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Budgeting for time

City Manager Sam Sanders (center) wants to raise Charlottesville’s meals, lodging, and real estate taxes to pay for the proposed FY25 budget he presented to City Council on March 6. Photo by Eze Amos.

Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders presented the proposed budget to City Council on March 6, prompting discussion and debate on funding allocations and potential tax hikes.

Coming in at 350 pages and $251,526,900 in total revenues and expenditures, Charlottesville’s budget for FY25 is hefty in several ways. However, nothing is final yet. Councilors have until the city’s April 9 deadline—with a hard statewide deadline of April 15—to examine the budget, hear from constituents, and consider potential amendments.

“The city manager had to prepare a budget that balances,” says Councilor Lloyd Snook. “We will take his recommended budget and hear his justifications and make a decision by April 9.”

Highlights from the presentation included $10 million for the integration of collective bargaining, $7 million in additional funding for Charlottesville City Schools, and $8.9 million for affordable housing.

In order to fund these initiatives and other priorities, the budget would increase the city’s meals, lodging, and real estate taxes. The meals tax would be raised to 7.5 percent, lodging to 9 percent, and real estate to 98 cents per $100.

If approved, this will mark the third time Charlottesville has raised its meals tax in the last five years (it is currently 6.5 percent).

“None of the tax levers we have are without issue,” says Councilor Brian Pinkston. “Each impacts the community in particular ways. We’re trying to be sensitive to that fact.”

Though he supports many of the projects funded through increased revenue from the suggested tax increases, Councilor Michael Payne was more hesitant about raising the meals tax.

“Personally, I think the meals tax should be the last tax we seek to raise. It’s our most regressive tax, and after raising it again we’d be near the top of the state for our meals tax rate,” says Payne. “Local restaurants operate on small margins and unlike with our real estate tax, there is no tax relief program for the meals tax.”

Meals taxes stack on top of state and local sales tax, meaning area diners could see a 12.8 percent tax on their food and drink purchases if the hike is approved.

For comparison, a 7.5 percent meals tax would put Charlottesville at parity with Richmond, and just below the highest meals tax in the state—8 percent in Covington, Virginia.

Alternatives to raising the meals tax include raising the lodging and real estate taxes further, according to Payne. Otherwise, major cuts would need to be made, leaving several city priorities unfunded or underfunded.

“The primary driver of the need for new revenues is employee compensation and increased contribution to schools. … These aren’t one-time expenses, they’re permanent and become a new baseline for the city budget,” says Payne. “If these aren’t fund[ed] via tax increases, about $17 million of cuts would need to be identified in the general fund.”

A sharp drop in funding from the state government prompted CCS to request a higher appropriation from the city. The city’s appropriation is $2 million short of the school district’s requested appropriation, raising concerns among education leaders.

“The discrepancy directly affects the daily experiences of both students and teachers. Our budget outlines positions aimed at reducing class sizes and providing interventionists to address gaps in student achievement,” says CCS School Board Chair Lisa Larson-Torres. “We have been working very closely with the city team, and they have been very transparent about the current state of their budget. Nevertheless, we felt that it was still important to present our budget with the $9 million dollar increase as it meets the essential needs of our students.”

Some city councilors are hopeful that additional state funding may be coming, helping the school district fill any budget gaps.

“Part of the reason that we are in this problem right now with school funding is that the state funding for our schools got cut by $2.9 million compared to last year,” says Snook. “We—and the school system—have been scrambling ever since getting that news.”

“It’s a challenging time because their needs overlap with this necessary investment in the city organization,” says Pinkston. “I am hopeful that there will be some additional relief from the state.”

Charlottesville leadership has a jam-packed schedule during budget deliberations over the next month, with at least one meeting every week. Public hearings on the proposed budget will be held on March 18 and 21, with the first session focused on tax rates.

At press time, Councilor Natalie Oschrin, Mayor Juandiego Wade, and Sanders had not responded to a request for comment.

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Takeout equity: Meals tax impact on low-income diners

Mel Walker says a meals tax increase won’t affect his business at Mel’s Cafe, but it will hurt poor people. Eze Amos

Affordable housing is a priority for Charlottesville, and to pay for that in its $188 million budget, the city proposes raising the meals tax, an idea restaurant owners traditionally hate.

The 1 percent increase on the current 5 percent meals tax adds 10 cents to a $10 meal and would raise $2.4 million, according to the city. The proposed budget also ups the lodging tax to 8 percent.

In a March 12 Facebook post, Mayor Nikuyah Walker suggests that those who don’t support the increase don’t support equity. “The restaurant and hotel industry are selfishly making arguments about their failed revenue projection,” she writes. “A few small business owners who have not turned their hobbies into successful enterprises are blaming our potential tax increase as the foundation for their demise.

“A few restaurant owners want you to believe that they’re catering to low- to middle-income families and that the extra 10, 20, or 50 cents will prevent you from eating out.”

But some owners who actually do cater to low-income customers also see a problem with the tax.

Mel Walker owns Mel’s Cafe, which is known for its fried chicken, as well as its affordable home-style food, where the most expensive thing on his menu—the 12-piece chicken wing ding— is under $9.

“I don’t think it will affect me that much,” he says of the proposed increase. “It’ll hurt the poor people. It’s local people who eat here.”

He already has to explain to customers why their bill is more expensive than his posted prices when he rings them up and adds the 5 percent meals tax and 5 percent sales tax to the bill.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to raise it,” he says.

Mike Brown, also famous for his fried chicken at Brown’s, says increasing the tax is a good idea— “if you want to punish your people.” He says his customers are mostly locals from all walks of life.

Increasing the tax “affects locals more than those who come in once in a blue moon,” he says.

Brown also is not happy about the city’s 55-cent cigarette tax when people “can ride down the road and buy cigarettes in the county.”

He estimates he collects between $1,700 and $2,000 a month in meals taxes already. “I don’t pay it,” he says. “The customer does.” And a lot of his customers are “people struggling paycheck to paycheck.”

The city last raised the meals tax in 2015, and C-VILLE reported then that some argue it’s not a regressive tax because eating out is, as one councilor said, discretionary and a “luxury.”

Rapture owner Mike Rodi says, “No one who studies economics says that a sales tax isn’t regressive.”

Even an extra dime “is a more significant chunk out of someone’s income who makes $20,000 than it is for someone who makes $250,000, says Rodi. Housing, food, and clothing all “disproportionately impact people with lower incomes.”

His concern is that when there’s a budget shortfall, the “autopilot response” is, “Let’s just raise the meals tax.”

Says Rodi, “I just want to make sure other options are considered before raising taxes.” He notes the commissioner of the revenue office says tax collection is outpacing expectations and there could be surpluses. He also says the city’s reserve has been untouched for years and could be tapped into. “Or how about a smaller increase on meals, housing and lodging so it’s not always the meals tax?”

Like Mel Walker and Mike Brown, Rodi says, “There’s a misperception [the meals tax] is paid for by visitors and rich people. Look at the lines at Bodo’s and McDonald’s.”

Rodi acknowledges that even with an increase, “I will be in a better position than the people we’re trying to help. I recognize my privilege.” At the same time, “this isn’t a yacht tax” that affects only luxuries afforded by the rich.

Mayor Walker took aim in her Facebook post at restaurant owners. “Low- to middle-income families would like to not have to take out a small loan to take their families out to eat at your establishment,” she says. “Don’t use low- to middle-income people as scapegoats. I would like for you to figure out a way to pay your staff a living wage and allow them to accept 100 percent of their tips and give them quarterly bonuses.”

“You can’t have it both ways,” says Rodi. “I can’t pay someone $25 an hour and buy local, sustainable food and charge you Burger King prices.”

Working in a restaurant is one of the last industries where upward mobility can happen, he says.

Nancy Carpenter, homeless prevention coordinator at the Haven, doesn’t think an extra 10 cents is going to stop someone who’s homeless from buying a cheeseburger. She says they’re also eating at soup kitchens and having breakfast at the Haven.

“The lack of affordable housing options—that’s more important than whether my McDonald’s is going to cost $1.10 or $1.25,” she says. “I don’t foresee this as onerous. It’s onerous when you don’t have a key to a place to live.”

Currently, Walker and Wes Bellamy support the meals tax increase, and Kathy Galvin suggests a half-cent increase because the $35 million capital improvement expenditure is a one-time expense.

City Council has a public hearing on the budget tonight at 6:30, and work sessions scheduled for March 19 and tentatively for March 27.

 

 

 

 

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Tax hike: Proposed county budget raises property tax rate 1.5 cents

Albemarle county exec Jeff Richardson briefs media on the FY 2020 budget, with Lori Allshouse, director of the Office of Management and Budget. staff photo

Although revenue is up in Albemarle, and county exec Jeff Richardson presented a sunny forecast to the Board of Supervisors February 15, his $457-million fiscal year 2020 budget is based on upping the current property tax rate by 1.5 cents.

He calls the budget, which increases spending 5.7 percent, “an ambitious vision statement that is both grounded in history and aspirational,” anchored by the county’s strategic goals of an “exceptional public education system” and a thriving economy, and “rooted in protecting our environment.”

In addition to the tax increase, the county will see more revenue from property assessments, which increased on average 4 percent. Also up are personal property tax revenues, which Richardson attributes to citizens buying new cars, and sales and food and beverage taxes.

The higher property tax rate was a possibility when voters approved a $35 million bond referendum in 2016 to expand Woodbrook Elementary, but was deferred the past couple of years because of higher revenues, said Richardson.

Now, he wants to dedicate the 1.5-cent tax increase to capital improvements and debt service.

The budget recommends nine priority areas for spending, including economic development, broadband expansion, and parks. Darden Towe will see athletic field improvements, and Hedgerow Park, Buck Island Creek Park, and the Rivanna Reservoir boat launch are slated for funding.

Economic development, such as the county’s wooing of WillowTree, which is going to rehab the aging Woolen Mills factory and bring high-paying tech jobs, is part of the “transformational” investment the county wants to make more of in the 21st century, and Richardson wants to be ready for the next emerging opportunity. “We’ve got to be poised to be able to pivot,” he says.

Sustaining a quality county staff is another budget goal, and if approved, county employees will see a 2.3 percent raise. The proposal adds 15.5 staff positions, including a circuit court clerk, a deputy sheriff, a police officer, and two positions at Parks & Rec.

Revenue sharing—the agreement that the county forks over 10 cents of its property tax rate to the city for stopping annexation in 1982—is always a sore point with county residents. This year that multi-million dollar payment will be down 9.5 percent. The formula used to calculate the payment lags 24 months, and Charlottesville’s 13 percent jump in commercial property tax assessments in 2017 was the “biggest variable,” says Richardson.

County schools get 45 percent of the county’s budget, and Richardson’s budget adds $8.5 million to schools. “An exceptional school system underpins our vision,” he says.

The Board of Supervisors will hold its first budget work session February 21. Read all 300 pages here.

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Budget boon: Part-time councilors want full-time staffers

The proposed FY 2019 budget provides $225,000 for City Council's own staff, including a researcher and spokesperson. Photo Eze Amos

One sign of a healthy economy is when local government adds new positions, and Charlottesville City Manager Maurice Jones has several in his proposed $179 million budget for fiscal year 2019, including 2.5 full-time positions to help city councilors with policy and communications.

That $225,000 allocation adds a new research and policy employee and gives City Council its own flack, as well as makes Clerk of Council Paige Rice’s part-time assistant a full-timer.

“They’re concerned,” says Jones. “They felt they needed more support on the research side and on issues coming from constituents.”

The communications person would work closely with new city spokesman Brian Wheeler, says Jones. At their January retreat, councilors discussed whether the spokesperson would speak for council as a whole or for individual councilors, which could certainly get dicey on issues upon which councilors don’t agree. Jones says they decided a spokesperson could speak for them after votes had been made.

The city had a media flap last summer when then-mayor Mike Signer in a leaked memo called out former spokesperson Miriam Dickler for not working with the crisis communications firm  Powell/Tate that council hired to help with the August 12 Unite the Right rally—although the flap was more about the leaked memo than Dickler’s crisis communications skills.

Councilor Kathy Galvin did not respond to a request from C-VILLE Weekly, but she told the Daily Progress that she had some concerns about hiring a communications staffer and whether individual councilors might monopolize that person’s time and further divide City Council at a time it really needs a cohesive message.

She also said some councilors work up to 40 hours a week doing their own research on top of their regular jobs.

Other new hires in Jones’ budget include $72,000 for a minority business developer coordinator. That position would be housed in the economic development department, and would increase city procurement from small, women- and minority-owned businesses. The coordinator would “go out and help actively grow” and identify such vendors, says Jones.

UVA professor Walt Heinecke has called for the city to allocate $100,000 to hire an attorney in the Office of Human Rights to replace the one he says the city “pushed out” in 2015. Jones’ proposal is more modest: It budgets $38,000 to convert an existing position from part-time to full-time.

With the city’s $2 million skate park getting under way, the budget includes $116,000 for two full-time employees to support the park.

Not all city departments are hiring. Public works will save $282,000 by not filling five vacant positions—four maintenance and one auto mechanic. That comes at a time when the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville has called for more maintenance on the Downtown Mall. In a January letter to Jones and City Council, DBAC chair Joan Fenton pointed out that while the city budget had increased 17 percent over the past four years, spending on the mall’s maintenance had declined 20 percent.

Jones says those positions are currently vacant. “We think we can get by for a year and see how that’s going. If we need them, then we’ll come back to them.”

City staff will get a 3 percent cost of living increase, compared to their peers in the county, who are getting 2 percent.

And councilors themselves will get a $4,000 raise July 1, upping their salaries to $18,000 and the mayor’s to $20,000.

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Tar Heel transplant: Jeff Richardson jumps into county exec role

When Jeff Richardson got a call and an invitation to apply for the open county executive position in Albemarle County, the Tar Heel state transplant says his only tie to the area was a three-week leadership program at the University of Virginia about 15 years ago.

“Those training opportunities had a profound impact on my career,” Richardson says, and he remembered the area as beautiful and interesting. “My wife and I discussed the opportunity and felt that a community that placed such an emphasis on lifelong learning, along with being a wonderful outdoor recreation community, would be a great opportunity for us.”

In November, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors appointed Richardson to succeed Tom Foley and interim county exec Doug Walker.

Richardson moved here from Black Mountain, North Carolina, and has worked in local government for more than half his life. He graduated with a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990, and most recently served as county manager for Cleveland County since 2013.

The county executive establishes a long-term vision for Albemarle and ensures effective and efficient services for its 107,700 residents. He establishes public policy, oversees government departments and agencies and proposes an annual budget.

So after Richardson was offered the job, he and his wife packed up, moved to Albemarle and did what the locals do—they went to Bodo’s Bagels. In fact, he’s now a regular at the Preston Avenue location, situated conveniently behind the Albemarle County Office Building on McIntire Road.

“Many of the staff and I have worn a path out walking back and forth,” he says, offering his go-to order. “Everything bagel with egg, bacon and cheese. Also, they have a great Caesar salad that I like with turkey.”

Richardson was introduced to local government by his father, who served as a town manager for more than 20 years.

“The idea of serving others, earning and maintaining the public’s trust and building community is very rewarding,” he says. Richardson reports directly to the Board of Supervisors, and he presented his budget for fiscal year 2019 to them this month (see page 10).

Nearly constant email notifications ping out of the computer speakers in his office, where a framed Asheville Tourists jersey hangs on the wall and a baseball rests on a shelf.

He estimates that he gets about 100 messages a day, and works about 55 hours a week.

“For as rewarding as local government is, it also can be relentless,” he says. “I jumped in to day-to-day operations in an attempt to learn and involve myself as quickly as possible.”

Richardson makes time for family, exercise, watching Ted Talks and teaching at UNC’s School of Government and in the master’s of public administration program.

The father of three describes his family as active, athletic and extremely competitive. “We run, hike, bike, golf, tennis,” he says. “You name it, we are in.”

Teaching, he says, “is the best way I know to force yourself to stay current, continue to learn and grow and push yourself to help others.”

He adds, “I also mess around with the harmonica and love to play—just not in public. Ask my wife and she’ll tell you that she fully supports that.”

Just the facts

Age: 54

Years in local government: 28

Average work week: 55 hours

Hometown: Black Mountain, North Carolina

Experience: Served as county manager in Cleveland County and deputy city manager in Asheville

Hobbies: Sports, fitness, watching Ted Talks and playing the harmonica

Alma mater: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Asheville

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County budget basics: How to spend $430 million

The biggest slice of budget pie goes to the school division.

Albemarle County Executive Jeff Richardson, who took the job November 6, went before the Board of Supervisors on February 16 to propose his first budget, which is nearly 8 percent higher than the one for the current year.

He’s recommending $428,500,374 for fiscal year 2019, a $13.5 million increase.

Per usual, the biggest slice of budget pie goes to county schools—they’ll get 47 percent, or $188.5 million, if it’s adopted, compared to $181.1 million in 2018.

The tax rate will stay at its current rate of 83.9 cents per $100 of assessed value, thanks to a 2.2 percent increase in assessments. Property tax revenues, which include real estate and personal property taxes, are expected to increase by $8.6 million—or 4.8 percent—to $188,734,918.

County employees would get a 2 percent raise and the county will add 29 full-time positions and one part-time job. These include two new police officers and additional rescue personnel in the southern part of the county.

Richardson says residents tend to judge how well their local government works for the good of its citizens in three ways: by the community’s economic vitality, its quality of life and the local government’s responsiveness to residents’ needs.

“I believe this budget strategically recommends alignment of resources and funding to each of these areas,” he says.
“It absolutely does not address every identified need in our community, that’s for sure.”

Here’s (some of) what we’re looking at:

• $201,105 for a Bright Stars classroom at Woodbrook Elementary School. The county currently funds 10 of these classrooms for at-risk 4-year-olds

• $44,500,727 for salaries for county employees

• $18,871,131 for the Albemarle County Police Department, a 5 percent increase

• $1,199,788 for Charlottesville Area
Transit, which is about $64,000 more than last year

• $178,670 for increased median
mowing, landscaping and street sweeping—up more than $70,000 from the current year

• $173,259 in funding for an energy program coordinator and to develop a climate action plan

• $116,699 for the Charlottesville Free Clinic

• $80,307 for the public defender’s office

• $50,000 for JABA’s Mountainside Memory Care contingency

• $21,218 for the Sexual Assault Resource Agency

• $13,521 to keep the Northside Library open two extra hours per week

• $10,000 for the Virginia Film Festival

• $8,000 for the Charlottesville Municipal Band

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City budget up 6%: Affordable housing, parking are priorities

City Manager Maurice Jones presented his proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 to City Council on March 6.
City Manager Maurice Jones has a new job in Chapel Hill. Photo by Eze Amos

City Manager Maurice Jones presented his $170 million draft budget for fiscal year 2017-2018 at the March 6 City Council meeting, citing the city’s significant growth as a main reason for the 6 percent increase over the current adopted budget.

“City Council and staff have identified two critical areas that must be addressed in order for the city to continue to flourish,” he wrote in his presentation. “Affordable housing and parking. As commercial investment surges in the city, the cost of land increases, thus making it more difficult to build affordable housing.”

Over the next five years, the $171,619,374 budget offers a significant increase in the Affordable Housing Fund, with an extra $800,000 in the first year to total $2.5 million, and an additional $3.4 million per year starting in fiscal year 2019. Specific plans for the money have not been made.

The funding will be coupled with more than $2 million over five years allotted for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to improve public housing, Jones says.

In January, C-VILLE reported that 1,530 new housing units have been created in the city in the last six years, though only 73 of them, or fewer than 5 percent, are priced to be affordable, which means that a two-person family making at least $52,650 a year could afford to rent it. In Charlottesville, 1,800 families, or 25 percent, make less than $35,000 a year. The city has set a goal to have 15 percent of its housing be affordable by 2025.

By addressing parking, Jones says the city is taking steps to accommodate the tens of thousands of people who visit downtown Charlottesville every day. This year’s budget proposal includes $10 million in the capital improvement plan to fund future parking projects, which could include a garage at the Guadalajara and Lucky Seven site.

The proposed budget will give $575,000 to the City Council Strategic Initiatives fund, allocating $450,000 to fund operations of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, $20,000 to continue a GED program, and the remaining $105,000 will be used to fund council priorities, including diversion programs, skilled trades training programs and a black youth achievement coordinator position, details of which have not been worked out.

The draft budget funds about a dozen other new or reclassified city positions, including $92,500 for an IT support technician for the police, fire and sheriff’s departments, $68,461 for a traffic officer, $59,000 for maintenance workers and $26,000 for a  part-time Downtown Job Center assistant.

In the compensation and benefits category, public safety employees will see more money from $870,000 for a 2 percent cost-of-living increase. Another $970,000 will be set aside to adjust pay for public safety employees to make salaries more competitive, the result of a market salary study. An estimated $510,000 will be used to increase certain temporary and contracted employees’ wages to the city’s living wage, which is $13.79 an hour.

City schools will get an extra $2 million in new operational funding. Among upcoming capital improvements is a new track at Charlottesville High School. Over the next five years, $5 million will become available in an unallocated fund for projects of the schools’ choosing.

Jones has proposed $153,000 to Charlottesville Area Transit for a route adjustment to accommodate riders at the new YMCA in McIntire Park, and $37,000 is allotted to increase operating hours at the community recreation centers at Tonsler Park, Westhaven and Friendship Court.

The draft budget proposes no increase in any taxes or fees, keeping the real estate tax at 95 cents per $100 of assessed value.

State of the city

Charlottesville’s population has increased nearly 13 percent, from 43,475 in 2010 to about 49,000 in 2016, according to newly released information from the Weldon Cooper Center.

  • 39,155 jobs, the highest number ever recorded.
  • 3 percent unemployment rate, one of the lowest in the state.
  • 73 percent hotel occupancy, eight points above the national average of 65 percent.
  • 1.8 percent retail vacancy rate in January 2017, down from 3.3 percent in July 2016.
  • 30 languages currently spoken by kids in the city school system.

Revenue projections

Though the city’s real estate tax will stay at 95 cents per $100 of assessed value, commercial assessments are increasing by almost 30 percent, due to Charlottesville’s “incredibly robust commercial real estate market,” according to City Manager Maurice Jones.

  • Real estate assessments for the current year show residential property increasing by 4 percent and commercial assessments up 30 percent. As a result, revenue is projected to increase $7 million.
  • Lodging revenue could bring in an extra $1 million.
  • Personal property tax revenue is expected to increase by $790,000.
  • Meals tax revenue is projected to go up by $720,000.
  • Sales and use tax revenues are expected to increase by $400,000 and business license tax revenue will increase by $141,477.
  • Revenue sharing from Albemarle County up by $88,401.
  • Parks & Rec revenue will drop by $101,000 because of reductions in Aquatics and Recreation Center revenue.
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Brighter budget outlook in the county

Who gets the biggest slice of the pie? Here’s how Interim County Executive Doug Walker suggests spending nearly $400 million this year.

When Interim County Executive Doug Walker presented Albemarle County’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 to the Board of Supervisors last week, unlike last year, it did not include a bump in the 83.9 cents per $100 real estate tax rate.

Revenues are projected to increase $21,866,508, or 5.8 percent, thanks primarily to higher real estate values and soaring property assessments. The current adopted budget’s real estate tax increase added $7.8 million to the pot. And for the first time in half a dozen years, Albemarle’s revenue sharing payment to the city will go up—an $88,401 increase for a total of $15.9 million.

The combined operating expenditures from the budget’s three major funds (General Fund, School Budget and Capital Budget) are the first significant spending boost the county has seen in awhile, increasing $17.4 million, or 5.4 percent from fiscal year 2017. Some of those expenditures include:

  • $958,281 for a 2 percent raise for county employees
  • $75,000 for the hiring of a “diversity/inclusion generalist” in the human resources department
  • $2 million for building the Belvedere Senior Center
  • $61,534 for five extra hours of operation at the Northside Library each week
  • $150,000 expansion to the Innovation Fund
  • $95,671 for a comprehensive digital records
    management system

Here’s a closer look at how the three major funds break down for fiscal year 2018.

General Fund

Up by 6.5 percent, or $16.8 million over 2017

The majority of county revenue is part of the general fund, where dollars are received and allocated to support all county operations including schools, government and the capital program.

  • Property tax revenues expected to increase by
    $12.2 million, or 7.3 percent
  • Sales, food and beverage taxes expected to increase $2.1 million, or 4 percent
  • State revenues expected to increase by $0.6 million, or 2.8 percent
  • Federal revenues expected to increase by $0.6 million, or 11.2 percent

School Budget

Up by 6.1 percent, or $7.1 million

County schools receive money from the school budget, along with $2 million from the general fund as part of the county’s Central Services Cost Allocation Plan.

  • The School Board’s requested budget is $181.1 million, with a $530,811 gap in funding for fiscal year 2018
  • The school division’s debt service includes
    $3 million in expenses not supported by last year’s budget

Capital Budget

Up $2.1 million, or 9.4 percent

The Capital Improvement Plan for fiscal years 2018-2022 invests in new projects and maintains existing infrastructure. The recommended budget for the five-year CIP is $177.4 million. Some projects include:

  • Contributions to the Belvedere Senior Center and Piedmont Virginia Community College
  • Transportation revenue sharing program
  • School security improvements
  • Woodbrook Elementary School addition and modernization construction project
  • Court addition and renovation project

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New web app shows how your taxes are broken down

Lucas Ames, creator of Smart Cville, hopes to leverage technology to make Charlottesville a better place to live. Photo by Ron Paris

Tackling a county budget may seem daunting, but Smart Cville tactfully lays out Albemarle’s budget in a spread of colors with its new budget visualization tool that illustrates how your money helps the county.

Smart Cville, a locally based nonprofit, aims to open up data, plain and simple. Creator Lucas Ames, 35, sent out a letter in mid-April requesting that Charlottesville adopt an open data resolution. In mid-June, the mayor convened a meeting to discuss open data as the city continues its work to further improve open-data relations between city legislatures and citizens.

“One of the reasons we are most excited about this visualization launch is that it provides the community with a good example of how citizen innovators can use technology to help solve public problems,” says Ames. “If we think back 15 or 20 years, citizens simply did not have the tools to engage with their communities in this way.”

The app helps the public understand the origin of the county’s revenues and how those revenues are allocated. Users are able to input their property taxes and fees into the website and get a complete breakdown of how the county uses their money.

Aesthetics are a fundamental element in visual learning that subsequently helps memory and data absorption. According to the Social Science Research Network, 65 percent of humans are visual learners. So, when visuals such as graphs that incorporate color, interaction and other maneuverable elements are added to mundane black and white charts, data literacy naturally improves.

“This site enables our citizens to explore county budget information and drill down into detailed spending and revenue data to clearly illustrate how the budget supports important county services,” says Lori Allshouse, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Big data, often misconstrued as something that is difficult to grasp, isn’t as bad as it seems, according to Ames.

“In terms of big data, the sky’s the limit as to how it can be used when aggregated with other communities,” says Ames.

Ames says that he and his team are committed to improving the budget visualization tool and are working with the City of Charlottesville to expand the tool to incorporate all funds. The team also has a few projects in the works in the areas of environmental sustainability and legal equity.

“As more communities open budget data, it could foster cross-municipality research that analyzes fiscal strategies,” Ames tells C-VILLE.

Those who are interested may access the budget visualization tool here.

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Winners and losers: The General Assembly is adjourned

Delegates Steve Landes and David Toscano applaud increased spending for education, but disagree on how Medicaid should be used to provide health care. COURTESY SUBJECTS

Legislators in Richmond ended the General Assembly session one day early after passing a record $105 billion biennial budget March 11 and sending it to Governor Terry McAuliffe. Both sides of the aisle praise its passage, while regretting the what-might-have-beens.

McAuliffe didn’t get the Medicaid expansion he wanted—again—but he commends the oft-contentious legislature for investing an additional $1 billion in education at all levels, including workforce training.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the session was McAuliffe making a deal on guns, agreeing to recognize concealed carry permits from other states, a pet project for state Senator Bryce Reeves, who just announced a run for the 2017 Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.

In return, those who are the subject of protective orders can’t possess guns, and dealers can voluntarily do background checks at gun shows, measures rejected in the past. “On firearms, we had the courage to set aside many years of heated debate and reach a consensus that protects families from gun violence and increases access to background checks at gun shows while respecting the rights of law-abiding citizens,” says McAuliffe. “The resulting state laws will save lives.”

Delegate Steve Landes’ budget amendments were aided by his position as vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee. They include $250,000 for the formation of the Virginia International Trade Corporation to “keep Virginia’s economy moving forward,” he says in a release.

The Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton pulls in $300,000 in additional funding for staff, which Landes says is also important for economic development.

The Focused Ultrasound Center at UVA is a big winner in the budget sweepstakes, with an additional $4 million for research.

And while Landes is against Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, he did nab $5.2 million a year with matching Medicaid funding to expand the number of slots on the intellectual or developmental disabilities waiting list.

“It is ironic that despite [Republicans’] negative rhetoric, our budget does expand some Medicaid services, but in the most inefficient way possible,” says Delegate David Toscano in his own release.

Toscano also praises the increased education funding that includes a 2 percent raise for teachers and increased funding for students to receive free and reduced-cost breakfasts and lunches.

He got $1.9 million in state funding plus another $3.9 million from federal and other sources for a program to help 18-year-olds who age out of foster care transition to adulthood. The Independence Resource Center in Charlottesville also picked up additional funding.

Court-appointed lawyers for indigent clients will get more money for complicated cases, as will court-appointed mediators.

Mental health funding has been a bipartisan concern for state Senator Creigh Deeds and Delegate Rob Bell since Gus Deeds stabbed his father and killed himself during a psychiatric crisis in 2013. The new budget adds $76.2 million for mental health services, according to Toscano.

Bell is disappointed his charter school constitutional amendment failed by a few votes, but says he’s pleased that it will be easier for someone being stalked to bring charges. And now, if a person violates a protective order by stalking or assault, he will be looking at a felony charge.

The issue of picking judges was controversial on the state Supreme Court level (see this week’s Odd Dominion, p. 12), but good news locally: The budget includes money to fund a new general district court judge.

The Focused Ultrasound Center at UVA is a big winner in the budget sweepstakes, with an additional $4 million for research.