Good luck with This Board
Will you be getting at least a $2,000.00 raise for your next year of work?
What would you do if you did get at least a $2,000.00 raise for your next year of work?
What will you do when you learn you’re going to be paying for 168 Albemarle County employees to get at least this much of a raise for their next year of work?
Raise a stink?
Refuse to pay your tax bill?
Move out of Albemarle County?
Most likely raising a stink — really much too late at this point — will be your only option. Enjoy your two, maybe three minutes, of Public Comment time one last time for this budget season next Tuesday, April 12 before This Board.
Moving’s not a great option. It requires a lot of time, finding new jobs, selling a home, finding a new one, and dealing with kids who don’t want to leave their friends.
Not paying your increased real estate taxes guarantees you even higher costs in fines and penalties and could place you on the courthouse step watching your property being sold right out from under you.
Well, thank the six Democrats on This Albemarle Board of Supervisors for all of the above.
During this week’s budget work session (on Tuesday, April 5, 2016), This Board approved 2% raises for all County employees — even for the 168 of them already taking home $100,000 or more annually in total compensation.
In addition, This Board also voted unanimously to hang on to $1.1 million in savings that have magically materialized because County employee healthcare costs are suddenly only going up 9% instead of 14.5%. Instead of applying this million-plus bucks in savings to lowering the proposed 2.5¢ tax rate increase on County property owners, This Board decided to keep $270,000 for their as yet unspecified CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) projects and are giving the remaining $887,000 to the Albemarle School Board to spend any which way they prefer. But not to worry: This Board will also be sending a “letter of concern” along with the $887,000 to signal to the School Board that its members should exercise “careful discretion” in how this money is used.
Before I go any further, let me extend a sincere compliment to two of the six Democrats on This Board of Supervisors. Ann Mallek (White Hall), and Rick Randolph (Scottsville) were the two no votes on the 4-2 decision to spend $3.2 million in taxpayer funds on 2% raises for all County employees — even for those 168 already taking home nearly $2,000.00 per week in total compensation. Interestingly, it was only Ann and Rick who had the courage to hold face-to-face, one-on-one district meetings with their constituents during the preceding several weeks of “community engagement meetings” (that I renamed TAX INCREA$E Town Halls from the very beginning). The other four Supervisors hid behind County Executive Tom Foley’s staff-orchestrated information sessions that stipulated there was to be no Q&A engagement between the public and any Supervisors in attendance from This Board.
For the record, it was former School Board member Diantha McKeel (Jack Jouett) who made the motion for the across-the-board 2% raises for all County employees despite no justification from cost of living history, private sector wages and benefits data, and a 2016 Social Security COLA of 0%! Diantha wanted no part of Rick and Ann’s suggestion that any pay raise be no higher than 1%. Diantha was joined in support of the County employee compensation increase by Supervisors Norman Dill (Rivanna), Brad Sheffield (Rio), and Liz Palmer (Samuel Miller).
Wait a minute; I need to interrupt myself again. I have to extend another compliment — this time to Tom.
For the first time ever — without prompting and without being asked a direct question about it — Tom voluntarily said to This Board that 168 Albemarle County employees are currently making over $100,000 per year in total compensation. He brought this up when the Board’s discussion began turning toward some kind of tiered compensation proposal. It was obvious that Tom didn’t want any part of any plan that might provide lower percentage raises to County employees above $100,000 and higher percentage raises to those below $100,000 or at any other spot on the pay scale. (By the way, in case you missed it in one of my previous Whatever Albemarle blog posts, or from one of my interviews on WINA’s The Schilling Show, the only reason we taxpayers now know of the 168 members in This Board’s $100,000 Club is because I asked.)
Now, before I close, there’s still more unfinished business.
When This Board meets next Tuesday evening, April 12 for its Public Hearing on the FY2017 tax rate (currently set to go up 4.07% as the legally-advertised effective tax rate increase), the Supervisors still have some additional decisions to make on how else to handout or hand over some more of your tax dollars. It’s known as "The List," and "The List" always ends up being one of the final money matters decided during each budget season.
This year "The List" includes four items:
• whether to advance approximately $53,000 to the Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney for some additional lawyerly help for the rest of FY2016 and then FY2017;
• whether to return roughly $6,500 to OAR (Offender Aid & Restoration) for a program that didn’t pass the ABRT process (Agency Budget Review Team);
• whether to stuff literally hundreds of thousands of dollars into Supervisor Mallek’s favorite program (ACE – Acquisition of Conservation Easements) to buy development rights from mostly affluent rural property owners;
• whether to help Supervisor McKeel solve her last minute “struggle” with middle school gang membership by transferring some of the $47,000 in savings from jail and bus line budgets to the County Police Department. Chief Sellers had already had his budget cut by over $340,000 for next year by Tom, an action already agreed to, by default, by This Board.
So there you have it — your $376 million FY2017 Proposed Budget for Albemarle County.
Nope. Sorry. I have to apologize again. We’re not yet done. This Board always causes me forget things unless I check all my notes before signing off.
Please bear with me:
• Supervisor Palmer asked Albemarle Budget Director Lori Allshouse why FY2017’s proposed spending plan required $50,000 for something called “priority-based budgeting.” Answer: “a consultant and other expenses.”
• Tom confirmed that This Board had already solved its Legal Aid problem by giving this private agency an additional, oh, I forget, something like twenty-some-thousand additional tax payer dollars that didn’t pass the ABRT process.
• Supervisor Dill asked for ten grand to install an electric car charging station at the new Northside Library to “introduce people to carbon-free driving.” Apparently, burning coal elsewhere makes power carbon-free here. Even though Norman emphasized that Charlottesville had already put in several of these charging stations (Perhaps with some of Albemarle’s $16 million bucks in annual revenue-sharing dough?), This Board decided not to add Norman’s electrifying suggestion to any further discussions of the FY2017 Budget. A Northside Library electric car charging station, however, will be returning like static on a dry carpet. Tom will bring this topic back as a regular agenda item at This Board’s May meeting.
Okay, I’m done. Now it’s your turn with This Board and with their:
• probable 84.4¢ tax rate for FY2017;
• potential 89.0¢ tax rate in FY2018 (should a $35.5 million bond referendum pass this fall);
• projected 91.1¢ tax rate in FY2019 (if 2.1¢ already earmarked for the CIP remains for FY2019).
Good luck with your raise.
Think you’re going to need it?