Thursday, March 28, 2024

Williamsburg proposing a three-cent real estate tax increase

The Williamsburg Municipal Building. (file photo/WYDaily)
The Williamsburg Municipal Building. (file photo/WYDaily)

Williamsburg is proposing to raise real-estate taxes by three cents to cover funding for schools and public safety.

Expenses to cover include staffing for James Blair Middle School, additional teachers, a new police officer and a new firefighter total $1,023,898.

“New funding is necessary to meet these core service funding obligations and provide resources to address critical needs,” states the proposed budget on the city’s website.

Since 2013, the real-estate tax rate has sat at 57 cents per hundred dollars of assessed value. The increase in the real-estate tax rate would generate $648,721, according to the proposed budget.

The city manager’s office also said the city will explore “intensive efforts to reduce spending costs” in order to cover city expenditures.

Beyond the real-estate tax rate increase, there are no other increases to utility rates, fees, or other tax rates, according to proposed fiscal year 2019 budget.

In total, the budget decreases spending by 5.92 percent to $33,836,547 from the fiscal year 2018 budget. The 2019 fiscal year starts July 1 and ends June 30, 2019.

Council will present the budget at a public hearing on April 12 and then adopt a finalized budget at its meeting on May 10.

Citizens can email comments to the city manager at citymanager@williamsburgva.gov or city council at council@williamsburgva.gov. 

A hard copy of the proposed budget is available for review at the city manager’s office, at 401 Lafayette St.

Troy Jefferson
Troy Jeffersonhttp://wydaily.com
Troy Jefferson is the city of Williamsburg and James City County reporter for the WYDaily. Jefferson graduated from Michigan State University and the University of Maryland. When he is not writing stories, he enjoys romantic comedies.

Related Articles

MORE FROM AUTHOR