After eight hours of debate and discussion Monday about how to find additional funding for the city’s school district, Richmond City Council members once again delayed any major decisions on their amendments to Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ proposed budget.
The council members will revisit the issue at a 4 p.m. meeting today, at which point they will hear a report from city administrators about how much uncollected tax revenue a beefed-up city collections department could generate.
The council is running up against its May 13 legislative deadline to pass a budget for the school system and so far has been able to find only $3.6 million in additional funding for the district.
That’s short of both the $18 million increase requested by the School Board and the $5 million increase a majority of council members have said they hoped to provide.
People are also reading…
When hours of discussion failed to find any agreement on departments to cut in favor of the school system, council members said a new approach was necessary.
“I think anything this council suggests will be looked at (by the administration) as a bad idea that will topple the city into devastation,” Councilman Jonathan T. Baliles said after city administrators repeatedly warned council members against cuts they were considering.
As a compromise, Baliles proposed the administration agree to increase the estimated revenues from local sales tax by $1 million, which would put the estimate in line with revenue projections generated by the state for the city.
City administrators had opposed increasing revenue projections, saying sometimes the state’s estimates were overly optimistic.
But when Baliles asked if they would certify the increased revenue projection if the money was funneled into the city’s finance department to hire additional tax collectors, administrators said they were open to the idea.
That in turn would allow city administrators to raise revenue projections in other categories as a result of the increase with more employees working to collect the roughly $50 million in back taxes the city is owed.
Baliles said he hoped it could lead to another $5 million to $6 million in new revenue.
The city’s top financial official, Lenora Reed, said she could have projections available by today’s meeting.
The $3.6 million in funding the council has already identified comes from revenue increases:
- The mayor’s administration said they anticipate bank franchise fees will be $2 million higher than initially anticipated.
- The administration made another $1 million in funds available when they said they would sign off on a 0.5 percent increase in projected real estate tax revenues for the year.
- The council found another $600,000 in revenue by agreeing to a new real estate tax collection policy that will pro-rate assessments on new construction completed between assessment periods. The new policy would finalize the value of new construction midyear. Currently, values are calculated once annually.
Council members have been under intense pressure to increase funding for the schools, which is flat-funded under Jones’ proposed budget.
The district’s supporters have packed public hearings while students have organized walkouts and participated in two marches to City Hall.
But when it came to trimming Jones’ budget proposal, the council ran into difficulty finding agreement, rejecting possible cuts to the city’s economic development department, the city’s subsidy of the Richmond CenterStage Foundation, the mayor’s press secretary and recycling.
“At some point, we need to come to the realization that there’s no additional money there,” said Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson. “They say we should give $18 million to schools — it’s not there. We’ve got a lot of work to do to educate the community about what the real budget is like.”
Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell grew exasperated as the council rejected proposed cut after proposed cut.
“We’re going to be here until 3 or 4 a.m. at this rate,” she said. “Because we aren’t going to cut anything. I can’t find anything to cut.”
Councilman Chris A. Hilbert floated a 1 percent cut to all non-essential departments that would have saved about $200,000. “I know that’s not a lot, but I want to see if we’re willing to cut anything.”
The measure failed 3-6, with council members Hilbert, Baliles and Charles R. Samuels supporting.
Eventually, council members agreed to cut one department: the Richmond Ambulance Authority, whose budget the council said they will cut by $250,000.
It was not clear, however, that the council intended to direct the funds to the school district. The council had identified another approximately $4 million in increases it wanted to make to other departments, including additional personnel for the commonwealth’s attorney’s office, the city attorney’s office, and a targeted pay increase for firefighters inadvertently left out of a previous year’s pay increase.
The council members also passed over a large possible revenue source: a 60-cents-per-pack local cigarette tax that council staff estimated would generate an additional $5 million in revenue.
Richmond, which is home to Philip Morris’ manufacturing center, is the only city in the state that does not assess a local cigarette tax, according to the council’s staff.
With no discussion, the council members unanimously voted down the possibility. During previous meetings, they noted that the company is the city’s largest taxpayer and it was suggested that increasing taxes on the company’s products would be perceived as a slight.