Group finds county fees overly taxing

By Brandon Shulleeta

Published: August 30, 2008

A local political action committee has been voicing a loud message lately: Albemarle County government needs to spend revenue more efficiently before it even considers raising taxes next year.

“There is no sense of urgency [by the county] to spend money wisely,” said Keith Drake, chairman of the Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance.

The taxation alliance held a meeting last week at the North Garden Firehouse, attended by about 60 people. It was the first in a series of town hall meetings scheduled by the group, which was formed last winter to combat a proposed county tax increase, Drake said. Albemarle County has a $334.7 million budget this fiscal year, a $29 million increase from last year.

The county’s tax rate was 76 cents from 2000 to 2004, and 74 cents in 2005 and 2006. Last year the tax rate was 68 cents, and this year it’s 71 cents. However, increased real estate assessments in 2007 have resulted in residents paying more taxes despite a lower tax rate from earlier in the decade.

The Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance has had a growing number of followers who aim to keep tabs on county spending and taxes. In March, about 2,400 people received the taxation alliance’s newsletter, Drake said.

The political action committee doesn’t factor inflation in its statistics, but Drake said the group still provides enough evidence to show that Albemarle’s budget has far outgrown the county’s population growth rate.

Though supporters of the taxation alliance generally don’t respond favorably to the idea of tax increases, Drake said that he’d be receptive to the idea of a tax increase in 2009-10 only “if the need is there … as long as [Supervisor] David Slutzky can look me in the eye and tell me” every effort has been made to improve efficiency and cut unnecessary spending.

Since it was formed, the group has been especially critical of Slutzky, who some members say has shown too much of a readiness to raise tax rates.

Slutzky said that the Board of Supervisors should look to cut unnecessary spending, but under-funding core services such as education and public safety would have negative consequences.

In addition to facing funding cuts from the state, Supervisor Ann Mallek said Albemarle would likely have to increase the tax rate for fiscal 2009-10 if it were to levy the same amount of taxes as the current year — as signs continue to show declining real estate values.

Challenges loom

All six Board of Supervisors members said in phone interviews that creating next fiscal year’s budget is going to be a challenge.

Local officials also worry about the stability of state funding. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has said that state budget cuts are on the way.  Some legislators suspect the state budget shortfall could exceed $1 billion.

An economic downturn could cause significant spending cuts in the current budget, Albemarle officials have said. County staff are expected to present revenue estimates for the current fiscal year to the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 10.

To top it all, the county has depleted budget reserves, Mallek said. 

Slutzky said General Assembly House Republicans are to blame for putting localities in a situation where they’ll likely have to raise taxes during an economic downturn. If they had made sure significant reserves remained available throughout the prosperous years, they would have a rainy day fund, he said.

“Now that it’s raining, we don’t have an umbrella,” Slutzky said. “So, of course we have no choice but to raise taxes, because we can’t ignore the reality.”

Supervisor Lindsay G. Dorrier Jr. is more dismissive of the idea of raising taxes. “I don’t think that the economy is strong enough to support the burden of additional taxes,” he said.

In April, Dorrier and Board of Supervisors chairman Kenneth C. Boyd advocated a 70-cent tax rate for 2008-09, but supervisors Slutzky, Mallek, Dennis S. Rooker and Sally H. Thomas provided the majority vote for a 71-cent tax rate.

Other members of the Board of Supervisors were more reluctant than Slutzky to gauge the need for a tax increase next year.  But none dismissed the possibility of raising taxes for fiscal 2009-10.

Thomas said it’s too early to predict what the county’s revenue picture will look like in the next fiscal year. 

The taxation alliance calls itself nonpartisan, however, Drake was the chairman of the Albemarle Republican Party for seven years and said he hopes to eventually seek political office as a “conservative Republican.”

At the town hall meeting, Peter Wurzer, the tax alliance’s director of research, pointed to the Hollymead Fire Station and school transportation costs as examples of overspending.

Higher than average

Albemarle spent $2.77 per mile for school transportation, according to a 2007 resource utilization study, compared with a state average of $2.52 per mile. If Albemarle schools could lower their costs to match the state average, the county would save $800,000, Wurzer said.

“Doggone it,” Wurzer said. “Something needs to be done here.”

However, Jackson Zimmerman, the school division’s fiscal services director, said that there are multiple reasons for the schools’ higher spending. Albemarle school division’s fuel costs are actually reflected in the school budget, for example, which isn’t the case for many localities, he said.

“You have to be very careful with these [data comparisons],” Zimmerman said. “Just because there are high costs doesn’t necessarily mean that those costs are due to inefficiencies.”

Nonetheless, there are measures being taken to lower school transportation costs, he said. The school division conducted a transportation services efficiency report, released last month. The report projects the school division will save $100,529 this academic year and $141,000 annually for 2009-10 and years following.

The division contacted parents to find out which students would not be riding, to reduce unnecessary travel and use of large buses that are expensive to fuel, Zimmerman said. Some passenger vehicles are being phased in for routes with few students, he said.

Members of the taxation alliance have advocated for studies to review how efficiently the county is spending revenue.

In June 2007, the Albemarle School Board commissioned the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute to study its resource utilization. The institute’s executive director, William Bosher Jr., said the school division could save $400,000 a year by following recommendations outlined in the study.

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors in July hired the institute to review the county’s use of resources. Projected to cost the county about $89,000, the institute’s review is expected to be completed by Dec. 1.

The approval of the study comes as good news for the taxation alliance, which has long been a critic of the cost of a 16,257-square-foot Hollymead Fire Station.

The 2004 capital budget allocated $3.7 million for the Hollymead Fire Station, but it ultimately cost about $5.9 million.

Spending out of need?

Wurzer questioned the need for a community room at the fire station. He also made note of a “large workout room,” columned portico, sculptured ceilings and myriad tiles that drove prices up.

“Do we need sculptured ceilings?” Wurzer quipped to attendees of Monday’s town hall meeting.

The cost of the station was driven up by design requirements from the University of Virginia, which proffered land worth an estimated $1 million to the fire department, according to officials.

The station was built to have a 100-year lifecycle, which contributed to the cost of $247 per square foot, county spokeswoman Lee Catlin said. Building materials, which have to endure use by 12 to 14 firefighters with boots and heavy-duty equipment, were selected for durability and ease of maintenance, Catlin said. Four dormitory rooms were constructed as part of the station, and college students volunteering for the fire department in exchange for free housing are filling those rooms this year.

Fire department officials say that a workout room is essential for firefighters, whose job requires them to be in good physical shape. As for space, “it’s tight with three to four people” in the workout room at once, Hollymead Fire Capt. Micaiah Ledford said.

The taxation alliance plans to have its next town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Hollymead Fire Station.

Those at last week’s town hall meeting joked about getting lost in the large building.

However, the group using the fire station for its meeting “indicates a need being served,” in the community, Catlin said.  The station also provides shared office space for county employees, she said.

The taxation alliance has also scheduled a meeting at 7 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Monticello Fire Station. The group plans an additional meeting in October in the Crozet/White Hall area.