Prepare to Open Your Wallets Even Wider

Prepare to open your wallets even wider, Albemarle County property owners, over the next couple of years.

Your real estate tax rate for the FY2017 Budget — raised 2¢ just last month by the six Democrats on the Board of Supervisors — could climb by another 7.2¢ by FY2019.

This was the tax rate implication on display at Wednesday’s BOS meeting that could materialize to cover Albemarle’s operating budget and capital improvements program expenses just two years from now. [For comparison, Albemarle’s 2015 tax rate was 81.9¢ per $100 value. The new rate on your next tax bill due June 5 will be 83.9¢. The rate for FY2019 could reach 91.1¢.] And don’t forget, these rising tax rates don’t take into account any increases in re-assessments on your real estate.

Part of what’s driving the possible tax rate increase to as high as 91.1¢ is a November 8 general obligation bond referendum for as much as $35.5 million worth of school projects. The BOS voted 5-0 Wednesday to put an education bond referendum in front of Albemarle voters this fall. [Supervisor Brad Sheffield (D, Rio District) was absent.) The Board will have to finalize the list of school projects to be included in the referendum at their meeting on June 1. The Albemarle Planning Commission may hold a Public Hearing on the matter on May 24th after the County School Board deals with it on May 12th.

Meanwhile, during 90 minutes of staff presentations and BOS discussion Wednesday about the referendum idea, not one Supervisor said anything about the enormity of this possible increased tax rate burden on Albemarle County residents. It never came up. Not mentioned. Crickets.

Supervisor Rick Randolph (D, Scottsville) did note, however, that there are Supervisors who may need to be aware of potential election consequences in 2017 from bond referenda and higher real estate taxes. [Supervisors Diantha McKeel (D, Jack Jouett), Liz Palmer (D, Samuel Miller), and Sheffield face re-election in November 2017.]

Here are some of the comments made by Supervisors during Wednesday’s bond referendum discussion:

Supervisor Norman Dill (D, Rivanna): “The likelihood of passing [a bond referendum] would seem to be extremely high here.” And later: “To me, this [$35.5 million for school projects] is a modest proposal.”

Supervisor Palmer: “We still are in a situation where we’re woefully under-funded [for school capacity and modernization work].”

Supervisor Diantha McKeel: “Within two years, 43% of our students will be in schools that are over-crowded.” And later: “The schools are in desperate need of capacity as well as modernization. We are way behind where many, many school divisions are right now.” By the way, McKeel did not list any “many, many school divisions” that Albemarle allegedly trails.

Supervisor Ann Mallek (D, White Hall): “Having been involved in both of the meals tax efforts in the '90s from a citizen tabling outside trying to persuade people at the polls to vote for this, it is not an easy task. I just want to make sure that we do [a bond referendum] right.”

During comments about possible Albemarle school construction projects to include in the fall bond referendum, School Division COO Dean Tistadt told the BOS members that during his 35 years overseeing bond referenda for the Fairfax County Public Schools not one failed to pass.

Fairfax County’s new real estate tax rate for 2016 will be $1.13, up 4¢ from the 2015 rate.

Tistadt recommended to the BOS that a wide geographical range of school projects be included in Albemarle’s fall bond referendum — one that “touches all parts of the County” — to help insure broad voter interest and support.

Earlier, however, Assistant County Executive Lee Catlin cautioned the BOS that as a unit they cannot advocate for the passage of a bond referendum. State law only allows the Board to educate the public about what the bond proceeds would be used for and the debt and tax consequences that would come with a referendum approval. She did note, though, that Supervisors, as individuals, are legally allowed to advocate — rather than just educate — the public about a referendum.

I suspect that the potential tax rate hikes coming soon to real estate property near you may re-direct some advocacy and education right back at the Board of Supervisors.

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Here’s something quite intriguing (at least to me).

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors went into a Closed Meeting Wednesday afternoon, in part, “to consult with and be briefed by legal counsel and staff regarding specific legal matters requiring legal advice relating to the negotiation of an agreement for court facilities.”

When they re-convened in Open Meeting Wednesday evening, Supervisor Rick Randolph made the following motion which passed 5-0: “that the County staff undertake an economic impact analysis to explore the siting in the County of the existing courts currently located in the City of Charlottesville, and at the same time potential relocation of the County Office Building, and report back to the Board of Supervisors with all due deliberate speed.”

Does it sound to you like the County's negotiations with the Charlottesville City Manager and City Council to keep Albemarle’s court system downtown might not be going so well?

That said, the biggest headline for me here is not the faltering negotiations about parking and modernization at Court Square. It's something as big or bigger. In Wednesday's action, County Executive Tom Foley was directed to research the cost of pulling County government out of downtown Charlottesville altogether — by emptying the County Office Building (Charlottesville’s former Lane High School) of Albemarle employees.

This Closed Meeting group cage match is becoming more and more interesting : six Democrat Albemarle Supervisors and five Democrat City Councilors duking it out over another major historic site in downtown Charlottesville. Watch out, Wes Bellamy, Lee Park is in danger of getting pushed off the front page.

Anyone willing to bet that the next headline could be about owners of downtown Charlottesville lunch spots picketing Mayor Signer’s office?

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Finally, does anyone have any idea whether the following should be recorded in a nepotism and/or conflict of interest file?

Wednesday evening by a 5-0 tally the Albemarle Board of Supervisors appointed Earlysville resident Leo Mallek to the County’s Solid Waste Alternatives Advisory Committee, and Mrs. Mallek (a.k.a. White Hall Supervisor Ann Mallek) participated in the vote to approve. Interestingly, Leo’s application for the appointment states: “Spouse name not provided.”