Charlottesville Virginia Real Estate

I think this is probably a good compromise bill, but it seems pretty heavy handed:

Senate Bill 268 to the Local Government Committee, which voted 14-0 to approve the scaled-back compromise measure allowing the city to collect money from a developer in lieu of affordable housing units on or off the site of a high-density project.

Under the bill, the city could approve a rezoning or a special-use application for a high-density residential or residential and mixed-use project and collect money from the developer as a contribution to the city’s affordable housing fund.

The phrase “collect money from the developer” is code for “put an enormous tax on development to further drive up housing prices”.  It seems self-defeating to tax housing to get more money for affordable housing.  As I understand it, this bill applies to larger developments, so the tax – or mandatory payment from the developer for the privilege of doing business if you prefer — wouldn’t necessarily effect smaller, custom home builders.

I enjoyed the overview of Cville Republicans and the real estate tax issue before the city council at the Charlottesville Tomorrow Weblog today.  They have a great picture of Albemarle County Republicans Chairman Keith Drake’s over-the-top SUV / traveling billboard.  I like Drake’s approach:  only increase your budget if you need to rather than start the budget process with pockets burning from a real-estate tax windfall.

This is good stuff.  DailyProgress reports that the Albemarle County Republican Committee is seeking a substantial decrease in the county’s real estate tax rate, now 74 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The Republicans’ argument hinges on a Virginia law that requires localities to hold a public hearing if property assessments go up more than 1 percent. If localities do not hold the public hearing, the tax rate cannot be set higher than the rate that would account for the increase in assessments.

In this case, Albemarle County Republicans say the rate would fall to 58 cents per $100 of assessed value to account for the rise in assessments. That amount would give the county slightly more in real estate revenue than what it had last year - that’s the point of the law, proponents of the Republican’s view say.