At last night’s City Council meeting, City Manager Gary O’Connell presented a proposed fiscal year 2011 budget that was slimmer than last year's, although both the real estate and personal property tax rates will remain the same. Some residents, however, told Council that it was time to lower the real estate tax rate.

Real estate taxes are the largest revenue source for the city. According to the budget, "[the taxes] are assessed at 100 percent valuation, with tax rates bring applied per $100 of assessed value." The unchanged proposed rate for 2011 is $.95 per $100 of assessed value.

For 2011, personal property tax is projected as being $4.20 per $100 of assessed value.
Although O’Connell said that the financial crisis is going to get bigger in the near future, he told Council that the City of Charlottesville is doing a lot better then other localities in the state. Yet, 2012 is expected to be even more challenging.

The biggest reductions for the city come on capital projects. O’Connell said that, thanks to the snow of the last few months, $1 million was already spent on snow removal, and about $1 million more may be spent on street repairs.