Yard signs protesting taxes sprout across Rappahannock; the protest moves next to upcoming budget hearings
By James P. Gannon
The bright orange yard signs sprouting up along roads in Rappahannock County bear an unambiguous message in bold black letters: DON’T BE TAXED OUT OF YOUR HOME–TIME TO SPEAK OUT.
The message succinctly states a growing complaint in this small, rural county: Property taxes have risen too much, and many people aren’t going to take it any more. This tax protest arises as the county nears crucial public hearings on the school budget, which consumes most of the property tax revenue, and the overall county budget, which as drafted proposes a 5% tax increase for the coming fiscal year.
“People are fed up,” said Tom Junk of Sperryville, one of the tax protesters who is helping distribute the yard signs to like-minded neighbors. Junk said he has watched the school budget increase every year for the last ten years or more, even as the enrollment of the county’s two schools has gradually declined.
Roger Cordani of Flint Hill is the point man on this tax protest movement. Since his letter to the editor was published a few weeks ago in The Rappahannock News, Cordani said he has been contacted “by dozens and dozens of people–common, working-class people in the county who have had to cut back on other things because their taxes have gone up so much.”
“I had one man tell me his tax increases wiped out four of his pay raises,” he said. “Another man told me he was saving $150 a month so he could take his family on vacation, but he had to spend all that money to pay his tax bill, so the family got no vacation.”
When he realized a lot of other local folks shared his view on the rising school budget and higher taxes, Cordani began organizing the protesters. “I’ve had a couple of meetings at my house, and we have sent out 500 flyers” asking taxpayers to call their county supervisors and show up at the public meetings to express their views on the tax issue.
About 80 yard signs have been distributed so far, and he has another 20 or so left, Cordani said Saturday. “I have people calling my house asking for signs,” he added. “We are definitely causing some buzz out there. The economy is rough right now, with gas prices and food prices going up.”
Much of the protest that is showing up this spring appears to be a delayed backlash against the sharp property tax increases that occurred in 2006. The county’s real estate tax rate last year was increased by 16%, the sharpest rise in several years. That higher rate applied to much higher property-value assessments that took effect last year also, as a result of the steep rise in land values in the county.
The combination produced tax bills that shocked many in the community, and that caused some taxpayers’ 2006 bills to double from the year before. Cordani said his own tax bill increased by $1700 in 2006. “Some people told me that when they first got their bill, they thought it was a mistake, or a joke….but then they called and were told that it was correct,” he said. That’s when the anger set in that is coming to flower now.
The protest movement is taking on a visibility that it hasn’t had in the past. It’s common for people to grumble about their tax bills but then do nothing to follow up–such as call their supervisor or show up to state their view at the public meeting. Attendance at school board meetings each month is sparce, and those who show up tend to be those who want more, not less, in the schools budget–teachers, parents of school children, representatives of the Headwaters Foundation, a local non-profit that supports and promotes public education.
Relatively few citizens show up. The meetings are held on Tuesday evenings, tend to be long and sometimes tedious, and occur after working people have barely reached home after a hard day’s work and often a long commute from a distant job. The meeting format permits no give-and-take on issues. Citizens may make a brief comment during a public comment period, but under the rules the board announces each meeting, citizens asking questions will not get answers during the meeting; they are required to see a board member individually after the meeting (this usually is 9 p.m. or later) or send an e-mail to the school superintendent for an answer to be given later.
Cordani thinks things will change on Monday, April 30, when the Board of Supervisors holds its public hearing on the proposed 2007-2008 school budget at 7:30 p.m. in Rappahannock High School Auditorium. “I expect to have a real good turnout” at that meeting, he said.
At that meeting, the supervisors will hear public comment on the proposed $12.3 million school budget, which calls for an increase of $494,968, or 6.2% in county funds. The increase is driven primarily by a 4.5% across-the-board salary increase for all school employees, including teachers, support staff and others.
To fully fund the school budget increase, the county recently announced that the real estate tax rate would have to rise by 3 cents per $100 in value, from 58 cents last year to 61 cents in the coming year, an increase of about 5.2%. The supervisors must first complete action on the school budget, before considering the overall county budget and the setting of the tax rate.
“I am trying to get this thing turned around,” Cordani said of his protest movement. He’s funded the signs and flyers out of his own pocket. “I probably have spent more on this than the tax increase would cost me, but it’s worth it,” he said. “I like a good fight.”
-- James P. GannonComments
Comment from chris
Time: April 24, 2007, 2:02 pm
Inflation for 2006 was about 3% (not including fuel or food)- so a 4.5% school salary increase is, in reality, at 1.5% salary increase.
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