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i’m only at this budget hearing to see if all those angry business owners who think the city owes them ever-increasing profits bother to show up. i’ve seen this powerpoint a thousand times.
yeah buddy, queue those slides up let’s do this (again) 
the mayor starts things off by publicly disclosing she is a city employee in the parks and rec department in her day job - the cost of living pay increases would affect her as a city employee.
you can watch the livestream of tonight’s budget work session here if you’re into that sort of thing
facebook.com/cvilletv10/vid…
facebook.com/cvilletv10/vid…
mike murphy is explaining how the meals tax works - it’s a straight pass through. it doesn’t affect the cost of the items themselves. the increase they’re talking about would cost the consumer like ten cents more on lunch.
he also says 35% of annual meals tax revenue is paid by “people who are not local residents” (that is surprisingly high to me)
who is in charge of AV at cityspace? the projector is cutting off every 15 seconds or so. seems to be a recurring problem.
i really hate budget season
if only every meeting had a special moment like that one.
“the community has expressed that housing is a top priority. will we have the will” to make that possible? wes asks.
“the devil is in the details,” says perennial devil’s advocate kathy galvin.
“the devil is in the details,” says perennial devil’s advocate kathy galvin.
signer says he wants to rely on “the revenue that the economy has created.” (i’m not sure what this means or what the alternative would be?)
sounds like heather hill & mike signer are only in favor of a lodging tax increase. wes is in favor of the 1 cent real estate tax increase and even speculated about what a 2 cent increase would look like. (don’t panic, homeowners, there’s no chance of this)
nikuyah says, as a low income resident of the city, she thinks the argument against meals tax increases because of the effect on poor people is disingenuous - poor people can’t even afford to eat out at the businesses complaining about the possible increase
signer argues for a “substantial increase” in the cigarette tax “for public health reasons” (this wouldn’t generate a ton of revenue)
nikuyah says she’s never smoked & thinks people shouldn’t smoke, but doesn’t think this will have any impact on public health - people will just buy cigarettes in the county. (she’s right)
kathy says people don’t think local lodging taxes affect them because they don’t stay in hotels in their own town, but “when we travel we’re paying high taxes elsewhere.”
does... she think other towns won’t raise their lodging taxes if we don’t?
does... she think other towns won’t raise their lodging taxes if we don’t?
kathy advocates a half cent increase to the meals tax. there is some disagreement about whether this is possible... but it sounds like lynchburg has a x.5% meals tax rate so the answer is yet.
heather says the assessment increase is effectively a real estate tax increase. she and signer are very against raising that tax. kathy is open to it but not committing hard. wes & nikuyah are in favor.
heather says she’s not heard ANY concern from *consumers* about the meals tax. it’s just a small but vocal group of restaurant owners. there is no evidence this impacts consumer behavior.
i don’t know who is gonna win the city council election in november but i know it isn’t gonna be mike fucking signer and i’m so desperately looking forward to not having to hear him talk ever again.
mike murphy sounds measured as always, but i think he’s losing his patience with this discussion over whether or not people are going to choose not to eat out because their $40 meal costs 40 cents more.
wes says signer’s argument that this will have a negative impact by giving the city an expensive reputation is disingenuous - the city is already expensive!
we’re talking about the trout at maya again. it’s $24. we’re quibbling about whether or not entrees come with sides.
one thing i’m taking away from this discussion about meals taxes and food prices is that capitalism is a real fuckin scam.
heather hill says we have to chase the revenue that comes from meaningful development, referencing the “skeleton in the sky” (the unfinished landmark hotel on the downtown mall) & the tax revenue we could be getting if there were a business there.
public comment may kill me
first public commenter is comparing spending on police in charlottesville to several other towns. we are... really over spending on police
(he’s got the numbers a little wrong - he’s looking at the total public safety spending, but the spirit of his comment isn’t wrong)
(he’s got the numbers a little wrong - he’s looking at the total public safety spending, but the spirit of his comment isn’t wrong)
next commenter says she is a low income resident. she echoes nikuyah’s comments earlier, saying she wouldn’t know anything about the cost of eating out downtown because she can’t afford it.
third commenter says she actually lives in the county, but because of the proximity she is affected by the cost of living here in cville.
she’s concerned about the decrease in funding for the habitat program.
she’s concerned about the decrease in funding for the habitat program.
(the mic for the public commenters is turned up way too loud)
no sign of the angry business owners so far tonight. weird. after all those tantrums at monday’s city council meeting you’d think they’d bother to show up to the meeting that is actually about the thing they claim to be so worried about.
there is some confusion about the continued existence of $1.1 million mike murphy says habitat has but habitat says is already tied up in lot procurement? don’t quote me on this. i’m also confused.
nikuyah asks the habitat rep point blank if not getting an allocation from the city would mean the two women who spoke tonight about being future habitat homeowners don’t get their homes built. he says it’s “entirely possible.”
heather hill has left, i think? wes just put his coat on. this meeting was scheduled to end at 8 but we’re still having public comment and public comment has devolved into discussion of the confusion over the habitat funding.
another rep from habitat says a lot of their other funding is contingent on getting city funding.
a rep from the charlottesville low income housing coalition says they support a permanent, dedicated funding stream for affordable housing.
we’ll be talking about the capital improvement program at next week’s budget work session.
this meeting is adjourned.
this meeting is adjourned.
