Public hearings on tax rate increases before Charlottesville City Council tonight

Council has option to raise real property tax rate to 99 cents per $100 of assessed value

There are five public hearings before the Charlottesville City Council tonight and three of them are tax rate increases designed to help cover the cost of implementing policies to retaining city employees. Council’s regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. after a work session earlier in the afternoon. (meeting info)

Three out of five public hearings for this meeting relate to the tax rates and not to the actual budget itself. That will be held on Thursday, March 21. The processes are connected but separate. 

Charlottesville is one of 135 political jurisdictions in Virginia and subject to state law that requires the publication of information about what the real property tax rate would need to be to bring in the same amount of revenue as the current fiscal year. The City Assessor’s office reported a five percent increase in 2024. 

“The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above, would be $0.9178 per $100 of assessed value,” reads the staff report.

Sanders’ budget is based on a two cent increase in the real property tax rate, but the staff report states an increase of three cents was legally advertised in the Charlottesville Daily Progress in case Council wants to generate more revenue for spending on more government services. I have a question out on when that advertisement was made. The first public hearing is for this rate increase.

The second public hearing is for the proposed lodging tax rate increase from eight percent to nine percent, which will bring in just over $1 million in revenue in FY25. 

The third public hearing is for the increase in the meals tax rate from 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent. That is estimated to bring in over $3 million in additional revenue for FY2025. 

More on the fourth and fifth public hearings in just a moment.

Group seeks Council to take action demanding ceasefire

Many people in attendance may be there for an international item that is so far not on Council’s agenda. The Charlottesville Jewish Organizing Coalition sent out a press release stating they plan to pack Chambers with people to get Council to take action on a resolution in support of a ceasefire in Gaza.

“The proposed resolution was drafted by the Charlottesville Jewish Organizing Coalition, and is being supported by a wide coalition of faith-based and community organizations, as well as five of the city’s former elected leaders,” reads a press release sent out this morning.

Learn more at their website. The time to comment would be during Community Matters which is after the Consent Agenda and after the City Manager’s Report.

Some items on the consent agenda worth noting:

• There is first of two readings to appropriate a $150,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture for Charlottesville’s Urban Forest Management Plan. The current plan is from 2009 and needs an update. The new document will establish a formal tree canopy goal and “engage difficult-to-teach and previously underrepresented communities.” (staff report)
• There is the first of two readings to appropriate a $21,458 grant from the Library of Virginia Circuit Court Records Preservation Grants Review Board. (staff report)
• There is the first of two readings to raise the threshold for appropriations that require a second reading from Council from $1,001 to $5,000. (staff report)
• There is a resolution to refund $10,941.65 in business tangible personal property tax that was paid by a non-profit who relocated into Charlottesville in 2022 but is actually exempt. A previous amount has previously been paid. The resolution does not identify the entity. Would a FOIA request yield that information? (staff report)

More public hearings: BEACON kitchen may cover unexpected costs with federal funds

There are two other public hearings. The fourth is for a lease renewal with Verizon to rent space in the Market Street Parking Garage for communications equipment. The annual rent is $9,450, a five percent increase. 

The fifth is for additional funding for the New Hill Development Corporation for their BEACON commercial kitchen which is under construction in Kathy’s Shopping Center on Carlton Avenue, which is not within the scope of the Starr Hill Vision Plan. The city has already allocated $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to the project and now there is a public hearing on reallocating $89,896.51 in Community Development Block Grant funds. 

According to the materials for the public hearing, the New Hill Development Corporation underestimated what they needed to refit the site. For instance, they planned for smaller connections to water and sewer than what is actually needed. Part of the funding will cover the difference in the required fees. 

“These unanticipated infrastructure enhancements have slowed the current site work, thereby pushing back the timeline by which NHDC can enact the interior renovations and installation of the numerous commercial-grade items needed for the final program, many of which have already been ordered,” reads the staff report.

The CDBG funding had been allocated to public infrastructure projects, and this reallocation would continue a trend away from that in favor of providing infrastructure to private non-profit entities. Council recently agreed to reallocate $215,000 in unspent CDBG funds to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. 

With the public hearings out of the way, there’s an ordinance for a telecommunications franchise agreement for WANRock for the use of city-owned right of way. (staff report) (franchise agreement)

Council to consider recommendations for affordable housing funds

Anyone who keeps watching the meeting after the public hearings can hear the presentation on how two pools of funding related to affordable housing will be allocated. The housing strategy adopted in March 2021 morally commits Council to spending $10 million a year on the issue. Two of the pools are for Housing Operation Programs Support and for the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund. 

Recommendations for funding from the CAHF from the FY2024 allocation are:

• $117,196 for the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program for the Charlottesville Critical Rehabilitation Program for six households. The request was for $210,000. 
• $74,054 for Community Services Housing to make repairs to 13 units. That was the full request.
• $393,750 for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville to invest in construction for up to 18 new units. The full request was for $525,000. 
• $250,000 for Piedmont Housing Alliance to subsidize the cost of rentals of new construction at 501 Cherry Avenue. This is separate from capital funding in the five-year capital improvement program. 

Requests from the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Virginia Supportive Housing were not requested for funding through the CAHF in FY2024. Learn more details in the staff report.

As for HOPS, a committee recommends the following:

• $35,000 for the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless for the System of Care Coordination Program. A total of $50,000 was requested for this purpose. 
• $28,000 for the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless for their Homeless Information Line program. The request was for $40,000. 
• $55,034 for Community Services Housing’s Community Services Housing program. The request was for $78,620. 
• $65,250 for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville’s homeownership program. The request was for $75,000. 
• $70,000 for PACEM’s Case Management Program. The request was for $100,000.
• $148,000 for Piedmont Housing Alliance’s Charlottesville Affordable Housing Program. The request was for $185,000.  
• $95,716 for The Haven’s Vital Housing Services Program. The request was for $150,000. 
• $88,000 for the Haven’s Day Shelter Program. The request was for $110,000. 

Anyone sticking around the meeting can watch as Council votes to formally change its rules for meetings. One rule is that Council will no longer have joint public hearings with the Planning Commission, an advisory body that became much less relevant with the adoption of the Development Code. 

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the March 18, 2024 Week Ahead. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.