Norfolk City Manager Patrick Roberts presented his proposed $2 billion spending plan to City Council Tuesday evening.
Here are a few of the standout elements:
Tax rates are staying the same but rising home prices mean homeowners will pay more
Roberts proposed keeping Norfolk’s real estate tax rate the same, but property values have continued to climb since the last budget cycle. The city's tax rate multiplied by the property's value determines how much an owner pays in real estate taxes, so tax bills will be higher this year.
The value of existing properties increased about 4.9% on average, according to Norfolk’s latest assessments.
At the current tax rate — $1.23 per $100 of assessed value — the new valuations mean someone with a $300,000 home can expect to pay around $17 more in real estate taxes this coming year.
No Housing Trust Fund, but some immediate funding for housing
Last year, Roberts told Norfolk City Council it was “critical” the city create a Housing Trust Fund to help address Norfolk’s housing shortage. He cited the city’s housing study, which said such a fund could help create and preserve affordable housing units.
The current budget, adopted last year, included a note that the city would develop a Housing Trust Fund and Roberts said his staff would work out a funding source for next year’s budget.
The new proposed budget hasn’t created the housing trust fund or identified an ongoing source of money.
Instead, Roberts said Norfolk would repurpose an existing fund, the Inclusive Development Opportunity Reserve, to act as a limited housing fund.
“We're proposing to change that fund to be more specifically in support of housing and other initiatives, so not proposing a specific Housing Trust Fund, but … modifying an existing fund that we have to make $2 million immediately available for housing projects,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the money in the Inclusive Development Opportunity Reserve could provide developers with incentive matches to other government programs, performance grants or infrastructure funding.
But the budget proposal doesn’t establish a funding source or include any recurring money for the reserve fund. Roberts said that would be something they’d figure out in next year’s budget.
Downtown garages will have some free parking, but meters will get more expensive
Roberts said he’s making some changes to help turn over downtown’s premium street parking more quickly.
“I'd like for people that routinely come downtown all the time to think about ‘Yeah, that meter is really convenient. Maybe it's a few steps closer to where I want to go, but I can park half a block away for free and not have to get out my credit card, not have to fish for coins,’” he said.
His pitch: “Park in a garage, first hour’s on us.”
Meanwhile, rates on parking meters would increase. The city’s website says downtown meters cost 35 or 45 cents per 15 minutes, depending on where the meter is.
Roberts proposes increasing those rates by 30 cents.
