Albemarle OKs $334.7 million budget

Silence.
It’s a rarity at an Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meeting, but with supervisors at a more than three-hour impasse over the county’s fiscal 2009 real-estate tax rate Wednesday, it seemed all points and rebuttals had been made.
The meeting started at 2 p.m. and a rate of 71 cents per $100 assessed value was adopted around 6:30 p.m. — after a break for sandwiches — but the tax agreement wasn’t reached without some compromise and creativity. The rate was ultimately approved 4-2, with Supervisors Lindsay G. Dorrier Jr. and Kenneth C. Boyd opposing.
At 71 cents, the typical owner of a home valued at $300,000 will pay $74 more than at the current tax rate of 68 cents per $100 assessed value, according to a county budget analyst.
If the board had kept the rate steady, some homeowners would have paid less because of a decline in residential property values.
The approved budget of approximately $334.7 million includes $151.3 million for the county schools, fully funding schools officials’ request. School Board Chairman Brian Wheeler said he was happy with the outcome.
Supervisors David L. Slutzky, Sally H. Thomas and Ann Mallek advocated for a 71-cent tax rate, while Boyd, Dorrier and Dennis S. Rooker argued for a 70-cent rate. The 71-cent crowd said the county was already under funding services and would regret a lower rate given the state of the economy and housing market, which dramatically affect the county’s revenue. The 70-cents group said that rate more than adequately funded county schools and gave officials enough to continue to provide county services.
Although the two sides differed by just a penny — what supervisors said was a difference of about $30 per year to the average taxpayer — neither side would give. So they tried to get creative.
Rooker proposed a 70.5-cent rate – the easiest way to solve the problem, he said, was to split the difference. But county staff said the county’s computer system and financial models couldn’t handle it. Then supervisors proposed having a 70-cent rate for half the year and a 71-cent rate for the second half. County officials shot that down too, saying the county’s billing system wouldn’t be able to deal with it.
Slutzky then proposed a solution that it initially seemed the 70-cent crowd wouldn’t endorse.
He said a half-penny on the 71-cent rate could be kept in a “lockbox” and used only if the economy grows worse than expected. That’s what happened this year, as the county ran about a $5 million shortfall when the housing market and general economy tanked. The county was forced to freeze more than a dozen positions as a result.
“When a bad winter is predicted, you don’t sell off your wood to raise revenue,” Slutzky said.
Still, that was met with the same discussion and silence. Boyd suggested, half-jokingly but to no avail, that other board members “could just decide to compromise.” After dinner, Slutzky offered the 71-cent rate as a compromise — because a cent of the rate, equal to about $1.6 million, would be put into a “lockbox” and could be dipped into only if the economy got worse more than expected, resulting in a shortfall.
Rooker said the board had to set a rate in order to move on — so he supported it. He put one turn on Slutzky’s idea, saying if the $1.6 million isn’t tapped, it should go to fund capital projects. The board had previously dipped into that pot of money to give to the school system.
“We have to reach an agreement,” Rooker said. “I would prefer the 70-cent rate … but I’ll support [71 cents] to get us moving along.”
Keith Drake, chairman of the Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance, said he was “disappointed” supervisors didn’t keep the rate steady, but also that supervisors didn’t recognize that taxpayers have seen hefty increases in their tax bills in recent years.
In addition, he noted that supervisors did not firmly commit to an outside study that would look at the county’s efficiency and spending.
“The case for 71 cents was based on wants, not needs,” Drake said.
Earlier, Slutzky prodded Dorrier on his commitment to the grass-roots Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together, or IMPACT. At an assembly in front of 1,900 people in March, Dorrier and Slutzky both said they would support $500,000 to address the region’s lack of affordable housing. Other supervisors had said they agreed with the goal, but listed enough conditions that IMPACT listed them in the “no” column.
“Some of us were serious about our commitment to the half-million dollars for affordable housing,” Slutzky said of Dorrier’s unwillingness to support a higher tax rate to pay for such programs.
Dorrier responded: “It’s a goal we should shoot for … but we can’t do everything in one year.”