CHARLOTTESVILLE (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – After a lot of discussion about the need to fund public safety, rising education costs that include two new elementary schools being built over the next year, and more affordable housing, Albemarle County’s Board of Supervisors settled on advertising the top tax rates that County Executive Jeff Richardson proposed earlier this month. The board approved the county advertise prior to tax rate and budget public hearings a real estate tax increase to $0.894-per $100 assessed and increasing the personal property tax to $4.28-per $100 assessed. That’s an increase of 4-cents for real property tax, with 3.2-cents funding public safety positions, 0.4-cents funding affordable housing efforts, and 0.4 cents funding education.

This came after much discussion about affordable housing after 6 of the 8 speakers addressed the subject in community matters, and Scottsville Supervisor Mike Pruitt expressed a continuing advocacy for the county to commit at least $10-million annually toward the effort. The 2026 proposal overall commits $4.3-million that affordable housing advocates contend is not enough effort. Pruitt talked about setting aside less funds toward contingency funds, contending the county sets aside too much at the expense of current needs. He also floated the idea of an additional 30-cent personal property tax rise, above the 26-cents County Executive Richardson proposed toward setting that rate back to what it was pre-pandemic. The county approved what had been intended as temporary measures lowering the rate as new, and especially used, car values spiked during and in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic. Pruitt’s proposal would have raised the rate to $4.58, and while a couple of supervisors entertained the notion of all or part of that type of increase, the vote ultimately went to Richardson’s proposed figure.

Rio Supervisor Ned Galloway talked about staff studying the feasibility of using the CIP to use possibly leveraged funds toward affordable housing efforts in the future. Other supervisors supported that concept, though it does not do anything in the current budget being considered toward that effort.