Council cuts back on sign plan

Charlottesville city councilors on Monday agreed to slash the amount of money to be spent in future years on new signs and endorsed the idea of starting a loan fund to enable low-income residents to make their homes more energy-efficient.
The city will spend $250,000 in the upcoming fiscal 2009 budget on a new signage program to help tourists and visitors navigate to downtown Charlottesville and to enable them to more easily find landmarks and entertainment venues. There is already $200,000 in the current budget for approximately 70 signs that will direct people from the outskirts of Charlottesville to the Downtown Mall, Court Square, the University of Virginia and other destinations.
But councilors announced Monday that they will not devote any more funding to the sign program in future years. City staff had requested an additional $500,000 in the subsequent two fiscal years.
“Even though I’m a supporter of improved signage, I thought it was excessive,” Mayor Dave Norris said of city staff’s request for a total of $1 million over four years. “I’m confident that with the money we have now …. we can accomplish the goals of the wayfinding” program.
With the $250,000 in the upcoming budget, the city would be able to buy pedestrian signs for the mall, near parking garages and on side streets off Market and Water streets.
City staff still has to flesh out the sign package but some prices of individual signs were released Monday. A “primary gateway” sign, likely to be placed on two major entrances into the city, will cost $25,000, officials said. A directional sign guiding motorists to parking garages would cost $3,800, and officials are seeking up to 12 of those.
Energy-efficient upgrades
Councilors also agreed to set aside $125,000 over the next three years for a revolving loan and grant fund to help low-income city residents retrofit their houses. The idea, councilors said, is to lower energy consumption and the energy bills of the city residents who have the least amount of disposable income.
“We talk about global warming and energy conservation and I would like to see some action, and one way would be to help low-income families,” Councilor Satyendra Huja said.
The proposal still has to be more fully vetted before being enacted, councilors added.
Budget talks
Additionally, councilors had their first reading of the $141 million fiscal 2009 budget, which represents a 4.7 percent increase over the current budget. Councilors will officially pass the new budget on April 15.
Councilors are set to keep the real-estate tax rate at 95 cents per $100 of assessed value. The average tax bill in the city would jump by $110 to $2,599, assuming the tax rate does not change.
The fiscal 2009 budget would fully fund the school system’s request for $39.8 million, a 3.8 percent jump. In the current budget the schools received a 12.7 percent spike in funding from the city despite a drop in enrollment.
Some residents told councilors that the school system needs to exercise greater fiscal restraint and should not receive all the money it wants.
“To totally fund or increase the [school system] every year directly tells the School Board and administrators that they don’t have to tighten their belts as the citizens do,” said Colette Hall.
The budget includes $1.4 million for affordable housing programs, a drop from the $2.1 million in the current budget but still significantly more than in prior years.
Other new city spending includes two new bus routes, at a cost of $380,000, and $100,000 more for summer youth programs.
Councilors will also approve a $24.4 million for capital projects, including $3 million to replace Onesty Pool, $3.5 million for a fire station in the Fontaine area and $1.5 million to begin overhauling the Downtown Mall.
Gary O’Connell, the city manager, noted that funding from the state for next fiscal year could drop by an additional $500,000, including reductions for foster care services and less money for the police department, jail, library and juvenile justice system. The final number for the state might not be known until the summer.
Mall crossing
In other business, councilors voted to keep a crossing of the mall on Fourth Street East rather than shift it to Fifth Street.
Councilors also said they saw no reason to change the traffic flow at the two mall crossings. Last month the city’s Planning Commission endorsed retaining the crossing and traffic flow.