The Shadow
Dear editor,
This is a first reminder of the next Town Hall, located at the Burnsville Community Center on September 11, 2023, beginning at 6:00 p.m. As a matter of house-keeping, the Town Hall sponsors have acquired a portable sound, public address, system to aid in communicating questions and answers at the event.
New questions have arisen as well as continued concern over the proposed sale of zoned industrial property, under EDA control, for future housing development. The questions fall under two basic categories, including how to assure that HUD funding, granted originally through “The Fair Housing Act of 1968” does not come into play. The original intent of the “Fair Housing Act” was to assure that real estate transactions were not predicated upon one’s color, religion, cultural tendencies or other. However, the HUD program has grown, without congressional oversight, requiring congressional review of new rules and regulations, such that any generation of federal funds through that agency requires submission of a “community plan,” to HUD, which demonstrates that funding will be used for projects which include low-income projects mixed with other housing levels. Projects must be in a defined proximity of grocery stores, retail, stores, the highest-rated schools, and other criteria. Regardless of the current Bath County Comprehensive Plan, federal funding of any project would introduce intrusion by that entity into community housing decisions and community planning.
The second consideration regarding the potential housing project in Millboro is the effect of the sale on industrial property inventory. Bath County has limited property available for functions outside of agriculture and tourism. Sale of the industrial land for housing limits the potential to attract boutique industries to Bath County. To some, it appears short-sighted to sell property that might spur economic growth, which in turn spurs the construction of new homes, etc.
The second major issue which continues to resonate is County Budget and Taxes. Members of the BOS have spoken of the need to continue to raise taxes, “to pay for all the things we need,” one member noted at the BOS Meeting of July 2023. To understand why taxes are at the levels they are, we must educate ourselves. The biggest expenditure in Bath County is education, $12.4 million applied to 485 students. The total budget for 2024 is to be about $18.0 million. Much of the costs of education result from mandates by the Virginia Department of Education. In many cases, the mandates require the local district to pay a greater part of the costs of the program. Determination of how much a local school district is to pay results from the state’s calculation of a district’s “Local Ability to Pay Composite Index (Index).” The index, as currently determined places an undue burden on the tax-payer of Bath County and does not function as originally designed, to assure equitable allocation of dollars per student per district. At the Town Hall, we will begin to unravel how the Index is determined, and how to mitigate the effects of the Index. The Index uses a formula as follows
*True value of real property (weighted 50 percent)
*Adjusted gross income (weighted 40 percent)
*Taxable retail sales (weighted 10 percent)
Please plan on attending the Town Hall so that together we can voice our concerns, come to a better understanding of how our government works or doesn’t, and where we find it deficient, seek to aid in the remedy of those deficiencies. This notice is to act as an invitation to the staff of our county government, the members of the BOS, and representatives of the Bath County School District and School Board.
See you September 11th!
Alan Seacord
Bath County, Va
