ATTA Pizza and (Root) Beer Taxpayer Reception

Challenging Economic Environment Requires Thinking Outside the "Tax Box"

The Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance (ATTA) will host its second annual Pizza and (root) Beer Taxpayer Reception on Wednesday, February 25th, in the lobby of Lane Auditorium beginning at 5 p.m.

The event commemorates the second anniversary of Supervisor David's Slutzky's 2007 comment that "... do taxpayers want government to give them an extra pizza and a beer a month? That is the issue."

During the event, ATTA's Keith Drake (Chairman) and Peter Wurzer (Director of Research) will present brief comments regarding next year's budget, the recently released Resource Management Review report, and a summary of ATTA's advice to the Board of Supervisors on how to deal with the current challenging economic environment.

ATTA will also unveil an exciting project, in which all taxpayers can participate and contribute to more effective and efficient spending by county government.

The reception is open to the public. Free Vocelli's Pizza and free root beer will be provided to all in attendance.

ATTA Opposes Local Food Hub

To members of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors:

The Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance (ATTA) has learned the Albemarle Board of Supervisors is considering awarding a grant from the county's Economic Opportunity Fund. The proposed grantee, known as The Local Food Hub, has applied for a grant of $80,000 for the purpose of creating "...a non-profit organization that offers local food purchasing, processing, wholesale and direct distribution, warehousing and essential services to the Charlottesville area to address the growing demand for local foods and support expansion of local agriculture."

ATTA opposes granting this funding for the following reasons.

Principle: ATTA believes that the free enterprise system is the most effective and efficient system in the world at satisfying human needs. It also believes that from time to time it is in the people's best interest for county government to financially encourage the formation of new private enterprises when the following conditions are met:

• the enterprise has a high likelihood of long-term financial success and commitment to the county
• the owners of the enterprise have ongoing financial risk
• county funding leverages the enterprise's greater capital assets for the benefit of the county
• the enterprise increases economic activity in the county and employment for county residents proportionate to the financial assistance granted

Position: ATTA believes that the undated business plan submitted by The Local Food Hub to the Board of Supervisors fails to meet some of these commonsense conditions. Albemarle County's investment is at risk because:

• Losses for the first three years will exceed $750,000
• The salary line does not project increases in staffing consistent with a business growing 50% per year. So are the sales forecasts in error or the salary line?
• Year to year survival will depend on a continuing stream of cash from generous, but perhaps not very wise, donors
• Annual advertising/marketing budget will average less than 1% of sales. Even if "local grown" is cheaper, which it may not be, it will need marketing.
• Annual sales forecasts and expense projections are formula driven, suggesting that little thought has been given to the vagaries of the market
• No discussion of customer price sensitivity is presented
• No quantification of producing farmers' capacity and willingness to "bet the farm" on this venture
• Risks of the venture seem to be disproportionately borne by the producer/farmer
• No risks/opportunities analysis to help prepare for potential events
• Grantees are managers, not owners, and have no personal financial risk beyond employment

Conclusion: While ATTA believes the goal to be laudable, it objects to the ill-prepared business plan, which does not thoroughly evaluate the risks and opportunities inherent in the proposed endeavor.

Furthermore, ATTA strongly believes that nothing motivates a fledgling business operator more than the risk of personal loss. Conversely, mere managers can walk away from others' losses and find different jobs.

For these reasons, ATTA believes that The Local Food Hub's request for $80,000 of taxpayer money should not be approved. ATTA recommends that criteria similar to those expressed above become part of the yardstick used to measure future applications to the county's Economic Opportunity Fund.

ATTA Scottsville Town Hall Meeting

Financial Challenges Requires New Spending Mentality

The Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance (ATTA) will continue its series of local town hall meetings on Thursday, January 22nd, in Scottsville, VA, 7:00 p.m., at the Scottsville Firehouse (131 Irish Rd).

The ATTA Town Hall meetings highlight the growth of the Albemarle budget since 2000, educate the public on the ATTA's predictions for the upcoming budget debate, and suggest how citizens can help to achieve more effective and efficient government spending.

The Scottsville Town Hall meeting will provide new information about the upcoming 2009/10 budget process learned by ATTA since its last town hall meeting on November 20th.

ATTA Chairman Keith C. Drake stated "Now is not the time to raise taxes, obviously, but the Albemarle Board of Supervisors is supporting a 20% increase on local sales tax for transportation spending. Transportation is the responsibility of the state, not the county. Our supervisors should show leadership and demand this funding from the state--not take the easy way out and tax its citizens more."

At the Scottsville Town Hall Meeting, ATTA will identify a new questionable spending item currently under consideration by Albemarle County.

Peter Wurzer, ATTA Director of Research, said "We are faced today with a simple choice: either raise taxes, or spend our current revenues more wisely. Our goal is to educate the public that there is a choice, and that county government has the ability to make more effective and efficient use of our tax dollars".

ATTA Town Hall Meetings are free and open to the public.

ATTA Opposes Transportation Tax Increase‏

To members of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors:

The membership of the Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance (ATTA) takes the position that any Board of Supervisors action to increase taxation on local residents for the purpose of funding local transportation projects would be unduly burdensome on Albemarle residents and is wrong in principle.

Principle: It is and has been the role of the Commonwealth to fund local transportation projects through an array of taxes levied by the Commonwealth. ATTA strongly believes that to shift, willing or not, the cost for transportation projects to local residents is ignoring the real issue.

Albemarle County must attack the root of the problem, which is the Commonwealth's failure to assume its rightful responsibility regarding transportation. Some members of the board may believe it is politically more expedient to simply work around the Commonwealth's budget process to fund local transportation projects. This approach would only add to the already inequitable tax burden put on Albemarle residents through the revenue sharing agreement with the City of Charlottesville.

Regarding revenue sharing, the Commonwealth makes no adjustment in its funding formulas for Albemarle County to mitigate the massive annual transfer of funds from the county to Charlottesville. Lastly, what precedent does this set for the next time our supervisors wish to fix a Richmond-based problem. Is the next step for Albemarle to assume the Commonwealth's responsibility for education or social welfare?

Potential Impact: Beyond short-circuiting the Commonwealth's function in this matter is the quality of analysis being applied to the endeavor. Based on the utterances of the proponents of this proposal, ATTA fails to see any evidence of properly reasoned thought.

Issues abound:

• The current transit system shared by Charlottesville and Albemarle is 90% publicly funded and only 10% funded by users. Given incremental capital costs to expand routes, what is the likelihood that any such system would be even close to break-even? The vision is beautiful; the costs are back-breaking.
• Can any proponents of a regional transit system identify other metropolitan areas of similar size that have implemented a truly successful system?
• A regional mass transit plan holds the potential for Albemarle County and other entities to undertake a huge, long-term commitment for public transportation that will be largely funded by the public, not users.
• What happens if the costs of this system are disproportionate to the benefit that each community reaps?
• What happens if sales tax revenue continues to decline?
• Where does funding come from to maintain the system? Out of public safety, education, or additional real estate taxes? Or will the system be reduced to not meeting very many transportation needs and hemorrhage public money anyway?
• If this is such a good idea, why isn't private industry seizing the opportunity?
• How will resource allocation decisions be made? What recourse will communities have that do not agree with the decisions?
• Albemarle County is already seeing sales tax revenues waning in part because it is cheaper for our residents to shop elsewhere. An increased sales tax rate will only accelerate the trend to shop elsewhere.
• A 20% increase in the sales tax rate resulting from this proposal will give big and small business yet another reason to avoid Albemarle County and do more harm to the tax base.

Conclusion: ATTA opposes this proposal and any like it because it does not solve the root cause of our transportation funding problem.

Likewise, ATTA opposes the well-intended but poorly analyzed public transit vision as being yet another government program that has not clearly defined the need or the costs and cannot guarantee the benefit promised.

ATTA Crozet Town Hall Meeting

The Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance (ATTA) will continue its series of local town hall meetings on Thursday, November 20th, in Crozet, VA, 7:00 p.m., at the Crozet Firehouse (5652 Three Notched Rd).

In case you can't make it, you can download the presentation in advance.

The ATTA Town Hall meetings highlight the growth of the Albemarle budget since 2000, educate the public on the ATTA's predictions for the upcoming budget debate, and suggest how citizens can help to achieve more effective and efficient government spending.

The Crozet Town Hall meeting will provide new information about the upcoming 2009/10 budget process learned by ATTA since its last town hall meeting on September 22nd.

ATTA Chairman Keith C. Drake stated "All companies, markets, and individual households experience business cycles: alternating periods of growth and occasional retraction. This is normal. But when it comes to Albemarle County government there seems to be only one business cycle: always grow. It's time that local county government act responsibly and figure out how to meet the core needs of county government without simply raising taxes. That's the easy way out."

At the Crozet Town Hall Meeting, ATTA will outline its challenge to the Board of Supervisors regarding its Resource Utilization Study, currently underway.

Peter Wurzer, ATTA Director of Research, said "Since our first town hall meetings, we have new numbers regarding expectations of declining revenues to the county as a result of the current economic climate. Our position is that we are faced with a simple choice: either raise taxes, or spend our current revenues more wisely. Our goal is to educate the public that there is a choice, and that county government has the ability to make more effective and efficient use of our tax dollars".

ATTA Town Hall Meetings are free and open to the public.