Comments from Brian Wheeler to

Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on 2000-2001 Budget

April 5, 2000

My name is Brian Wheeler.  I am the parent of a second grader at Murray Elementary.  My expectation is that tonight will be a little different from the first public hearing.  The television and print campaign running to defeat this tax proposal may even succeed in bringing more than 4 people here opposed to some part of the school budget or a tax increase.

The Board of Supervisors shouldn't fear a backlash if you vote for a tax increase, because there are a growing number of citizens, and not just parents or teachers, who support a higher standard in our schools, in our leaders and in our government services.  Our voices will not be drown out.  We want increased funding for our schools and we want it in this budget.  The naysayers have held court in Albemarle for much too long and it is time we make a vote for positive change before its too late.

However, some of those opposed to a tax increase are practicing the politics of distortion and exaggeration.  For an organization who I have seen be so insistent on accuracy in your budget numbers, I find it painfully ironic that the Conservative Coalition is playing so fast and loose with their numbers in this NO NEW TAXES campaign. 

A few examples… First, they tell us that our teachers are much better paid than we, or even they, might realize.  Their ad states that the "average teacher's compensation will be in excess of $51,000." 

Note they don't use the word SALARY.  If I asked any of you what you were paid, you would tell me your base salary.  I have made countless offers to staff and never once have I quoted someone's total compensation package.  This figure of $51,000 grossly distorts teacher salaries because it includes everything from salary, to retirement, to health insurance, to life insurance, and even stipends.

Second, the Conservative Coalition is trying to incense the public by relying more on percentages than dollar amounts in their presentation of the tax increase proposals.  Why?  Well the dollar amounts are so small it leaves them with little to stir up the pot of contention.  Further, even when they use percentages, they use the highest numbers they can find with respect to reassessment increases without any disclaimers whatsoever to inform the public that a 10% reassessment would be the worst case and that County staff believes an 8% reassessment is more likely.

The reality is that if you divide all the properties in Albemarle into four quartile groups based on their value, if you apply a 4 cent tax increase and an 8% reassessment in 2000, the result is over half of the properties, business and residential, will have on average a tax increase of less than $50 this calendar year.  Those same groups in 2001 will face less than a $100 annual increase.  These are 5% an 9% increases respectively and nothing like the 16% jump the Conservative Coalition makes the public think is going to appear in their mailbox all at once.

Please vote in favor of this very modest tax increase that addresses the costs of growth in the County and that begins to take the schools off a starvation diet that is making it harder and harder to offer our children a quality education.