Advertise a scary, improbable tax increase

Posted February 12, 2012

Last year around this time, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors chose to prevent a full debate of potential tax increases. They should not make the same mistake this year.

When localities advertise their budgets for public discussion, they must include how much they might raise the tax rate.

Might, not will.

Whatever number supervisors announce becomes a ceiling above which they may not go. They can always adopt a smaller increase after hearing from the public and thoroughly assessing the needs of the county.

Last year, Montgomery County staff recommended a 3-cent increase to the rate. Several supervisors balked, and the advertised increase was only 1 cent. They took 2 cents off the table before a single resident had a chance to weigh in.

No doubt supervisors are looking back fondly at a possible 3-cent increase after a Monday budget briefing.

Staff revealed that if everything is funded that departments say they need, the county will need to increase the property tax rate by an astounding 21 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Most of the new money would go to schools. Ten cents is almost mandatory, necessary to pay the debt the county has incurred to pay for new schools in Blacksburg and Riner.

Nine more cents would cover a shortfall schools will experience because of funding and spending changes coming down from Richmond. The remainder is for needs in other departments.

The school board then made things even more difficult on Tuesday by voting to seek money for staff raises and to hold onto 16 positions that had been funded by expiring federal stimulus dollars. Those would add 3 or 4 cents to the increase for a grand total of up to 25 cents.

The current tax rate is 75 cents, so that would be a 33 percent increase. A resident whose home is worth $150,000 would see his annual tax bill jump from $1,125 to $1,500.

The county budget is lean after years of recession-driven frugality, and 25 cents will not fly with supervisors. Half of that might not fly.

Improbability does not mean it should be excluded from discussion, though. Supervisors should advertise the full potential rate. Everyone knows they will not go there, but there is no harm in setting the ceiling high so that taxpayers can have an honest discussion about what fully funding services would cost. Let them see the cost and decide what they are willing to give up and what they are willing to fund.

Too often, residents sit out important discussions like this one. As Supervisor Gary Creed noted, that sort of increase could shock people into action. With so much on the line, that is just the sort of vigorous conversation Montgomery County needs to have.

By The Roanoke Times editorial board