Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Public Hearing on Tax Rates - April 24, 2024
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Public Hearing on Tax Rates - April 24, 2024
On April 24, 2024, at 6:00 PM in Lane Auditorium, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors held three public hearings on proposed tax rates for Calendar Year 2024: real property tax, personal property tax, and transient occupancy tax (TOT). No formal votes were taken; action is deferred to the May 1, 2024 meeting. The proposed general fund budget totals $438 million. Key revenue impacts include a proposed personal property tax rate increase from $3.42 to $3.96 per $100 of assessed value (a 54% increase generating approximately $4.5 million) and a TOT increase from 8% to 9% (generating approximately $900,000). The proposed real property tax rate remains at 85.4 cents per $100 of assessed value (the advertised cap).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Emily Dreyfus (Samuel Miller District resident) expressed support for the tax increases, emphasizing the need to fund human services, particularly for low-income residents facing rent burdens exceeding 50% of income. She noted that federal emergency assistance has declined sharply from about $2 million to a much lower figure.
- No other public speakers appeared in person or online for any of the three hearings; one registrant (Chris Boards) was not present.
Discussion Items
- Presentation by Staff: Jacob Sumner (Chief Financial Officer) and County Executive Jeffrey Richardson outlined the budget context, including $13 million for schools, $9.3 million for workforce and customer service, $2.4 million for safety and well-being (e.g., additional firefighters for Berkmar and North Garden, expansion of the HART interdisciplinary mental health response team, sheriff’s deputy and police officer). They emphasized that FY25 budget decisions set the stage for FY26 obligations, including full-year costs for new positions (from $800,000 in FY25 to $2 million in FY26). Richardson urged the board to create reserve capacity for FY26, similar to the $4.9 million “yellow box” from FY24 that was redirected to capital.
- Supervisor Comments:
- Supervisor Galloway noted townhome assessment increases and thanked staff for responsiveness.
- Supervisor Pruitt acknowledged the varied impact of assessments across districts (trailing edge hitting Scottsville) and thanked staff for the thoughtful personal property tax rate design while noting philosophical disagreements on reserves.
- Supervisor McKeel praised the diversification of revenue via TOT, emphasizing the burden of daytime population (tourists and workers) on infrastructure.
- Supervisor Mallek highlighted the need to continue diversifying revenue to reduce pressure on residential taxpayers and commended the transition of volunteer fire stations to paid staffing.
- Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley applauded the balanced budget and the collaborative approach to fire/rescue staffing, including the HART team’s success.
- Chair Andrews recognized the extensive public engagement process (13-15 hours of budget meetings, 7 town halls, many emails).
- Additional Reports: Supervisor Galloway noted the Long-Range Transportation Plan public comment period open through May 21. Supervisors shared observations from a tour of the new Public Safety Operations Center and other committee updates (MPO, American Farmland Trust, RWSA presentation at CAC).
Key Outcomes
- No decisions made: Tax rates and the TOT ordinance will be voted on at the May 1, 2024 board meeting.
- Next steps: Staff will incorporate public feedback and board discussion into final rate ordinances for adoption on May 1.
- CTA: Public encouraged to submit comments on the Long-Range Transportation Plan via TJPDC website by May 21.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Welcome to this regular meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on this 24th of March 6 p.m. in Lane Auditorium in the McIntyre Building. Note that supervisors present here. Supervisor Ann Malik of the White Hall District. Supervisor Ned Galloway of the Rio District. Supervisor Diantha McKeel of Jack Jewett District. Supervisor B. Lapisto Kirtley of the Ravana District. Supervisor Mike Pruitt of the Scottsville District and myself, Jim Andrews representing the Samuel Miller District decorum is present. We're also joined by our county executive, Mr. Jeff Richardson, County Attorney, Mr. Steve Rosenberg, and our clerk, Claudette Borgerson. Also, let me please welcome Albama County Police Officers present, Master Police Officer Paul Quillen, and Officer Andy Muncy. We thank you for your service here today and every day. Board, our purpose here tonight is to consider three public hearings relating to our tax rates. The real property, personal property, and to consider a one cent increase in the transient occupancy tax. At this time, I'll turn the meeting over to Mr. Jacob Sumner, who will our chief financial officer who I think will lead the presentation. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Andrews. Uh good evening, board. Uh my name is Jacob Sumner, Chief Financial Officer for the County. And tonight, uh as uh you alluded to, we are going to be holding three different public hearings uh tonight. Um we'll start with the real uh 2024 real property tax rate, and the second will be the personal property tax rate for 2024. And then we'll wrap up with the public hearing on the transient occupancy tax. We're going to we're going to begin with one presentation, however, that will cover all three tax rates before turning it back over to the chair and to conduct the three public hearings. Uh there is no board action being requested today, as all tax related actions will occur will occur at the May 1st board meeting. Just public hearings tonight. We've shown this slide many times in our budget discussions this year, and we're bringing it back to remind the board and the public that while we budget annually, the decisions from one year affect what happens in the next year. And decisions from last year are part of the budget story for this year. The decisions the board makes for fiscal year 25 will be the driver for fiscal year 26. Focusing on the general fund as we do the introduction, the proposed general fund budget totals 438 million dollars. And while this evening's public hearings focus on tax rates and revenues, we want to highlight how the proposed increase in revenues impact the expenditure side of the budget. In comparing to last year's budget, here are the major areas where we're recommending to allocate new revenues in FY25, including $13 million to schools for our funding formula, $9.3 million to workforce and customer service for salary adjustments, health care costs, and the implementation of the community development system. Additional funding is included in our partner agencies as well as transportation costs with MicroCAT and CAT. We are also investing $2.4 million in safety and well-being with operational costs for the General District Court Building, additional firefighters to support ambulance in the Berkmark area, and to address the 24-7 staffing needs at North Garden. There's also an investment for an expansion of the Hart team, as well as additional sheriff's deputy and police officer. We're going to focus the majority of the time here on the general fund revenues. Again, the general fund revenues total $438.00. I'm sorry, $438 million. On this slide are the four main tax rates by the board set by the board and the proposed budget is balanced on these rates. Tonight we'll hold public hearings on three of the four rates. The real property, personal property, and trade and occupancy. The subject of the first public hearing is the real estate tax rate. The current rate is 84, 85.4 cents for a hundred dollars of assessed value. Each penny on the tax rate equates to approximately 2.9 million in collectible tax revenue. What that means is if the board were to adopt a tax rate one penny lower than the advertised rate, then there would need to be a corresponding expenditure reduction of 2.9 million. Another item to mention is that it is the advertised rate of 85.4 is a cap. By advertising that rate, the board can only adopt a rate at or below the amount advertised, but it cannot adopt a rate higher.
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