City unveils proposed budget with $2.6 million in Council initiatives

written by Newspack Team | February 28, 2010

By Sean Tubbs

Charlottesville Tomorrow

Monday, March 1, 2010

The

Charlottesville City Council

will be presented tonight with a proposed $ 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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Click to enlarge this table showing the revenues that make up a portion of the City’s budget

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 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.