By Sean Tubbs
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Monday, March 1, 2010
The
Charlottesville City Council
will be presented tonight with a proposed $140.75 million budget for FY2011 that includes several new initiatives and service improvements, with no tax rate increase. The budget includes $126 million for operations, a decrease of .77% from the current year. This is the second year in a row that the overall size of the city’s budget has decreased.
“We’re presenting a budget that doesn’t cut any services,” said City Manager
Gary O’Connell
in an interview. “Most residents will see a reduction in their tax bills.”
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This is the 36th city budget that O’Connell has helped develop, and his 15th as city manager. It will also be his final one, as he is
stepping down in mid-April to become executive director
of the
Albemarle County Service Authority
.
There are no pay increases, but no furloughs or layoffs either. There will also be no increases in fees. While the real-estate property tax rate is not proposed to change in calendar year 2010, average residential property values in the city declined by 2.19 percent in recent assessments.
The budget features the following spending highlights:
The budget features the following spending increases:
Council will review the budget proposal in a series of work sessions in the coming month. The first public hearing on the budget will be on Monday, March 15. Council is set to adopt the budget on April 12.