Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

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City, County Weigh Tax Rate Options

Published by Waldo Jaquith on March 13, 2007 in Taxes. 2 Comments

Both City Council and the Board of Supervisors met last night, and both are considering their options on how to adjust the tax rate in response to assessment increases. The staff of each municipality has recommended keeping the tax rate the same, which would leave many home owners paying about 15% more than they are now. Three members of City Council have gone on record supporting a rate cut, though at a rate that will still leave many homeowners paying more in taxes. The Board of Supervisors asked county staff to determine the impact of a $0.06 rate cut, taking it down to $0.68 per $100 of assessed value. (Lowering it to $0.58 would leave tax payments flat.)

Supervisor Sally Thomas figures a $0.74 rate is necessary just to cover the county’s basic obligations and deal with the demands that keep increasing along with the population. (The taxes paid by new residents aren’t enough to cover the demand that they place on public services, meaning that taxes have to be raised on the rest of us.) Three members of the BoS support a $0.68 rate, one a $0.71 rate, one a $0.72 rate, and one a $0.74 rate.

Democrat to Challenge Camblos

Published by Waldo Jaquith on March 6, 2007 in Politics. 12 Comments

A Democrat will be challenging Republican Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos in this year’s election, Liesel Nowak reports for the Daily Progress. Denise Lunsford has not yet filed her paperwork or formally announced that she’s running, but says that she plans on doing so. She is an attorney, of course, in private practice working in criminal defense. Albemarle County Democratic chairman Fred Hudson says that Lunsford is the only Democrat to express interest in running for the seat thus far. Likewise, Camblos is the only candidate on the Republican side.

I wouldn’t dare describe this race as a cakewalk, but Camblos isn’t what you might call a popular guy. He’s isn’t a particularly nice guy, often appearing to barely control his temper, and voters tend not to appreciate that sort of behavior towards a female opponent. That will be a tough line for him to walk, and this will be quite a race to watch.

Interestingly, on the heels of last week’s residency discussion, Lunsford lives in Charlottesville but is seeking an Albemarle office. Commonwealth’s attorney is the only position in Virginia for which it’s permissible to run in another district, under §15.2-1525. It’s my reading of the law that nonresidents only qualify “if no practicing lawyer who has resided in the county…for the period aforesaid offers for election” but, then, I’m no attorney.

McKeever Announces Council Campaign

Published by Waldo Jaquith on March 6, 2007 in Politics. 1 Comment

Jennifer McKeeverLocal attorney and blogger Jennifer McKeever has become the first candidate to announce her candidacy for this November’s City Council election. She’s seeking the Democratic nomination, which will be decided via a caucus on June 2. Charlottesville Tomorrow provides the audio of Jennifer’s announcement, or you can just read it on her blog.

There are at least five other Democrats considering running. If any Republicans are considering running, I haven’t heard about them.

City, County Staff Present Budget Proposals

Published by Waldo Jaquith on March 4, 2007 in Taxes. 5 Comments

Charlottesville and Albemarle County have both assembled proposed budgets for review by their respective elected officials, and both are premised on unchanged tax rates. Charlottesville property assessments went up 14% and Albemarle assessments went 15%, so unchanged tax rates would mean commensurate increases in revenue. The proposed city budget contains a 13.64% spending increase ($136.5M total) and the proposed county budget proposes a 5.6% increase.

City Manager Gary O’Connell proposes using the increased revenue to fund more affordable housing, new emergency services capacity, improving city signage and bringing schools into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, among other things.

County Executive Robert Tucker proposes a 5.7% increase in school funding, a 25% increase for fire and rescue, and a 6.9% increase for police, plus increased revenue sharing funding, money for RSWA environmental compliance, and several other things.

The proposed Charlottesville budget and the proposed Albemarle budget are both available online. Now it’s up to the Board of Supervisors and City Council to decide if they want to follow through with the recommendations of their respective staffs.

McIntire Business Park Sold

Published by Waldo Jaquith on March 4, 2007 in Business. 1 Comment

McIntire Business Park has been sold, Brian McNeill reports in today’s Daily Progress, and new owner Keith Woodard has a lot of changes in mind. The ten-acre complex has been owned by the company that built it for half a century, and it’s started to change in the past decade. It’s functioned basically as light industrial throughout my memory, changing to include things like Circa, Cville Coffee and Blue Ridge Yoga as downtown rents have gone up. It’s often difficult to find parking for Cville Coffee, presumably because the business park just wasn’t designed to be a destination. Interestingly, there are a half dozen apartments on site, and Woodard is interested in adding even more. Woodard says he doesn’t want to make any radical changes, he just wants to make it better.

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