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2O <br /> <br />TAX RATE <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox said he is interested in exploring a tax rate decrease and seeing what the <br />implications are, and seeing if there is a way to balance a reduction with a revenue <br />generation within the budget. Mr. Cox said he would not be in favor ora tax rate <br />reduction without generating more revenue, such as in fmcs and fees. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards noted that these new revenue sources would have to be indexed and <br />the same as the tax rate increase over time. <br /> <br />Mr. Caravati said he is interested in cutting the tax rate. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano said that if Council wants to look at cutting the tax rate it needs to <br />look at the budget to see what can be cut and what revenues can be increased. Mr. <br />Toscano also said that Council could take its $200,000 reserve and use that to cut the tax <br />rate. Mr. Toscano said that in the long term he is worried about the more than $81 <br />million in capital needs. Mr. Toscano said one option would be to lower the tax rate by <br />backing out trash collection from the budget and increasing the trash sticker fee to pay for <br />the entire cost of trash collection. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards noted that any tax cut will benefit large property owners not <br />homeowners and if the price of trash stickers was increased it would put more of a burden <br />on homeowners, <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said he hears from a lot of large property owners that they want the <br />tax rate reduced. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell noted that in talking with individual Councilors about their vision <br />for the City, their ideas take a lot of money which is not budgeted. <br /> <br /> Mr, Caravati asked staff to do a long-range projection for real estate tax <br />assessments. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell said that such long-range projections are difficult because they are <br />economy driven. <br /> <br />Ms. Daugherty asked Mr. Caravati why he wants to reduce the tax rate. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said that in his amateurish view of the economy over the last five <br />years and projections in the future he feels it is warranted and justifies a return to citizens. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox said that his perception of new people moving into the area is that they <br />will be making their decision based on taxes. <br /> <br /> Ms. Daugherty said she does not agree with Mr. Cox, noting that houses are sold <br />extremely fast in the City. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano said that studies show that schools have a greater impact on where <br />people decide to locate than taxes. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said he discounts the argument made by many that City taxes are <br />high in comparison with Albemarle County, and he would have no problem voting for a <br />tax decrease or increases if needed. <br /> <br /> Ms. Daugherty said her reason for wanting to keep the tax rate the same is that the <br />City has a lot of needs that have been building up, capital needs as well as such things as <br />the Jail and Comprehensive Services Act funding. In addition, Ms. Daugherty said she <br />has not been hearing from the public that they want a tax cut. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano said that technology business have indicated that they want <br />infrastructure, not tax breaks. Mr. Toscano said he would be willing to consider a tax cut <br />if he was convinced that a 2 cent cut would make a difference in people's willingness to <br /> <br /> <br />