ALBEMARLE Co., Va. (WVIR) – As Albemarle County works its way through the budget process, it’s taking a close look at tax rates. But Wednesday afternoon’s work session also raised some eyebrows about an issue within the county government.
The county is facing a staffing shortage, with 7% of jobs currently unfilled, whereas between 2013-2020, that number was between 3-5%.
“This is borderline crisis mode, wouldn’t you say?” asked Supervisor Ned Gallaway. “We better be talking about this with the urgency and concern it deserves as we continue through this budget.”
Gallaway raised the alarm as positions are vacant, and not just in one specific area.
“Out challenges now are really across multiple departments,” said Supervisor Diantha McKeel.
In the county’s $565 million budget lies the hope for solutions. All of Albemarle County’s employees are in line for a 4% salary bump on July 1. That comes just after they received a 6% raise in December.
Plus, the proposed budget sets funding aside for a “comprehensive compensation and classification study.”
That’s one of the tasks — really getting a good pulse on every department — where the energy needs to be focused,” said Mia Coltrane, the county’s director of human resources. “We know public safety is one, but as we mentioned it’s not just public safety. We’re seeing across the board, even within HR.”
The county also detailed its tax proposals, including a real estate property tax rate of roughly $0.85, the same as it has been since 2019. It also detailed a decrease in the personal property tax rate, for things like cars, to offset the rising value of used vehicles.
“That provides the greatest equity of benefit across the county,” said the Board’s Chair Donna Price.
There is a proposed hike in both meals and lodging taxes, something the county hopes will decrease its reliance on tax revenue from its own residents.
“We are a regional hub for commercial activity and increasing taxes in those two areas means that we can make some incremental progress to begin to shift revenues from people who live here to spread it out more broadly to those who are also visiting our community,” said Budget Chief Andy Bowman.
Supervisors also expressed their support for the new mental health community response team.
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