2004-11-15 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Mr. Schilling said he was contacted by a citizen who was concerned that the budget presentation material was not available on the web. He also said that the title of the item is "Long Term Budget Forecast" and does not mention adoption of guidelines. He made a motion to defer approval of the guidelines until the public has an opportunity to see the proposal in advance. Mr. Lynch agreed that the information should be provided on the web, and Ms. Beauregard said she can put it on there. Dr. Brown seconded the motion to defer approval of the guidelines. He said there is no rush to adopt them. Mr. Lynch said Council could agree on some things to put on the web in advance. Approval of the budget guidelines was deferred until the next meeting by the following vote. Ayes: Dr. Brown, Ms. Hamilton, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Schilling. Noes: None. Abstaining: Mr. Caravati. Mr. Schilling said that based on the presentation he is confused. He said that a similar presentation was made to Council on July 19th and the assumption of capping assessments at 5% was included. He said that without any fore notice Council received this report and that was absent. He said there should have been an explanation about why that assumption disappeared. He said the expenditures projected in July were $125,738,000 in 2010 with a 5% cap, and the $138 million projected now is a substantial change. He said the July report showed an average increase of 3 lA % and the 5 lA % now is considerably higher. He said there was a cumulative increase of 17.85% shown in July and 27.81% now. He said the issue is what the increase means on the average tax bill. He said the median average now for a home in Charlottesville is $235,000, with a bill of $2,500 a year, and if the increase is allowed to continue, in 2010 the median price will be $384,000 with an annual bill of $4,200. Mr. Lynch said he agrees with Mr. Schilling on a lot of things he said, but the question is what to do about it. He said he agreed in July about the 5% cap, but if we stick with that it will have repercussions regarding expenses. He said we need a better breakdown of "other expenditures." He said most increases are demographically driven. He said we have a poverty problem and there are 935 families in poverty in Charlottesville. He said we need to know where the poverty numbers are coming from (i.e., is it generational poverty). He said numbers keep increasing and we need to get baseline data. Mr. Caravati said he is comfortable that we have control over our finances, and said that the AAA bond rating shows that. He said it is clear why the 5% assessment cap was backed off of. He said we should be careful about the motivation of fear of tax bills in the future. He said education, public safety and investment in the future are very important. Mr. Schilling said nobody is fear mongering by telling the truth and it is important to point this out. Dr. Brown noted that many costs are out of our control. He said people value core services highly. Mr. Lynch proposed that we set the revenue rate increase at 8% and try to hit that. He said we have to address the numbers in poverty. Mr. Caravati asked that this not be done tonight, but that we confront it in December or January when more information is available. RESOLUTION: RENAMING DOWNTOWN RECREATION CENTER AFTER HERMAN KEY