The Civilian Review Board, Rollback Rates, and a Fundraiser for Chimborazo
Cheers RVA!
Today will be partly sunny with a high of 76 and a low of 60.
the juice:
City Council approved operating protocols for the Civilian Review Board at Monday’s council meeting, via Graham Moomaw the Richmonder.
The Civilian Review Board was created in 2020 to review shootings by police or other sensitive issues involving death or serious injury to those in custody, but has been limited without an approved set of rules under which to operate.
Moomaw writes:
The board will be “advisory” in nature. That means it will have the ability to review completed internal investigations and issue reports and recommendations to city policymakers, but won’t wield direct power over police disciplinary matters.
the pulp:
After being denied their budget request for the 2nd straight year, Chimborazo Elementary is seeking to raise $250k via an independent fundraiser to build a new playground for its 3rd - 5th graders, via WTVR. Currently the students use a bare asphalt space as their play area, with no shade, old exercise equipment, and no fence to keep balls from rolling into the street.
City Council approved the $5.8 million payment to Marvin Grimm, the man wrongfully incarcerated for more than four decades.
the dive:
As homeowners receive their new property tax assessments, councilmembers are weighing in on the discussion of housing affordability.
Andrew Breton of the 1st district noted his district had the highest overall average increase of 8.6%, above the citywide average of 5.74%. Breton also reiterated the steps residents can take to appeal their assessment, as mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter.
Katherine Jordan of the 2nd district mentioned her district was slightly below the citywide average at 5.51% and encouraged residents in need to apply to the city’s Gap Grant Program which grants $1200 to qualifying citizens.
Sarah Abubaker of the 4th district proposed the city adapt the rollback rate, which would essentially bring the tax rate down from $1.20 per $100 of assessed value to $1.14.
Abubaker writes:
As most of you are aware, Richmond's real estate tax rate is $1.20 per $100 in assessed value - which is significantly higher than Henrico and Chesterfield at 83 cents and 89 cents, respectively, While Richmond's tax rate is likely to always be higher than the counties due to our much higher amount of tax-exempt state and federal buildings as well as our landlocked nature, I firmly believe the disparity shouldn't be this stark.
Further, Virginia law requires localities to consider the "rollback tax" when determining their annual tax rate. In layman's terms, this means that when property assessments lead to a projected increase in tax revenues, localities must consider adjusting their tax rate to ensure they don't collect more than 101% of the previous year's tax amount. Essentially, this means that although the real estate market (and therefore assessment values) is out of local governments' hands, localities should adjust their tax rate to ensure the real estate market doesn't lead to a "tax windfall" for the locality
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the vibe:
Have a heedful day RVA!
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