Charlottesville Council to hold final tax rate public hearing and then adopt FY25 budget

For decades, Council has had a tradition of adopting the budget on the second Tuesday of April at a special meeting in order to meet the April 15 deadline in the City Charter to ratify the revenue and expenditures plan. 

This year is different due to a decision two weeks ago when Council directed staff to explore the possibility of raising the personal property tax, something that has not been altered in years.

In the wake of the pandemic, Charlottesville was alone in area localities in keeping its rate the same at a time when valuation of used vehicles was skyrocketing. On April 1, City Councilor Natalie Oschrin said she wanted higher rates to deprioritize automobile use. 

On April 4, 2024, Council reached consensus to advertise a 20 cent increase in the personal property tax rate to $4.40 per $100 of assessed value. That provided enough revenue to limit a proposed meals tax rate increase to half a percentage point. The budget is also based on a two cent increase in the real estate rate to $0.98 cents per $100 of assessed value and a lodging tax rate increase from eight percent to nine percent. (read my account)

On April 6, 2024, Charlottesville performed their legal obligation by advertising the public hearing in the newspaper of record. Here’s the advertisement:

“NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Charlottesville City Council will hold a public hearing on Monday, April 15, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall, 605 East Main Street, Charlottesville, Virginia to consider an amendment to City Code Section 30-31 to increase the local excise tax imposed upon Personal Property Tax from $4.20 per $100 to $4.80 per $100 of the amount charged for such property including business tangible personal property and machinery and tools,” reads the required notice.

Nothing requires the staff report to spell out any of this information, and it does not. The staff report does tell us that the general fund budget has increased by $1,386,668 since the first reading on April 1 to a new total of $253,335,298, a 0.55 percent increase. 

There is a list of amendments that confirm direction given by Council such a symbolic removal of $12,000 that had been slated for the Fralin Museum of Art. There are a lot of moving parts in this document including an additional $601,681 for Charlottesville Area Transit to hire more drivers to be able to implement long-awaited service restorations. CAT’s budget is now over $15 million. (read the amendments)

Will anyone speak at the public hearing? How many people actually know about its happening? Will the room contain people who yell and jeer at people who have opinions they disagree with? 

After that item, Council will consider reallocating $21,000 toward a plan to reduce stormwater regulation by coming up with a scheme of pre-approved practices for a certain kind of site. 

“These projects would save time and expense in the design and review of stormwater management systems, while still complying with the City’s stormwater management ordinance,” reads the staff report. “If successful, this tool would make it easier for property owners with less experience and expertise to engage in small- scale development projects.” 

The meeting concludes with a report from the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority and the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority. (review the report)

Here’s what is on the consent agenda:

• Charlottesville serves as a pass-through conduit in $600,000 funding from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for a project to add parking and a pedestrian bridge for the Dogwood Memorial in McIntire Park. A continued home for the memorial in the park was one of Council’s 12 conditions to support the John Warner Parkway. (learn more)
• Council will adopt the minutes for the February 27, 2024 work session on the alternative fuels study for Charlottesville Area Transit. I wrote a story about it too. 
• There will be a second reading of an appropriation of an additional $130,059.50 for the Rugby Avenue Bicycle & Pedestrian Trail Project. I got an angry email about this project this morning. (learn more)
• Currently vehicles assessed at less than $1,000 are 100 percent exempt from the personal property tax. There’s a second reading of a resolution to extend the threshold to $1,500. (learn more)
• There is a second reading of a technical amendment related to the above. (learn more)
• There is a resolution to spend $40,000 on a study to create a shared-use path as part of the Hydraulic Road work that’s currently underway. (learn more)
• There are resolutions to appropriate $394,256 in funding received from the Virginia Department of Transportation through their Revenue Sharing Program. This is half of what’s required to build two sidewalks that appear on a new priority list that Council will review at the work session. The city pays the rest. (learn more)

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 is from the April 15, 2024 Week Ahead edition of the newsletter.