Many people weigh in on Albemarle’s recommended budget at first public hearing

This week will see two town hall meetings and two work sessions for Albemarle County’s proposed budget for FY2026. County Executive Jeffrey Richardson introduced the document at a meeting on February 26. Go back and read this story if you want more details.

After that work session, the $642,386,163 budget began its way through the public process which included a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors on March 3.

In previous years there were not many speakers. That’s not the case this year. What follows are some of the comments. Attempts have been made to spell each name correctly but please send in adjustments.

The first speaker was Karen Egan, a resident of the Rivanna District who seeks additional funding to add capacity at Albemarle Public Schools.

“ACPS schools are overcrowded and antiquated,” Egan said. “The majority of ACPS students currently attend schools that are at or over 95 percent capacity with several over 100 percent capacity.”

Hollymead resident Brad Rogers called for Supervisors to tour facilities with their counterparts on the School Board to assess conditions and to strategize on new funding sources.

“We have heard of far off legislative solutions such as a 1 percent sales tax that has failed to receive the support it needs to be enacted,” Rogers said. “But there are many other tools at your disposal that can be used right now. Please consider bond referendums, public private partnerships, specific tax based carve outs for schools and or additional methods to fund critical school facilities.”

Rogers referred to attempts by the General Assembly to adopt legislation allowing localities to hold a referendum on that sales tax. Legislation passed both chambers in 2024 but Governor Glenn Youngkin exercised his veto. Legislation passed again this year, and Youngkin has not yet taken any actions.

The next speaker is from the group IMPACT which for decades has advocated for social justice issues. This year they’re making a push for additional funding and specifically substantial investment in the county’s affordable housing trust fund.

“These trust funds have been successfully implemented across the country helping seniors, essential workers, families and individuals find stable housing,” said Tom Ekman of the Rivanna District. “For every $1 put into a housing trust fund, nonprofit developers can leverage an extra $8 from other sources.

Housing affordability continued as a theme with the fourth speaker. Dave Norris served two terms on City Council from 2006 to 2013 and is now the executive director of the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors Foundation. The organization sent a letter to Richardson and the Supervisors supporting a $10 million allocation to the housing trust.

“Realtors are on the front lines of our community’s housing challenges,” Norris said. “They see the impact every day of rising housing prices and how it places homes out of reach of the very people who do the hard work of making our community function.”

The budget introduced by Richardson has $4.2 million in funding for affordable housing with $3 million of that being a transfer of $3 million from the budget of the current fiscal year. The rest would come from a portion of a four cent increase in the real property tax.

The next speaker, Lois Sandy, said the amount proposed in Richardson’s budget is too low.

“I know there are several thousand, I don’t know the exact number, but several thousand adults in our Albemarle community unable to afford housing,” Sandy said.

Michael Monaco, the chair of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee is glad that four-tenths of a cent of the tax rate increase will go toward housing, but he said it is not enough.

“The actual dollar amount in this draft budget, the $4.2 million, is not sufficient,” Monaco said, adding that he and his wife were fortunate to purchase a house that had been proffered to be affordable to a household below 80 percent of the area median income. But just barely.

“Our good fortune and privilege truly opened my eyes to how fragile housing is in Albemarle County,” Monaco said. “Since living in Crozet, I have known too many people who live in Waynesboro, Stanton, Fluvanna, Madison, Nelson just because they can’t afford to live in Albemarle County.

Matt Gillikin, a Charlottesville resident and co-chair of the group Livable CVille reminded Supervisors that over 50 organizations recently signed on to a letter calling for a higher tax rate as well as $10 million a year. (read that story)

In his comments, Gillikin referred to a recent report on social mobility in the area. (read that story)

“The Orange Dot report came out in October and it said that 18 percent of Albemarle county families are struggling to meet their basic needs,” Gillikin said. “And it specifically highlights housing as an area where that need is being stretched the most. So what do we need to do? We need to say yes to housing.”

Housing comments continued with Keith McGlamery, a 12-year resident of the White Hall District. He urged Supervisors to find the additional $5.8 million so that more people can find a home.

“A house provides shelter from the elements and is made of wood, steel, bricks and mortar,” McGlamery said. “However, it is the people who live in it, particularly families who transform it into a home. In their home, a person can experience safety and security and a sense of belonging and acceptance.

The next speaker went back to schools. Here’s Heidi Gilman of the Samuel Miller District.

“I would like to remind you as a parent of two kids who are currently in our public schools that it’s a good investment,” Gilman said. “The services kids in our community need are urgent and heartbreaking and school is the right place to offer those for many of our families, from mental health to homelessness to basic medical and dental services, not to mention career technical education and basic academics.”

Next up was a member of the Board of Directors of Loaves and Fishes who who thanked Richardson for including $40,000 in the capital budget for the food bank as well as $38,700 in operational funding.

“Loaves and Fishes provides a week’s worth of free healthy groceries for more than 10,000 individuals from Virginia each month,” said Larry Brown of the Rivanna District. “And 40 percent of these individuals are residents of Albemarle County.”

And here’s executive director Jane Colony Mills.

“In 2024, the number of people needing our assistance increased 28 percent over 2023 and 92 percent since 2022, with a third of pantry visitors coming two times each month,” Mills said. “The people that we help are seniors, children, adults, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence and unhoused people.”

Next up was another person who asked for $10 million for housing funds. After that were two representatives from the Lighthouse Studio, a youth organization that asked for a total of $30,000 in funding but said they received none despite having been funded since 2019.

“To go from consistent funding for 6 years to $0 was quite a shock and this would be a significant loss for Lighthouse Studio,” said Lindsey Hepler, Lighthouse’s Engagement Director. “This year we requested $25,000 for our educational programs and and our application was rated as exemplary. Yet we are recommended for $0 in funding.”

Deanna Gould, the organization’s executive director, said Lighthouse also receives funding from grants and other philanthropic gifts.

“While your support does not cover all the funding that we need, it is significant,” Gould said. “And suddenly losing all of it would greatly impact us. We see you as our partner.”

Next, back to housing and a comment from Suzanne Keller, a resident of the Cavalier Crossing apartment complex which was purchased last year by an investment company. The property is now called Attain on 5th, and two bedroom units begin at $1,950.

“The current residents are being kicked out the last day of July,” Keller said. “That’s over 100 low income people who are going to flood into the Albemarle Charlottesville housing market on August 1. Are you ready for this? Do you have enough funding to provide even basic assistance to people like us who are essentially being displaced right into your community? This is why we need a housing trust fund of at least $10 million.”

The next person told a personal story that ended with him telling Supervisors he applied for a housing voucher and won the lottery to get a placement.

“I haven’t heard anything since then,” said David Voltz. “So I don’t know what’s going on. But when I find out, I’ll keep you posted.”

The next person was the first to be critical of government spending. David Veliki listed the assessment increases for several properties he is associated with, concluding with one in the Rivanna District.

“And last but not least, house in Stony Point road, assessed at $378,000,” Last year was assessed at $285,000. That’s a 32 percent increase. Five years ago it was assessed at $205K. That’s an 84 percent increase in value and taxes. So my question is, how can it not be feasible for the Board of Supervisors to get by with increases on the order of 84 percent in tax revenue increase over five years and still maintain that they need to add tax revenue to the base?”

(One note – I could not confirm the spelling of this last name)

The public hearing kept going. My time to write parts of it out is running out.

• Heidi Yoon is a parent of a child in the school system and Rio District resident who urged additional funding for school construction.
• Sadhbh O’Flynn of the Community Climate Collaborative called for dedicated funding in the FY26 budget for climate initiatives. Specifically, $1 million.
• Sarah Delgago of the Rio District also asked for funding for climate funding.
• Lanika Hester of the Jack Jouett District also called for $10 million for the affordable housing trust as well as an increase in Albemarle’s emergency relief program to $2 million.
• Ang Conn, housing program manager at the Haven, called for funding to support a suite of programs to address housing insecurity.
• Elizabeth Carpenter, a nurse at the University of Virginia Health System, called for local funding to make up for likely cuts in federal programs that assist households with low incomes.
• Two juniors at Albemarle High School both called for funding for climate initiatives.
• Charlottesville resident Nelson Okerson also called for $10 million for the affordable housing trust fund.
• Rolf Braun of the White Hall District called for a zeroing out of funds for economic development, particularly any funds for the Rivanna Futures project to build a national security research campus around the Rivanna Station.

The final speaker appeared online and was the second person to ask the Board to be mindful of the increase in tax burden by many long-term residents.

“Tax bills go up and up and up and up every year,” said Jenny Rector. “But residents income does not go up enough or at all to keep up with these increases, along with other widespread increases. Food prices, health insurance premiums out of pocket, health costs, water, other utilities, everything. Many people are falling behind.”

Rector called for Supervisors to adopt a lower tax rate.

Before you go: This coverage of a meeting from March 5, 2025 went out in the March 17, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. No other information outlets seem to have covered the public hearing. Should they? That’s up to them. It’s up to me what I write, and I write thorough coverage where I can. Thank you to those who support the work!