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284 containing the signatures of 15% of registered voters in the city, or a Council-initiated petition. The City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County have been gathering data to see if reversion makes sense. Mr. Toscano said that the Council is sharing some of the data collected, and challenged citizens in both the city and county to think through the many issues involved with Council. Mr. Toscano said that as Council goes through the discussion, the trends will look pessimistic, emerging over the long-term, but stressed that the short-term condition of the city is excellent: the city continues its Triple A bond rating, the budget continues to be balanced, and $1.4 million was returned to the General Fund in the last year. Mr. Vandever presented the following information: for the past 25 years, the population in the City has remained constant while the county has grown dramatically; the composition of the city population is changing, with middle class fanfilies displaced by poorer families; the city bears a disproportionate share of assisted rental housing as compared to Albemarle County; .and service demands on the city are increasing and revenue sources are declining. Mr. Vandever said that this situation is not unique to Charlottesville, but is similar to crises being experienced by cities throughout the country. Mr. Vandever presented data on employment, income and demographic changes in the city and county. Ms. Daugherty presented information sho~ving that real property values and sales tax revenues are not increasing in the city at the same rate as in the county, expenditures for social services and public schools are increasing in the city as a result of an increase in poverty levels and special education needs. Ms. Daugherty said that the Council must seriously look at these trends. Ms. Slaughter presented information on the implications of the trends discussed above: there is a growing imbalance between the revenue and expenditure projections in the city, with estimates between $6 and $9 million by the .year 2006; the choices the city has for dealing with the growing imbalance, raise revenues or reduce services, are not realistic; one alternative would be to change to town status since as a city Charlottesville cannot legally expand ks boundaries, but as a town Charlottesville would be partially consolidated with Albemarle County and could grow, and the costs of some services would be borne by the county, thereby alleviating some of the projeCted imbalance. Ms. Slaughter said that should Charlottesville change to town status, the County would assume responsibility for the schools, social services, courts, health and mental health services, but police, fire protection, public water and sewer, and parks would remain the responsibility of the town. As a town, city residents would constitute approximately 36% of'the total county population and, with current registration figures, would constitute 30% of all registered county voters, with the Justice Department insuring fair minority representation. Were Charlottesville to become a town, analysis indicates that the city and county would both gain financial, without increasing taxes for either jurisdiction, with a net gain for Charlottesville of $718,000 and for Albemarle County of $136,000 after reversion. ~ Mr. Vandever stated that he believes that the information shows that some sort of consolidation or cooperative efforts with Albemarle County makes sense and would benefit both localities. Councilors encouraged the public to provide input on the matter. Mr. Toscano noted that the data show that reversion would require the town to give up the school system since keeping the schools after reversion would be prohibitively expensive; a reversion similar to South Boston would leave each locality with a financial surplus; and even with the city's current financial health, there are financial and economic trends that are sobering. M~. Toscano said that he feels long-term financial projections should be done in conjunction with the budget every year. Mr. Toscano said the question for consideration is whether reversion solves the problems identified or are there other options available. Mr. Toscano noted that the demographics in the schools are not likely to change without redistricting or busing.