The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has decided to advertise a real estate tax rate of 71 cents for every $100 of assessed value, 3 cents higher than the current rate. But hold your fire, disgruntled county homeowners: That doesn’t mean that the Board will approve a 71-cent tax rate. Supes set a rate of 71 cents to advertise because state law says they can’t go higher than the advertised rate—but they certainly can go lower.
“I want to hear what the people have to say,” says Supervisor Dennis Rooker. He had originally wanted to advertise a 70-cent tax rate.
 Christian Schoenewald, chair of the county GOP, says the 71-cent advertised rate is “a little disappointing.” |
The budget process has been complicated this year by stagnant real estate assessments and a constricted state budget. Just after setting the tax rate, supervisors learned that the state was reducing its allocation to the county by $600,000.
“It’s a little disappointing that they settled on a maximum rate that is higher than what [County Executive] Bob Tucker’s budget needed,” says Christian Schoenewald, the recently appointed chair of the Albemarle County GOP. “I would hope that the Board realizes that as we go into tougher economic times, raising taxes now would be a very poor idea.”
Part of the frustration for county leaders is continuing reductions in funding from Richmond, most notably in the realm of transportation. As Rooker notes, an already underfunded state transportation allocation is being cut 40 percent—which means $2 million less for next year.
“I think that the state has failed to live up to its obligations as one of its core functions of government to account for transportation fund-ing,” admits Schoenewald. “When they fail to fund that, it really makes you wonder what the priorities of Richmond really are.”
The county’s public hearing on the tax rate is scheduled for April 2.
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