CUMBERLAND – Although Cumberland supervisors have joked about winning the lottery, welcoming bushels of fifty-dollar bills or robbing a bank, their need for increased revenue is a matter they all seem to take seriously.

In a budget work session last Thursday, March 28, the board discussed means of increasing County revenue including liquidating County assets and reviewing tax alternatives, such as elimination of Land Use tax deferment.

According to a report prepared by Commissioner of the Revenue Anita French and submitted to the board, the estimated amount deferred for Land Use in Cumberland County is over half a million dollars.

County Administrator and Attorney Vivian Giles presented a “laundry list” of revenue suggestions which had been shared with her by board members and members of the community, she said. Meinhard confirmed that each of the items on her list had been mentioned to him at least once, as well.

The list of “local tax alternatives suggested by citizens” included meals tax, land use taxation, preferential personal property tax rates for disabled veterans and farm machinery and equipment.

First, the board discussed the possibility of liquidating assets.

When Giles began the discussion, she pointed out that the County had already liquidated some things when the school held an auction last year.

Giles suggested that a potential asset would include the Department of Social Services building. She offered to put together a list of holdings, if the board would like her to.

Chairman David Meinhard, District Four, asked her to move forward, saying, “Whatever we've got that is surplus…that can bring in a little bit of revenue to cover some of these things that want to surprise us… let's do it.”

The board did receive at least one surprise during their Thursday night work session. Soon after the meeting began, Giles announced that although they received no invoice for the month of February, the County was invoiced $18,972.63 for the month of March by Piedmont Regional Jail, an amount substantially larger than previous bills.

Tax Alternatives

Regarding the list of tax alternatives, Meinhard said that considering the climbing budget requests and the expenses on the capital improvement projects, “we may have to put every one of those tax things on the board for consideration, I mean, just for survival…I'm opposed to increasing any taxes right now, but the only alternative is to go in deeper in debt…”

Supervisor Kevin Ingle, District Three, raised a concern when the meals tax was mentioned. He said that with any one of the tax alternatives, he would “hate to pick out one type of business and penalize them for being in that type of business.”

The board also discussed Land Use tax deferment. According to a report by Master Commissioner French, the estimated amount deferred for Land Use for 2013 is $585,456.94.

Land Use provides a reduced real estate assessment, based on the size and use of the property. French pointed out to The Herald that a large track of land that is, for example, growing trees, “is not asking for any services from the County. It's not houses. It's not children that are there going to school.”

Land Use also helps encourage people to keep large tracks of land, instead of selling them and building a lot of houses, French points out. It also allows real estate taxes to be less onerous to farmers as property values rise over the years.

Besides meeting several requirements, property owners must pay a fee and provide supporting documentation in order to apply for the reduced land use assessment. Changes in use may lead to roll back taxes, which equal the deferred tax, plus 10 percent interest, for the last five years.

Forestry makes up 76 percent of the total land use acres in Cumberland, according to French's report. Agriculture makes up the remaining 24 percent.

While discussing eliminating land use, supervisors expressed concern over adversely affecting local farmers and area businesses.

Supervisor Lloyd Banks, District Two, wondered if the Land Use assessment could be limited to just farmers and not necessarily “forestry, Westvaco and all the big boys.”

Supervisor Bill Osl, District One, pointed out that farmers also have forest property as well.

Ingle added, “I don't want to penalize the local loggers, either.”

French later reported to The Herald that area counties approach it different. Prince Edward and Amelia counties just have agricultural Land Use assessment, she said. Goochland and Powhatan have both forestry and agricultural land use assessments. Buckingham offers neither type of land use assessment.

School Support

Giles also shared an alternative model for determining school funding. She reported that some localities pay their schools according to a percentage each year. The percentage could be tied to real estate and personal property tax revenues or other areas of local revenue, Giles reported, adding, “It takes the debate – to a degree – out of it.”

When Meinhard asked Dr. Griffin for her thoughts, she said that the board has a right to decide how they want to fund the schools. However, she is required by law to present a budget to the locality. The percentage funding would not alleviate her sharing the school system's budget with the superintendents, Dr. Griffin concluded.

Giles added that what she was finding with other localities that use the model was that “when the school knows what they're getting, they structure their budget around that.”

The board unanimously voted to give the school a county car that is in need of repair. Supervisors Parker Wheeler, District Five, was not present.

Giles explained that she does not feel the County has a need for the vehicle and that the school would be willing to pay to repair it.