Mr. Cosby moved to adopt the amended Fee Schedule as presented. Messrs. Hatcher, Daniel, Bise, Cosby and Holland voted AYE.

Transcription

1 VIRGINIA: AT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE POWHATAN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HELD IN THE POWHATAN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM, 1800 JUDES FERRY ROAD IN POWHATAN COUNTY, VIRGINIA, MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2006 AT 7:00 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: STAFF PRESENT: R. KENNETH HATCHER T. J. BISE C. SCOTT DANIEL ROBERT R. COSBY RUSSELL E. HOLLAND CAROLYN CIOS STEPHANIE DAVIS FRAN POORE Mr. Hatcher called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. and he said that all who wish may rise for the invocation. Mr. Hatcher presented the invocation. A. Fee Schedule Ms. Cios presented the following: The Fee Schedule was advertised in the Powhatan Today on March 8 th and March 15 th and on the website and a public hearing was held on March 20 th, 2006 per Code of Virginia Requirements. Each year staff reviews the full fee schedule to identify any changes that may be necessary. The Fee Schedule includes changes related to the Building Inspections Department as follows: implementation of a minimum $40 fee for all building permit fees and increasing minimum fees from $30 to $40. The purpose of the minimum fee is to cover staff costs associated with building permit issuance and to provide consistency in the amount charged. There are a number of new fees requested for items that require additional administrative duties. Those items include acceptance of yard grading letters, extensions, transfers, reinstatements, review of model energy compliance alternative worksheets, authorization to begin construction prior to permit issuance, and temporary certificate of occupancy. The Fee Schedule also includes changes related to the Planning Department as follows: Implementation of new fees related to administrative review of non-subdivision plats, miscellaneous public hearings, preliminary and final subdivision plats (second and subsequent resubmittals), sale of materials/cd and an increase to the fee for resubmittal of erosion and sediment control plans for second and subsequent resubmittals. Staff and I are available if there are any questions. Mr. Hatcher said the floor is open for a motion. Mr. Cosby moved to adopt the amended Fee Schedule as presented. Messrs. Hatcher, Daniel, Bise, Cosby and Holland voted AYE. Board of Supervisors Budget Special Meeting Page 1 4/3/06

2 VOTE 5 0 B. Personal Property Percentage Of Tax Relief A Resolution of the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors Establishing the Personal Property Percentage of Tax Relief. WHEREAS, the Personal Property Tax Relief Act of 1998, Section et seq ( PPTRA ), has been substantially modified by the enactment of Chapter 1 of the Acts of Assembly, 2004 Special Session I (Senate Bill 5005) and the provisions of Item 503 of Chapter 951 of the 2005 Acts of Assembly (the 2005 revisions to the Appropriations Act; hereinafter cited as the 2005 Appropriations Act ; and WHEREAS, these legislative enactments require the County to take affirmative steps to implement these changes, and to provide for the computation and allocation of relief provided pursuant to the PPTRA as revised; and WHEREAS, these legislative enactments provide for the appropriation to the County, of a fixed sum to be used exclusively for the provision of tax relief to owners of qualifying personal use vehicles that are subject to the personal property tax on such vehicles, now therefore BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors that: Qualifying vehicles sited within the County during tax year 2006 shall receive personal property tax relief in the following manner: Personal use vehicles valued at $1,000 or less will be eligible for 100% tax relief: Personal use vehicles valued at $1,001 to $20,000 will be eligible for 57% tax relief; Personal use vehicles valued at $20,001 or more shall only receive 57% tax relief on the first $20,000 of value; and All other vehicles which do not meet the definition of qualifying (such as business use vehicles, farm use vehicles, motor homes, etc.) will not be eligible for tax relief under this program. In accordance with Item 503.D.1 of Chapter 951 of the 2005 Acts of Assembly, the entitlement to personal property tax relief for qualifying vehicles for tax year 2005 and all prior tax years shall expire on September 1, Supplemental assessments for tax years 2005 and prior that are made after September 1, 2006 shall be deemed non-qualifying for purposes of state tax relief and the local share due from the tax payer shall be 100% of the tax assessable. Ms. Cios presented the following: The Resolution related to the Percentage of Tax Relief on Personal Property was advertised in the March 8 th and March 15 th Powhatan Today and on the website and a public hearing was held on March 20 th, 2006 per Code of Virginia Requirements. The 2004 and 2005 General Assembly sessions substantially modified the provisions of the Personal Property Tax Relief Act (PPTRA) and implemented a block grant, capped funding programs for all localities. The State s amendments basically changed the PPTRA program from a vehicle Board of Supervisors Budget Special Meeting Page 2 4/3/06

3 based entitlement program to a lump-sum, block grant program with a capped amount of funding to be distributed statewide. With the changes, each locality must determine, based on the amount of money to be received from the state, what percentage of tax relief a qualifying vehicle will receive beginning with the 2006 tax year. The resolution adopts the specific percentage of tax relief for each qualifying vehicle. For vehicles valued at $1,00 or less, they will be eligible for 100% tax relief; For vehicles valued between $1001 and $20,000, they will be eligible for 57% tax relief; For vehicles valued about $20,001, they shall only receive 57% tax relief on the first $20,000; and All PPTRA funds will expire on September 1, 2006 for all vehicles for tax years 2005 and prior. The percentage of relief on qualifying vehicles, as a result of the changes made at the State level, will be reduced from 70% tax relief to 57% tax relief. In addition, all block grant funds will have been exhausted, as required by State Code. Staff and I are available if there are any questions. Mr. Hatcher opened the floor for a motion. Mr. Bise moved to adopt the resolution related to the percentage of tax relief. Messrs. Hatcher, Daniel, Bise, Cosby and Holland voted AYE. C. FY2007 Operating Budget Ms. Cios presented the following Resolution: VOTE 5 0 RESOLUTION: ADOPTION OF FY2007 COUNTY BUDGET WHEREAS, a notice of public hearing and budget synopsis has been published and a public hearing held on March 20, 2006 in accordance with Section , of the Code of Virginia, as amended: NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors as follows: 1. The tax rates for the 2006 assessment year are hereby adopted: Real estate $.74(per $100 of assessed value) Personal property $3.60 (at 100% average loan value) Disabled veterans $1.80 (at 100% average loan value) Volunteer fire and rescue personnel $1.80 (per $100 of assessed value) Business tangible property $3.60 (at 100% of adjusted basis) Machinery and tools $3.60 (at 100% of fair market value) Consumer Utilities 20% of first $15 residential 20% of first $100 Commercial/industrial Motor vehicle decals $25.00 on cars and trucks $17.00 farm use vehicles $20.00 on motorcycles $10.00 on trailers 7500 lbs and under $20.00 on trailers over 7,500 lbs Board of Supervisors Budget Special Meeting Page 3 4/3/06

4 Business and professional license $50.00 (flat rate) E-911 $3.00 per month per line 2. The budget for FY2007 is hereby approved in the amount of $ 63,522, The amount hereby approved for non-school general government is $12,588, The amount hereby approved for Social Services is $1,448, The amount hereby approved for Utilities is $1,628, The amount hereby approved for the schools is $41,308,135 and is appropriated lump sum. 7. The amount hereby approved for the E-911 Fund is $511, The amount hereby approved for Debt Service $5,352, The amount hereby approved for Cash Proffers is $450, The amount hereby approved for Capital Projects $234,364. Mr. Hatcher opened the floor for a motion to adopt the Resolution that adopts what our operating budget for the Fiscal Year 2007 and sets forth what our real estate tax would be and our other tax rates. Mr. Cosby moved to approve the Resolution as presented. Mr. Cosby said that this is quite a tax increase for a lot of the people. He said that the assessments five years ago were rather low and the new assessments were raised close to 100% evaluation fair market value that it is suppose to be assessed at. He said that his neighbor assessment went up $1,000 even with the $.61 neutral rate, because their assessment was over the 57% average that we worked on. He said that anyone that was over the 57% got hit harder. He said that the County is growing with a lot of things we are obligated to do, and we are increasing the taxes $.13 over the neutral rate, so everybody is getting a hit. He said that he studied the budget and he feels that the County needs this money. He said that the schools are being asked to give up 3 on that levy, $807,000, after which they and the staff of the County had penciled out several requests. He said that the County penciled out right many requests that they wanted. He said that some people call it a wish list, but he thought that all the department heads, schools and county, are not playing games, as the requests were pretty legitimate. He said that there is a limit that the taxpayers can pay. He said that he feels that we are asking the citizens with this 74, we are asking them to pay the maximum and that a lot of people do not agree with the rate. He said that with the growth of the County and the quality that we try to maintain throughout County, education and services we provide, that a lot of people tell me daily that they really enjoy living in Powhatan. He said that in order to do this, we do that we have to have money to run the County. He said that he felt that 74 is happy mediums between the requests were and what the Powhatan County citizens can pay. Mr. Holland thanked the Chairman for all the effort done to bring the Board into a unified position. He said that he still has concerns regarding the concept of affordable housing and affordable living that it is rapidly vanishing from many of our Powhatan residents. He said especially the retirees and the lower end of the economic bracket. He said that this budget shows that no department had deductions from last year and that certainly there is a department somewhere that was there. He said to him, we have not fully made the case to the citizens that this increase is fully justified, or on the other hand are there good uses that the money is put to. He said yes, but could we do better, he said that is the question. He Board of Supervisors Budget Special Meeting Page 4 4/3/06

5 said that the citizens he had talked want action on attracting business based to adsorb more of the tax burden on homeowners. He said that he certainly hopes that after we get through with this budget process, we start next year s budget process to determine ways that the government can operate more efficiently. He said once again, he wanted to thank his colleagues for all the hard work they did on this budget. Mr. Bise said that he would support the tax rate of 74 because it was a compromise position among the majority of the Board members. He said that all of us would have liked to have seen less and seen more. He said that we had to compromise and come up with the best that we could. He said so he would support the rate as presented. Mr. Daniel said that he would also support the tax rate. He said that a lot of work was done to come up with these numbers. He said that he also has been approached from a lot of citizens on the monies being spent in the County and I have tried to let people know that we are working very hard to get the budget close to operating the County without extras. He said that there are no extras in here, so he supported the proposal. Mr. Hatcher said that he concurred with his colleague s comments. He said that the citizens that came to the public hearing gave their remarks which were very sincere and they had real life situations. He said that all of those things had to be taken into consideration, but we have to think about the common good of all the citizens, education, transportation, social services and the growth that place and costs. He said that we want a budget that operates on a sound basis and try to get back in line with some of the perimeters, such as percentages of debt services, fund balance percentages, that show a well balance, well operated County. He said that is what this year s budget intent is. He said that it is an effort to try to keep Powhatan taxes on a level basis from here on out, because some things had fallen back somewhat had been addressed in this budget. He said that is why he thinks it is the right thing to do for the citizens of the County. Mr. Hatcher said all of those in favor of Mr. Cosby s motion say AYE. Messrs. Hatcher, Daniel, Bise and Cosby voted AYE. Mr. Holland voted No. VOTE 4 1 There being no further business, Mr. Cosby moved to adjourn at 7:20 p.m. Messrs. Hatcher, Daniel, Bise, Cosby and Holland voted AYE. VOTE 5 0 Board of Supervisors Budget Special Meeting Page 5 4/3/06

6 R. KENNETH HATCHER, CHAIRMAN CAROLYN L. CIOS, CLERK POWHATAN COUNTY POWHATAN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FRANCES G. POORE, DEPUTY CLERK POWHATAN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Board of Supervisors Budget Special Meeting Page 6 4/3/06