Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders presented the proposed budget to City Council on March 6, prompting discussion and debate on funding allocations and potential tax hikes. Coming in at 350 pages and $251,526,900 in total revenues and expenditures, Charlottesville’s budget for FY25 is hefty in several ways. However, nothing is final yet. Councilors have until […]
Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders presented the proposed budget to City Council on March 6, prompting discussion and debate on funding allocations and potential tax hikes. Coming in at 350 pages and $251,526,900 in total revenues and expenditures, Charlottesville’s budget for FY25 is hefty in several ways. However, nothing is final yet. Councilors have until […]
Affordable housing is a priority for Charlottesville, and to pay for that in its $188 million budget, the city proposes raising the meals tax, an idea restaurant owners traditionally hate. The 1 percent increase on the current 5 percent meals tax adds 10 cents to a $10 meal and would raise $2.4 million, according to […]
Although revenue is up in Albemarle, and county exec Jeff Richardson presented a sunny forecast to the Board of Supervisors February 15, his $457-million fiscal year 2020 budget is based on upping the current property tax rate by 1.5 cents. He calls the budget, which increases spending 5.7 percent, “an ambitious vision statement that is […]
One sign of a healthy economy is when local government adds new positions, and Charlottesville City Manager Maurice Jones has several in his proposed $179 million budget for fiscal year 2019, including 2.5 full-time positions to help city councilors with policy and communications. That $225,000 allocation adds a new research and policy employee and gives […]
When Jeff Richardson got a call and an invitation to apply for the open county executive position in Albemarle County, the Tar Heel state transplant says his only tie to the area was a three-week leadership program at the University of Virginia about 15 years ago. “Those training opportunities had a profound impact on my […]
Albemarle County Executive Jeff Richardson, who took the job November 6, went before the Board of Supervisors on February 16 to propose his first budget, which is nearly 8 percent higher than the one for the current year. He’s recommending $428,500,374 for fiscal year 2019, a $13.5 million increase. Per usual, the biggest slice of […]
City Manager Maurice Jones presented his $170 million draft budget for fiscal year 2017-2018 at the March 6 City Council meeting, citing the city’s significant growth as a main reason for the 6 percent increase over the current adopted budget. “City Council and staff have identified two critical areas that must be addressed in order […]
When Interim County Executive Doug Walker presented Albemarle County’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 to the Board of Supervisors last week, unlike last year, it did not include a bump in the 83.9 cents per $100 real estate tax rate. Revenues are projected to increase $21,866,508, or 5.8 percent, thanks primarily to higher real […]
Tackling a county budget may seem daunting, but Smart Cville tactfully lays out Albemarle’s budget in a spread of colors with its new budget visualization tool that illustrates how your money helps the county. Smart Cville, a locally based nonprofit, aims to open up data, plain and simple. Creator Lucas Ames, 35, sent out a […]
Legislators in Richmond ended the General Assembly session one day early after passing a record $105 billion biennial budget March 11 and sending it to Governor Terry McAuliffe. Both sides of the aisle praise its passage, while regretting the what-might-have-beens. McAuliffe didn’t get the Medicaid expansion he wanted—again—but he commends the oft-contentious legislature for investing […]