I am absolutely astounded that Norfolk managed to reduce the real estate tax rate 16 cents. Not only that, but council managed to fully fund the School Board’s request and increase the pay of public safety employees by 5%.
Kudos to the Norfolk Tea Party 2 for keeping the pressure on.
Of course, there will be some tradeoff. The personal property (car) tax as well as the machinery & tools tax that businesses pay will increase from $4.00 per $100 to $4.25. The cigarette tax will increase ten cents per pack, and the boat tax will rise from one cent per hundred to $.50. With the exception of the boat tax, I’ll be paying more for those items.
This reduction in the rate will be a significant one for commercial property owners. As mentioned earlier, commercial assessments are only up 6%, on average. This rate reduction, which I calculate to be approximately 13%, will result in a windfall to them, with their bills being on average 7% lower.
I happen to fall in the lower bills category, too. My assessment, which has doubled over the past four years, only went up 10% this year. So I’m one of the lucky ones whose tax bill will actually go down.
I remain concerned, though, that this reduction is not sustainable and that we will see higher bills in the near future. And I don’t expect that Norfolk will be one of the first localities to jump on the homestead exemption, which is likely to be available in 2009.
On a political note – the article points out that it was Mayor Paul Fraim who led yesterday’s fight to reduce the rate this much. (It says that three other council members were with him, but does not identify them. If I had to guess, I’d say they were Wright, Williams and Riddick.) There have been substantial rumors from the beginning that the NTP2 was simply Randy Wright’s organizing for a run for mayor in 2010. Did Fraim just steal Wright’s thunder on this issue by taking the lead on this? It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Yes, but they cut the subsidy payment to HRT by $600,000. That spells bus route elimination. (For reference, Virginia Beach pays $2.8 million total to HRT.)
I e-mailed this afternoon to try to find out what service is to be halted.
Vivian,
You have it wrong! Paul Fraim did not steal Randy Wright’s thunder. Everyone knows it was Randy who had led the fight for lower taxes since the last council election! Paul Fraim just jumped on the bandwagon at the last minute to make himself look good! By the way, the NTP2 was not founded as the beginning of Wright for Mayor in 2010! He simply just wanted to do some good for the people of Norfolk! He has always been a fiscal conservative and someone who is not for the rich downtown elite!
Anonymous,
How do you explain a HRT Commssioner (Wright) having $600,000 cut from the subsidy in the budget? That’s 28,571.4 hours of annual bus service that will have to be eliminated. ($21 per hour)
Tax cuts have to lead to new taxes and/or decrease in services. That’s just reality.
Marcia,
I think I speak for the majority of citizens who want a lower real estate tax rate. When people who have been in their homes for more than 20 years are being forced out due to high taxes, there is definetely something wrong. Besides the city has enough money for services, if they stop giving away money to billionaire developers!
anon – I want you to produce a single individual who has been forced out due to taxes. The fact is that Norfolk has programs in place to keep people in their homes, regardless of the taxes.
I don’t disagree that folks want a lower tax rate – who in the heck doesn’t? But to say that folks are being forced out because of the taxes is just a case of drinking the kool-aid. Over the years, I’ve heard that comment over and over and no one has stepped forward and said that they were actually forced out because of taxes.
And if you believe that the NTP2 was not a vehicle for Wright’s 2010 campaign for mayor, I’ve got a nice bridge in Brooklyn for sale 😉 Wright a fiscal conservative? That’s just too funny.
Vivian – You know I can’t resist offering a post. I enjoy reading your blog when I can, and posting when the content strikes me.
You of course remember our sharing a brief exchange at one of the earliest Tea Party rallies, when you put the question about Wright’s possible political ambitions vis-a-vis the efforts of the NTP2 to me straightforward – and I offered a straightforward response, the same that I do now – ‘I have no idea about what motivates different people, including Randy Wright, to be involved in this, but that’s [i.e. a run for Mayor in 2010] not what anyone I have met is here for.’ Over 8 months strong running this campaign, I can say the same.
You seem to have bought into the idea Wright’s running for Mayor is truly the subtext of the Tea Party campaign, that that is what this was about. For Wright’s sake and your own, you can settle that notion between yourselves.
But for the sake of myself and all the good people from across the city who were engaged in this campaign from start to finish, who were wholeheartdely motivated instead by precisely what we steadfastly campaigned for – a significant reduction in the tax rate – I will contend with anyone to preserve the integrity of who we are and what we’ve accomplished. So tell me about that bridge in Brooklyn [insert smiley face here].
The Tea Party deserves to stand on its own – and it will I can pledge – and everyone involved, the integrity of their work preserved. Now, when 2010 gets closer, should Wright run again in Ward 5 or for Mayor, that will be the case. But if he is a candidate for office then refers to the events of 2007 while running, would I charge him for co-opting the efforts and good intentions of NTP2 supporters? No. The record speaks for itself (again, you judge or discuss among yourselves the motives of the heart), Randy Wright is the only member of Norfolk City council who, in this very difficult real estate tax year, pro-actively demonstrated any concern and meaningful resolve to provide just relief.
Kudos to Fraim for helping make the $1.11 happen – I’ve stated to him as much personally; nonetheless, he was a 12th hour convert. Wright was there eight months ago. And if there is to be any political reward for that – he deserves it.
Brian – how’s that thing go about protesting too much? 😉
Seriously, I’d much rather see you and anonymous addressing the fiscal aspects of this reduction than dwelling on whether or not Randy Wright is going to get something out of it down the road. That was the point of the article.
Vivian,
We are willing to discuss the fiscal aspects with you on the real estate reduction. However, it was you who first mentioned Randy Wright in the last paragraph of your blog! Why don’t you just leave his name out of your blog altogether if you don’t have anything nice to say about him?
anon – first of all, if you are going to post using an ISP that I, as a citizen of Norfolk, am paying for, you could at least get your facts straight. I said nothing negative in that paragraph about Randy Wright. Try reading what’s written, as opposed to what you interpret what was written.
Secondly, the little blurb about the politics is not the essence of the article, just what you wanted to seize on. I still haven’t heard anything from you regarding the fiscal aspects of this tax cut.
Vivian,
ok. I didn’t understand what you were talking about at first. My mistake. I know that we all share a common goal of reducing the real estate rate for all citizens of norfolk. I think the city has gone about it in positive way for everyone
Great job to ntp2, now let us “move on” to other issues, the break down of our community of race /poverty/drugs and of course ethics in local government my question now that the tax stuff is down does everyone pack up and go home, like i said a serious race problem in norfolk, ethics so on will anyone have the guts to run next year and talk abut the serious stuff or just once again put a blind eye to it? please email jackhstiles@msn.com
Great job ntp2, now that the money stuff is down does everyone pack up and go home? some serious problems are still here in norfolk such as RACE/poverty/drugs/ and a serious break down of ethics in local government will anyone have the guts to run in next years election and talk about such issues, was is it really money or the break down of the family? who really got the best of this tax cut well lets be real it was the white community not the black, if you look under the cover you will see alot of dirt. jackhsiles@msn.com