The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors' proposed three-cent tax increase from 68 cents to 71 cents for real estate property taxes dominated discussion at a public hearing last night regarding the Board's recommended fiscal year budget for 2008-09. The budget plans triggered a series of responses from community members for and against the plans.
The total 2008-09 proposed budget for Albemarle County is $331.4 million, which is a $26 million increase from the 2007-08 budget. The proposed operating budget, meanwhile, increased 2.1 percent, from $266.1 million in 2007-08 to $268.7 million in 2008-09.
Citizens in attendance were divided, with some arguing in favor of the tax increase, some arguing for the same tax rate as last year and some arguing for a lowered rate.
Albemarle resident Therese Provence spoke in favor of raising the real estate tax rate, noting "county services maintain and support our property values" and adding the services provided by the county "make it such a special place to live."
Provence maintained that by raising the tax rate, the Board might provide better services and an increased quality of living to county residents. Furthermore, if taxes are not increased and county services subsequently decline as a result, property values will be reduced, Provence said.
Mary Spencer also argued in favor of the tax increase, saying the new tax rate will "allow Albemarle to fully fund its educational budget for next year ... [and put] it back on track toward achieving a world-class [educational] system."
Sydney Giacalone and Treyone Cook, both of whom are currently students in the Albemarle County public school system, echoed this sentiment, noting that they too were in favor of increasing the tax rate. They explained the increase will allow their respective schools to continue funding programs in which they have participated, such as the African-American studies program at local middle schools. They said they feared that if the tax increase is not passed, their schools will have to cut these and other programs to make ends meet.
Albemarle resident Travis Harris spoke on behalf of the tax increase for a different reason. He stated that the Board needs to face the "dark, grim need of affordable housing" in the county and said the Board should use the increased revenue from the tax to create an affordable housing fund.
Other Albemarle residents, however, adamantly opposed the proposed tax rate increase.
Albemarle resident Betty Sevechko asked the Board not to raise real estate taxes, citing a 19.5-percent tax increase on real estate taxes that the Board approved in the 2007-08 budget. She added that she was "concerned with the direction this county is moving." She asked the Board, moreover, not to increase the burden on the taxpayers in the county and instead to scrutinize the budget more carefully and cut out what she referred to as unnecessary expenditures. She and several other citizens also argued that the increase would be an "undue burden" on the taxpayers of Albemarle County.
Resident Charlie Trachta also spoke against the proposed increase. He said he "would pay a higher tax for a world-class [educational] system" but finds the higher tax unacceptable in this case because the current education system is not one.
"Until we get a system that is world-class, as far as I'm concerned, the budget is adequate," Trachta said, citing personal experiences with the school system in which he believed the public schools failed his child.
Other residents also argued that the school system is inefficient in its spending and said the county could save money by cutting administrative costs.
Resident Tom Strassburg, meanwhile, said raising the tax rate could proportionately increase the cost of rent. He argued that increasing the tax rate would hurt poor families trying to afford housing. For many families, Strassburg continued, this would mean "the difference between having a decent place to live and not."
Yesterday's hearing was the last in a series of three discussions open to the public. The Board of Supervisors will vote on the proposed tax rate increase and the county budget April 9.
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