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8 associated with the ongoing purchase of a poem through repayment of a mortgage obligation. The Charter amendment allows the City “to make grants … of funds to low- or moderate-income persons to aid in the purchase of any…dwelling…” If the City cannot establish that the money being given away as grants to individual persons is not reasonably related to the objective of assist persons with the purchase of a home, then it may be difficult to defend any program that is set up as being one designed to implement the Charter language. Alexandria does not impose this as a requirement, but it is the opinion of the City Attorney that not having the mortgage requirement is vulnerability in the program that they have established. In any event, whether or not Council chooses to specify an ongoing mortgage obligation as an eligibility requirement, Council should articulate in its discussions of the program its assessment of how it believes that the final program will promote the objectives of the charter. Mr. Caravati asked if VHDA loans require citizenship, and Ms. Kelley said she does not know. Mr. Lynch agreed that this is a decent start and a tool to help people with affordable home ownership. He said Council needs to discuss in the coming year how to better address the issue. He said it would be most equitable in the long-term to recognize that residential property values have increased at a higher rate than commercial properties, but the State says all classifications are taxed at the same rate. He said rental and commercial property owners got the benefit of the lower tax rate. He said personally he would like to see the cap higher, but feels the one proposed is defensible and he feels it makes sense to go forward with it. Regarding the question about a deferral, he said he thinks we can set up such a program in the coming year. He said the fairer thing to do is to look at a differential tax rate. Dr. Brown said he thinks this is a good start, addresses a specific concern and is a tool to give some relief to a targeted group. He said he agrees with some of Mr. Schilling’s comments such as the student/parent point and owning property outside of the City. He said he disagrees with requiring that applicants be citizens as he thinks that if someone is paying taxes they should be eligible. Mr. Caravati said he thinks this is a weak start, and he does not think it is directed at people who really need it. He said he would prefer that the income limit go down to capture more people in the $25,000 range. He encouraged future Councils to look at a tiered approach. He noted that it will be subject to an annual review and will have to be funded annually in the budget. He said he thinks the truer test is the asset side rather than owning other real estate. He said the program will probably need to grow in the future. He reminded people that Charlottesville has one of the poorest populations in Virginia. Mr. Caravati made a motion to approve the ordinance. Mr. Lynch seconded the motion. He said it is worth stating that regarding preserving home ownership, the Alexandria program has been tested for several years. The ordinance entitled “AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH A GRANT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE AND PRESERVE HOMEOWNERSHPI BY LOW- AND MODERATE-INCOME PERSONS WITHIN THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE” was offered and carried over to the next meeting for consideration. PUBLIC HEARING/ORDINANCE : CLOSING GROVE STREET EXTENDED Mr. Caravati said he has a conflict of interest and will remove himself from the discussion. Mr. Brown said that the property in question is a 50 x 181 foot section that the City has never accepted into the street system. Mr. Brown said Council is required to consider the following: 1) Will vacating the street impede any persons’ access to his property or other wise cause irreparable damage to the owner of any lot shown on the original subdivision plat; 2) Are there any public utilities currently located in the area proposed to be vacated, and if so, is the applicant offering to allow the City to reserve a