By GEORGE WHITEHURST
If Spotsylvania residents don't face a higher tax rate on their homes this year, they can thank the county's recent burst of commercial development.
The proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1` estimates that local sales-tax collections will jump by 28 percent this year--to $17.6 million, up from $13.8 million.
As a result, a majority of supervisors appear inclined to lower the real-estate tax rate.
"It's those increased sales-tax revenues that have led me to believe that we don't need a tax increase at all this year," Supervisor Vince Onorato said last week.
Supervisor Chris Yakabouski argues that sales-tax revenue plus rising property values make it possible for the supervisors to provide actual real-estate tax relief.
With the average Spotsylvania home now worth $350,000, the supervisors would have to cut the tax rate to 62 cents per $100 of assessed value to offset the sharp rise in property values since 2004. Yakabouski would love to see a rate of less than 62 cents.
"With our commercial increasing so much, I think we can give some relief to our citizens, and we need to find a way to do that," he said recently.
County Administrator Randy Wheeler is recommending a 65-cent tax rate. Two pennies of the increase would repay debt the county will acquire in the near future, while 1 cent would bulk up government operations.
That plan isn't flying with Supervisor T.C. Waddy, who, like Yakabouski, hopes to provide some tax relief.
"If there's any change, I'm going to go below 62," he said. "I'm not going for 65. There's so many people who just can't afford all this tax increase."
Supervisor Emmitt Marshall sounded a note of caution on actual tax cutting.
"It may be possible. I don't know, though," he said. "I know that if you go too low this year, next year you may have a tremendous increase. It's my hope that we can set the rate at 62 cents."
Supervisor Gary Jackson, an ardent opponent of tax increases, did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.
Board Chairman Hap Connors said it's premature to pick a tax rate, though of the seven supervisors he appears most open to Wheeler's proposal.
"I'm not ruling out anything. I think the county has growing needs," he said. "I think the people have stated their priorities in the citizen satisfaction survey--great schools, they want us to fix transportation, they want public safety. I think we can do that between 62 and 65 cents."
He'll get more public input Thursday when the supervisors hold a public hearing on the budget.
The supervisors' ability to discuss lower real-estate tax rates rests on the shoulders of the new Wal-Mart and Lowe's at Southpoint II, and on major retailers such as Target and Home Depot that are slated to open this year at Cosner's Corner and Harrison Crossing, respectively.
Data from the Silver Cos. and Vakos Co., the major retail developers in the county, helped county finance staffers develop revenue projections.
Without those revenues, Wheeler said, he would have been in the "unenviable position of suggesting a tax rate [increase] to stay exactly where we were."
Connors argued the revenue estimates demonstrate the need for more commercial development--such as the proposed renovation and expansion of the former Spotsylvania Mall.
"That's why I'm very bullish on the Spotsylvania Towne Centre, because all of these commercial ventures will help ease the burden on homeowners," he said.
To reach GEORGE WHITEHURST:
Email: gwhitehurst@freelancestar.com
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