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3 <br />Bullard said this request is still below what they originally were recommended to be <br />funded. <br /> <br /> Councilor tentatively agreed to provide this additional funding. <br /> <br /> Ms. Bullard said that four req uests have been received for property tax <br />exemptions: SHE, Charlottesville Center for Contemporary Arts (CCCA), Music <br />Resource Center, and the Municipal Band. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell suggested that Council provide funding in the budget rather than <br />grant tax exemp tions. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said that CCCA is the only one of the four that does not currently <br />receive funding from the City. He proposed that $5,000 be given to CCCA and $5,000 to <br />the Municipal Band to help them buy down their mortgages. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said he s upports providing all the funding to CCCA as the City already <br />provides $36,000 to the Municipal Band. Mr. Lynch said CCCA is building a new <br />building that will be adding to the tax rolls and will have an economic impact downtown. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards said that d uring their move to the new building CCCA will be <br />without income, and she is inclined to provide one time funding because of this transition <br />period. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said next year all the arts organizations need to be looked at in a <br />broader context. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox noted that the Music Resource Center is also struggling with their new <br />building. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards noted that all the groups except CCCA get programming funds from <br />the City. She said she supports funding CCCA at this time and re - evaluating policies and <br />crite ria in the future. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch suggested rescinding some of the current tax exemptions. <br /> <br /> Mr. Craig Brown, City Attorney, explained that a Constitutional amendment was <br />approved this year that gives localities rather than the General Assembly the authority to <br />grant tax exemptions. He said that the new law is unsettled and ambiguous, especially <br />regarding grandfathering of current tax exemptions. He said that an amendment may be <br />added in the near future to clarify the issues. <br /> <br /> It was tentatively agreed to p rovide $9,200 to CCCA. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch questioned why Council only has $40,000 in reserve funds. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell said that $40,000 was the amount remaining after providing level <br />funding for most agencies and reducing all City departments by 5%. <br /> <br /> Mr. Jim Tolbe rt, Director of Neighborhood Development Services, presented <br />information to Council on the neighborhood capital improvement projects. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards said that at the last meeting Mr. Schilling said he thinks the money <br />should be invested where there is the greatest need rather than allocating funds to each <br />neighborhood for them to decide how the funds are to be used. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tolbert said that the program is proposed to be changed to allocate $30,000 <br />for the different neighborhood for two year periods, and in t he third year use the entire <br />amount for large projects recommended by the Planning Commission and Council. Mr. <br />Tolbert said that with 19 different neighborhoods there are a lot of little projects that take <br />awhile to do once they are approved. He said doi ng large projects every third year will <br />