Patrick Duhaney,City Manager, Virginia Beach
By Dick Hall-Sizemore
According to a report in the Virginian –Pilot, the city manager of Virginia Beach will be recommending that city council reduce the city’s real estate tax rate. He is also recommending that the city delay a previously approved storm-water fee increase.
Last year, the city cut $67 million out of its operating budget in anticipation of COVID-19’s impact on the economy. The impact was not as bad as anticipated and revenues have stabilized. Even with the proposed cut in the real estate tax rate and the delay in the storm-water fee, resulting in a loss of about $9.3 million, the manager projected enough revenue in the budget to recommend 3% salary increases for city employees and the approval of 54 new positions, primarily firefighters and emergency responders.
The fiscal condition of the city of Virginia Beach is not typical of that of other Virginia local governments and there are probably few, if any, others who could afford to take these steps. However, the city is an example for most of the contributors and commenters of Bacon’s Rebellion that governments are not always trying to get as much out of the taxpayers as they can.
