Since November’s election, two members of Lynchburg’s city council have demanded an immediate reduction in property taxes. The only question in Councilman Jeff Helgeson’s mind is how much to cut.
“Let’s give back either $3.2 million of it or $7.2 million of it. Hopefully we can have that on the agenda – to actually vote it up or down.”
And at their last meeting his newly elected ally, Marty Misjuns, was also ready to vote, noting tax relief is popular with his constituents.
“Quite frankly this should have been on the agenda in the first place, and I was just really disappointed to see that it didn’t make it on there. We’ve had countless e-mails. I couldn’t even continue replying to the amount of e-mails that I’ve received.” :15
But Mayor Stephanie Reed wants details before she approves a tax cut. Under one proposal, the owner of a $100,000 house would get $60 back, while the owner of a $600,000 property could expect $360.
“Now I’m not disputing that $60 isn’t important to someone or that $360 isn’t important to someone," Reed said. "That’s real money. I get excited when I find a dollar in my jeans still!”
But Reed is mindful of the fact that more than half of Lynchburg residents are renters who would not benefit from a property tax cut. On the other hand, they could suffer if public services are scaled back. She and Republican Chris Faraldi prefer waiting to decide on any reduction of taxes until city council reviews next year’s budget.
"When I’m talking about tax relief for our citizens, and I have parents coming up to me, talking about $8 for a dozen eggs, or my utility bill tripled this month, I have to think about that," she explains.
And Faraldi scolded Republican members who’ve repeatedly demanded a tax cut first.
"I don’t want to be bullied, and I’d ask you not to bully. I think doing it through the budget really is the right way to go."
The feud led Helgeson to attack the mayor as the stupidest person I’ve ever seen. Reed replied: “How dare you?” to which Helgeson responded, “How dare you, young lady?” The matter is likely to come up again at Tuesday night’s meeting, and citizens opposed to deep tax cuts plan to rally at Lynchburg city hall beforehand.
