dedicated life-safety and moisture line in the budget rather than treating them as surprise repairs.
Roanoke apartment operating costs for a sample building
To show how the public charges stack up, consider a hypothetical 24-unit building assessed at $2.4 million, with 30,000 square feet of impervious surface and a single 2-inch master water meter:
- Real estate tax at $1.22 per $100: $29,280 a year.
- Stormwater fee for 60 billing units at $18.60: $1,116 a year.
- Water and sewer base charges for a 2-inch meter: $4,219.20 a year, before usage.
- Water and sewer usage: $8.15 per 1,000 gallons at first-tier rates.
- Solid waste fee: $218.40 a year as listed, subject to confirming how it applies to the property.
Before water usage, insurance, common-area electricity, payroll, management and repairs, those charges come to roughly $34,800 a year, or about $1,450 per unit. At Roanoke’s median gross rent of $996 a month, that is more than a month’s rent per unit absorbed by public charges alone.
A calendar of Roanoke cost dates
Many of these charges arrive on fixed dates, which makes them easy to plan for:
- January: the city mails annual reassessment notices, which start the appeal window.
- End of February: first-half real estate tax bills are usually mailed.
- April 5: the first real estate tax installment is due, along with the spring solid waste charge.
- June 1: the deadline to apply for a stormwater credit that takes effect on the October bill.
- End of August: second-half real estate tax bills are usually mailed.
- October 1: the date the water authority’s current rate schedule took effect this year, following its June board approval.
- October 5: the second real estate tax installment is due.
Keeping a reserve for the April and October tax dates, rather than paying them out of a single month’s collections, keeps a building’s cash flow smooth.
What these costs mean for owners
A few practical takeaways follow from the numbers:
- Real estate tax is the largest public line, and because Roanoke reassesses every year, it rises with the market. Reviewing each January notice and appealing when the income does not support the value is worth the effort.
- Stormwater and water base charges are fixed costs set by surface area and meter size, so they are best addressed through credits, meter sizing and conservation rather than negotiation.
- Bulky-item rules and inspection follow-ups are avoidable costs that depend on operations.
- Electricity costs for common areas could rise in 2027 depending on the outcome of the pending rate case.
Every one of these lines flows through to net operating income, and therefore to value. Our NOI calculator is a quick way to test how a change in taxes or utilities affects a building’s bottom line. Owners thinking about what comes next can read about selling an apartment building in Roanoke on our city page, and our Virginia market overview covers other cities across the state.
