CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Monday night’s Charlottesville City Council meeting was the final chance for the public to address the proposed real estate tax raise for the 2026-26 fiscal year.

Two residents spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, both making arguments against the proposed hike.

“I would say that the future of Charlottesville depends on investment,” local business owner Richard Spurzen told the Council. “And investors are looking at what the city does and looks at the tax rates in comparison to other localities that they can invest their money at. And you should cautiously look at raising the tax rates.”

City Manager Sam Sanders has proposed a 2-cent increase to the city’s real estate tax rate, bringing it to $1.00 per $100 of assessed value. The increase is designed to balance a $279 million budget focused on education, transportation, and affordable housing.

Council will vote on the budget, including the potential tax increase, during a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Spurzem, of Neighborhood Properties, a local company that specializes in residential and student housing rentals, said that, for almost 20 years, Charlottesville rode an incredible wave of prosperity and property appreciation thanks to assessment increases several times the rate of inflation. The city’s population increased only slightly during that time, he said, while numerous office buildings were built by billionaires, such as the Gleason, Dairy Central, the Code Building, the Apex Clean Energy building. Charlottesville has also seen big student housing projects such as the Pavilion at North Grounds and Grandmarc at The Corner.

“I’m afraid to say that I’m not sure the future looks so bright,” he told council. “I don’t know who else is going to be building office buildings anytime soon. I don’t know who’s going to build hotels that are going to compete with the brand-new hotels that UVA has built on Ivy Road and out at Darden. And with the new zoning code two years ago, there have been no significant projects approved under that new zoning code.

“So, the big student projects that are being built right now may be the last ones. So many communities have a history of reducing the tax rates when assessments go up. For instance, in Waynesboro, in 2022 to 2023, they reduced their tax rate from 90 cents to 77 cents, 13 cents, because of increased assessments.

“But that does not happen in the city of Charlottesville.”

Former mayor Nikuyah Walker spoke during the hearing on FY2027. She said the city’s proposed real estate tax increase will push out many low-income families and leave many middle-income families struggling.

“There are a lot of wealthy people in Charlottesville that we know can afford the increase, but because you all are not expanding it at the rate that you need to be, it is not working as it was intended to work.”

She went on to criticize school funding.

“I’ve said it at the school board work sessions that I’ve attended,” she said. “On the backs of Black students, the schools have asked for millions of dollars for decades. That money is rolled in to that $127 million that they only increase every year. The test scores of black children consistently show it’s not working. So, they come to you, ask for money because they are going to fix the problem. The money is then rolled into the budget. Council never asked, what are you doing with the money? What happened to the money? And what are the results you’re producing as a result of the millions of dollars we’ve given you in the past? I urge you all to form a committee to look at that relationship.”