Albemarle Supervisors agree to advertise increases in personal property tax rate, lodging tax rate

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors has settled on tax rates to advertise before a public hearing on April 17 for the county’s budget for fiscal year 2025. That will be followed by a second public hearing on the tax rate on April 24.

• Supervisors agreed to consider a one percent tax rate increase on the transient lodging tax from eight percent to nine percent. This would match rates proposed in the City of Charlottesville. 
• For the personal property / machinery and tools tax rate there is a proposed increase of 54 cents per $100 of assessed value to $3.92 per $100. This would be effective January 1, 2024 which will mean additional revenue in the current fiscal year. 
• The real property tax rate will remain at $0.854 per $100 of assessed value and the public notice will contain the legally-required notice that the “effective” or “lowered” tax rate to bring in the same amount of revenues as FY24 would be $0.821 per $100. 

Supervisors are not obligated to actually make the increases this year but cannot increase them any higher following the public hearing. 

At the end of their previous budget work session on March 25, Supervisors had indicated to staff what additional expenditures they would like to fund and suggested some changes to potential revenue sources. 

The above revenue changes would bring in an additional $5,397,488. A funding formula allocates ten percent to debt service, 54 percent to school operations, and $1,937,256 in revenues available to the local government. 

Those local government revenues would go to: 

• Hire 16 full-time-equivalents to both fully staff the North Garden Fire department 24 hours, seven days a week and to be able to run another ambulance to serve the fire rescue station on Berkmar Drive. Staff will pursue a SAFER grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help cover the cost of launching the North Garden initiative.  
• Expand the Human Services Alternative Response Team with an additional three full-time equivalents.
• Add one full time position in the Sheriff’s office to cover the need to have an officer preside over people under temporary detention orders.
• Add one full time police officer. 

Supervisor Mike Pruitt supported all but the additional position in the Sheriff’s Office at this time. Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley wanted to consider if the position could be completed mid-year when there is more data. 

Supervisor Diantha McKeel noted that Sheriff Chan Bryant had sought four and a half new positions.

“One position is a fair compromise,” McKeel said. “I think that will help her and then we can wait on the other three.”

Supervisor Ann Mallek suggested proceeding now to make sure whoever is hired can be in place. 

Another unresolved issue is a funding gap between what Albemarle schools have requested and what the local government is willing to fund. The gap sits at $13.3 million based on County Executive Jeffrey Richardson’s budget. 

The additional revenue from the personal property tax and the lodging tax would bring in $2.9 million for schools, but enough to close the gap. 

Andy Bowman, the county’s chief of budget, said the amount of revenues from the Commonwealth of Virginia are not yet known without a budget, but he had some additional information yesterday. 

“Based on the state revenue update that we have which is not final and subject to change, with an asterisk, lots of caveats here, but based on talking to my counterpart Maya Kumazawa, director of school budget and planning, the latest forecast would be if the Governor were to approve the budget based on the General Assembly, [Albemarle schools] would receive an additional $4.8 million in funding,” Bowman said. 

That would leave a $5.6 million gap for the School Board to resolve. That elected body has a meeting today that was happening at publication time. 

During their series of work sessions, Supervisors agreed to several changes to the capital improvement program. 

• They eliminated $165,000 for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank for a project that has since been fully funded through other sources.
• An additional $74,178 was allocated for cost increases associated with remediation of the closed Ivy Landfill operated by the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority
• There’s $800,000 from the community capital fund to support the Earlysville Volunteer Fire Company 
• There’s $230,000 from the community capital fund to support the Seminole Trail Volunteer Fire Company

Supervisors’ motion to set the tax rates for advertisement was unanimous. 

The consent agenda for the April 3 meeting will include a resolution to schedule a public hearing on April 24 and to advertise the above tax rates. Supervisors will adopt the budget on May 1. 

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