Supervisors get earful on budget

She said it firmly, politely, but vigorously.
“Please raise my tax rate,” Theresi Province said, prompting a chorus of annoyed grumbling that overwhelmed her voice and led Albemarle County Board Chairman Kenneth C. Boyd to wield his gavel, reminding the audience to “remember our rules.”
And so it went at Albemarle County’s Lane Auditorium on Wednesday night, as an almost-full auditorium implored and admonished county supervisors who are close to finalizing the county’s proposed $331.4 million budget and setting a real-estate tax rate. Residents pay 68 cents per every $100 assessed in real-estate taxes and supervisors advertised a rate of 71 cents per every $100 assessed for the next fiscal year.
Having advertised the 71-cent rate, the board can now set any rate equal to or less than 71 cents, as per state law.
Dozens lined up Wednesday to be heard formally for the last time. Many bordered on emotional when discussing the issues of taxes and fully funding the school system.
The audience was a mosaic of color: members of Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congre-gations Together, or IMPACT, wore bright yellow T-shirts and asked supervisors for an additional $500,000 to help alleviate the county’s lack of affordable housing; others wore stickers with bright red apples supporting county schools; and yet others shook and raised bright orange signs that read “68 [cents]: Bob Tucker got it right!”
The signs referred to County Executive Robert W. Tucker Jr.’s recommended tax rate, something the new Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance has grabbed onto as it pushes the board to keep the tax rate steady.
Poking fun at Supervisor David L. Slutzky, ATTA members held a “pizza and (root) beer” event before the hearing. Slutzky had said that the 6-cent real-estate-tax-rate decrease last year amounted to an extra “beer and a pizza” per month for residents, even though most paid more in taxes this year than last because of increases in property assessments. Slutzky has argued that the county isn’t adequately funding needed infrastructure and programs, and has advocated for a higher tax rate.
As a small crowd went through 12 pizzas and 12 cases of root beer, ATTA Chairman Keith Drake said the event was meant to be humorous but also make a point.
“That’s arrogant,” Drake said of Slutzky’s comments. “It’s not his pizza and it’s not his beer. But it [means more than] a pizza and a beer to a lot of people.”
Others said the same during the meeting, with one woman saying that a little bit extra helped her pay a doctor’s co-pay or a water bill.
Slutzky said before the meeting that he wanted to put pennies on the tax rate in terms everyone could understand. He has also has said that he believes many would support a higher tax rate if it paid to improve Albemarle’s infrastructure — such as parallel routes to alleviate traffic on U.S. 29.
Slutzky said Wednesday that the anti-tax group should pay more attention to the 20 percent of the community who live in poverty and the “Republicans in Richmond” who refuse to raise taxes and instead pass along costs to localities.
Others pushed the board to fully fund the School Board’s budget request.
“What price are we willing to pay to ensure the highest quality of life for our students?” asked Trevor Przyuski, an Albemarle High School teacher. “I believe most of us would pay more than a 71-cent tax rate.”
The board is poised to make a final decision on the budget and tax rate next week.