101 is short-hand for information. Is 202 double the amount? That’s the position in the year where July 21 falls. That means 2023 is now 55.34 percent of the way to the end. Do you know everything you need to do to get through? Charlottesville Community Engagement presumes you may not so here now is another collection of stories.
In this assemblage of information:
Charlottesville is on track to have a $12 million surplus in the last fiscal year
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee slashes funding for Amtrak which could put expansion of passenger rail in Virginia in jeopardy
Council appoints two newcomers to the Board of Commissioners for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority
A gun buyback program in Charlottesville will move forward
Charlottesville’s next strategic plan is coming together
Michael C. Rogers says goodbye to City Council and Sam Sanders continues a long hello
The Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee met today but we won’t know what they talked about for some time - if ever
First shout-out: Friends of JMRL seek your donations!
In today’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement:
While we may be in the hot and hazy days of summer, the Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library are already looking ahead to their fall book sale! Twice a year the group holds the event to help raise funds to keep the library system going!
The book sale urgently needs your donations. Now is the time to clean out that bookcase, garage, basement, garret, storage locker or closet and bring everything you find down to the basement of the Gordon Avenue branch.
Friends of the JMRL want to make the fall book sale the best ever and they’re counting on you for inventory to help them do even better than the $149,000 raised this past spring. Visit the JMRL Friends website to learn more.
Comments on today’s edition
Readers and listeners may know that I’ve been spending a lot of time as a caregiver for my parents and have not been able to work as needed. This time is finite and soon I’ll be able to devote my full attention. This particular edition features a lot of stories from this week. I’m hoping to get several long-form pieces done this weekend.
Charlottesville closing out FY23 with a $12.7 million surplus
We’re three weeks into the fiscal year and that means work is under way to close the last one out. Charlottesville collected nearly five million more in real property taxes in Fiscal Year 2023.
“For the second year in a row, we are ending with a big surplus and that first surplus is driven by double-digit increase in assessments,” said interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers.
The total projected surplus is nearly $12.7 million. While Rogers said the city also saved money by not filling several vacancies in local government, revenue collection was higher than anticipated in several other areas.
The city collected $2.175 million more than expected in personal property taxes for a total of $14,175,000
The transient room tax brought in $8.123 million, or $1.123 million than budgeted
The meals tax brought in $1.7 million more than anticipated for a total of $15,785,363
There was an additional $771,158 in State Highway Assistance fund
The projected but not audited surplus is higher than the $5 million Council had been told about in January.
Krisy Hammill, the city’s director of budget and performance measurement, said the increase had not been expected.
“We have tried to budget conservatively to make sure we were making our marks,” Hammill said. “We had no trends to follow during this time period.”
Hammill said the Commonwealth of Virginia is beginning to report signs of a slowdown in some revenue such as sales tax collection.
U.S. House budget includes big cuts to Amtrak funding
A transportation budget making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives stands to make severe cuts to programs to expand alternatives to driving.
On Tuesday, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted 34 to 27 on the FY24 budget that passed through the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee (THUDRAS).
That body recommends removing all federal funding for the intercity passenger rail grant program in part because of the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act under a different Congress controlled by the Democratic Party. That’s a total of $660,000,000.
The funding cuts jeopardize a plan to increase rail capacity in Virginia. In December 2019, former Governor Ralph Northam announced a $3.7 billion initiative to purchase right of way and make track investments to increase frequency of trains. The Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative includes a plan to extend passenger service to Christiansburg and the New River Valley.
The bill also eliminates all future funding for the RAISE grant program that is being used to pay for infrastructure projects across the country.
The bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee totals $90.243 billion in funding which is about $8.633 billion below the amount requested by President Joe Biden.
A summary of the bill on the Appropriations website calls this sort of spending “wasteful” and reflects a Republican priority to eliminate investment from the federal government.
This is an emerging story.
Council appoints two to public housing body
The governing body of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is now back at full-strength.
Charlottesville City Council has appointed Alice Washington and Javier Raudales to two vacancies on the Board of Commissioners.
Members of the CRHA Board also serve as members of the board for the nonprofit Charlottesville Community Development Corporation. According to the CRHA website, that’s a “a non-profit intermediary of CRHA with responsibility for redevelopment-related activities.”
The CRHA Board next meets at 6 p.m. on Monday.
Council authorizes gun buyback program
An initiative to help combat gun violence will move forward. Charlottesville City Council has approved an ordinance that will allow the Police Department to create a buyback program for firearms.
Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis told Council that the city will partner with another entity to conduct the transactions.
“We would be reaching to a nonprofit to actually facilitate the gun buyback where we would be involved in that process,” Kochis said.”Any firearms recovered, we would then take in and they are incinerated.”
Similar programs exist in other Virginia localities such as Roanoke, Richmond, and Norfolk.
According to the staff report, it is not yet known how much a program would cost. But the document does lay out other statistics.
“As of March 20, 2023, the City of Charlottesville has seen a 150% increase in murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses in 2023 over the entire calendar year of 2022,” reads the report. “Since 2019, annual violent crime offenses in the city have increased steadily year over year by a total of 59.3% from 2019 to the end of 2022.”
Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers had other new information about the police department in his report.
“Chief Kochis through his concentrated efforts has hired 15 recruits in the Police Academy,” Rogers said. “The success of CPD cuts the vacancies in the department from 30 to 15.”
Charlottesville strategic plan moving forward
One of the tasks that outgoing City Manager Michael C. Rogers set out to perform has been the creation of a new strategic plan. Preparation of the last one broke down due to the pandemic and a series of departures by the city’s top executive.
In January, the city hired North Carolina firm Raftelis Financial Consultants to relaunch the process. There’s been a series of events this year for Council to identify goals. Rogers had an update on Monday.
“Members of staff leadership participated in a session to review the City Council’s identified goals in order to brainstorm adding strategies and measures to those strategic outcome areas,” Rogers said. “The City Manager will review that draft framework in the next few weeks with the goal of a completed framework that will be presented to the City Council and the public.”
Whereas a Comprehensive Plan sets the overall philosophy for a locality, the strategic plan is intended to direct the day-to-day working of government employees. If you’re interested in more stories on strategic plans, there’s a whole bunch more on Information Charlottesville.
Second shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners
In today’s second subscriber-supported public service administration: Have you grown something, made something, brewed something, or otherwise created something that’s worthy of a contest? The Piedmont Master Gardeners want you to consider showing off at the upcoming Albemarle County Fair! They’re calling on home gardeners, brewers, bakers, beekeepers, artists, crafters and viticulturalists to submit an entry.
The Fair is to be held July 27 through July 29 at James Monroe’s Highland and entries will be accepted on Wednesday, July 26. Ribbon winners will be selected the next day, and entries will be displayed through 8 p.m. Saturday, July 29.
The Fair will showcase the best of horticulture and homegrown vegetables and fruits from the Albemarle-Charlottesville area and highlight local skills in baking, food preservation, fine arts, photography and much more. The Master Gardeners will set up educational exhibits and children’s activities and will be available during the Fair to answer gardening questions at a mobile Help Desk.
Rogers presides over final Council meeting
On Monday, City Council formally elevated Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders to a position that’s been held on an interim basis by Michael C. Rogers. Rogers works for the Robert Bobb Group, a company hired by the city in January 2022 to provide managerial services.
“My assignment was to stabilize government operations, present the budget, fill a number of critical vacancies, and present to Council programs and policies necessary for the efficient working of government,” Rogers said.
Rogers said he believes he’s accomplished that goal and is leaving Charlottesville better than he found it. He thanked Council for their leadership during his tenure.
“In 37 meetings that have been held where you took 263 votes, 245 of them were unanimous,” Rogers said. “That’s 93.16 percent. That certainly means that you talk to each other. You work things out. That doesn’t mean that there’s total agreement across the board but you did the work of governance and worked it out.”
Rogers also thanked Sanders and fellow Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall for their work.
“You have been exemplary and at the top of the list of the number of deputies that have worked with me over my career,” Rogers said.
Council adopted a proclamation recognizing Rogers for presiding over the adoption of two budgets, the funding of $90 million for the renovation of the newly renamed Charlottesville Middle School, and adoption of a Climate Action Plan.
One item that has not been completed is adoption of a new zoning code. A future next edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement will hopefully get us to speed.
After the proclamation for Rogers, Council voted unanimously to authorize a contract for Sanders. He’ll be paid $240,000 a year plus a $6,000 allowance for vehicles.
“Thank you to the members of Council for your support,” Sanders said. “I’m definitely looking forward to the ability to bring forward your vision for the city.”
Sanders said there is a lot for city government to get done. This next part sounds familiar.
“I may be one who struggles to achieve work life balance and people are reminding me of that and I will always encourage others to seek and find theirs so as they do that with them I hope to bring that for myself,” Sanders said.
Regional planning body met today
The closed-door Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee meets virtually today at noon but no members of the public are allowed unless you’ve been invited. We also won’t know what they’ve discussed for a couple of weeks.
To recap, the LUEPC group replaces a public body called the Planning and Coordination Committee that consisted of elected officials from Albemarle and Charlottesville as well as top officials at the University of Virginia. City Council and the Board of Supervisors agreed to close that entity in late 2019.
The group last met on June 16 and discussed a need to limit public conversation about what is discussed at their meetings. At least one member of the body had been reporting items at a public meeting but according to the minutes of the June 16 meeting, that practice is to be stopped.
“The website, bi-annual reports to the 3 charter entities, and any public meeting between LUEPC and the elected officials were established to be the reporting mechanisms for LUEPC,” reads those minutes.
The minutes also state that the charter that the group was formed to:
“Allow professional staff to collaborate and develop solutions on a continuous basis with regularly scheduled reports to leadership of all three entities.”
“Retain visibility into the substance of the work via publicly posted agendas, notes, and materials.”
The meeting was held at noon today and the minutes are to be posted within ten business days but only “when possible.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation will be invited to meetings in August and November. There may be an in-person briefing in September.
At the June meeting, there were two presentations.
The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority gave a presentation on a waterline crossing of the South Fork Rivanna River (view the presentation)
The University of Virginia Foundation gave a presentation on the rehabilitation of the Birdwood Mansion and its ongoing transformation to additional hospitality uses (view the presentation)
My main interest in covering this body even if I’m not allowed into the meetings is to give the community as much possible notice of what the University of Virginia plans to do. To keep track of those stories, take a look at the Land Use - UVA topic on Information Charlottesville.
Reading material:
Nelson business owner reaches new heights with state tourism grant, parks and rec partnership, Emma Martin, Nelson County Times, July 19, 2023
Supervisors not in a hurry to install school zone speeding cameras, Emma Martin, Nelson County Times, July 19, 2023
More Dairy Market? Stony Point Development Group files plans for the third phase, Sean Tubbs, C-Ville Weekly, July 19, 2023
Concluding paragraphs for #558
I had hoped to have more written this week but at the moment work is not my first priority. I’ve got three days to get as much done as I can before another two weeks of the kind of uncertainty that prevents me from committing to a regular schedule.
This had not been anticipated, but I suspect most of you understand the situation or that I am in a situation and it has nothing to do with the Jersey Shore.
Yet.
Either way, if you want to know what’s coming up next, I recommend looking up my Substack Notes page and I recommend the Substack App as well. I’ll remind you that one in four readers and listeners contribute financially to the newsletter in one way or another which is highly encouraged.
But I will never tell you what to do except to generally tell you to learn as much as you can about as much as you can and to question everything.
If you do subscribe through Substack, Ting will match your initial payment.
You may know by now that if you sign up for Ting at this link and enter the promo code COMMUNITY, you’ll get:
Free installation
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A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
July 21, 2023: Charlottesville projecting $12.7M revenue surplus for FY23; U.S. House budget slashes Amtrak funding