Have you noticed how taxpayer money gets referred to as 'excess revenue' as opposed to excessive taxation? Do you realize that City Council did not decide to just rebate to taxpayers some of their over collection of citizens' money, or even to keep taxes flat for the coming fiscal year?
At the start of the most recent budget process, the City Manager proposed a 14% budget increase, the largest increase in 15 years. The City had received extra tax proceeds largely because homeowners' assessments went up, by an average of 16%.
For taxpayers not to have a tax increase this current FY 07-08, the City Council would have had to establish a rate of 88 cents per $100 of assessed value. The rate the Council set is 95 cents. [And my pet peeve: the ambulance service. A million dollars is 2 cents on the tax rate, so eliminating the controversial new program would have allowed a rate of 93 cents.]
Did you know that Fairfax County's real property tax rate is 89 cents? Yes, we pay higher taxes than Fairfax County! And Albemarle County residents pay a rate of 68 cents! That's right, City taxpayers pay a rate that is 1.4 times higher than the County's. Put another way, County residents' rate is a third less that City residents' rate.
Did you know that the school budget went up 12% while the enrollment declined 4%?
Did you know that in FY 07, the City gave over $4500 to out of town public media stations: WVPT and WHTJ! Charlottesville Transit Service [CST] was announced as a sponsor during the radio's fundraising drive. Is someone going to tell me that CTS ridership will grow because of advertising on public radio? I think most folks tuning in to public radio have already figured how how they will be travelling.
The majority of City tax revenue comes from real estate tax. And overall, over a third of the City's budget comes from real estate tax. Quoted in the Daily Progress on June 16, Leigh Middleditch, chairman of the Jefferson Partnerships's Board of Directors said our area "relies too much on its real estate tax base." More on this in another post.
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I have never really understood the fairness of the real estate tax. Why is taxing a non-liquid asset a good idea? What is more oppressive to poor people than a tax on a non-liquid asset that rises above the rate of inflation (and the average pay raise) in almost every year? And what is the correlation between real estate value and the tax burden placed on the municipality by the real estate property and the owner?
I think reducing the city's reliance on real estate tax revenue is a great idea and a step toward fairer taxation.
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