Here is a link to a great editorial summary of the history of the Revenue Sharing agreement and some cooperative efforts between the City and the County over the years. Take a look.
Sincerely,
David
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Town Hall Time Change: 6:30 on March 25
Update: we have pushed back the time of the Town Hall next Thursday to 6:30. We hope this will allow more people to participate.
Legislative Town Hall
With Senator Creigh Deeds and Delegate David J. Toscano
6:30 p.m., March 25
The Senior Center
1180 Pepsi Place
Charlottesville, VA 22901
Many thanks,
David
Legislative Town Hall
With Senator Creigh Deeds and Delegate David J. Toscano
6:30 p.m., March 25
The Senior Center
1180 Pepsi Place
Charlottesville, VA 22901
Many thanks,
David
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Town Hall, 6 p.m. on March 25 at the Senior Center
It has been great to watch the debate and discussion on this blog so far and hear some good ideas to make our community more cooperative and efficient. If you would like to take part in a live discussion of state government and community issues, I encourage you to attend my upcoming town hall with Senator Creigh Deeds.
Senator Deeds and I will recap the recent General Assembly Session, discuss the budget and its implications for our community, and take audience questions and comments. Light refreshments will be provided, and I hope that you and your friends and neighbors will join us.
WHAT: Joint Town Hall with Delegate David Toscano and Senator Creigh Deeds
WHEN: Thursday, March 25, 6 p.m.
WHERE: The Senior Center, 1180 Pepsi Place, Charlottesville, VA 22901
Please feel free to contact my office if you have any questions:
(434) 220-1660
david@davidtoscano.com
Senator Deeds and I will recap the recent General Assembly Session, discuss the budget and its implications for our community, and take audience questions and comments. Light refreshments will be provided, and I hope that you and your friends and neighbors will join us.
WHAT: Joint Town Hall with Delegate David Toscano and Senator Creigh Deeds
WHEN: Thursday, March 25, 6 p.m.
WHERE: The Senior Center, 1180 Pepsi Place, Charlottesville, VA 22901
Please feel free to contact my office if you have any questions:
(434) 220-1660
david@davidtoscano.com
Thursday, March 11, 2010
What is the Local Composite Index?
One of the complicated issues involved in the recent City-County discussion about revenue sharing is the Local Composite Index, the formula by which the Commonwealth allocates state education funds to localities. Many have argued that this formula does not accurately measure a locality’s true “ability to pay.” Here’s a look at what the LCI really is.
The Local Composite Index was developed by a Governor’s Task Force in 1973 on Financing the Standards of Quality. The LCI aims to allocate school funding to those localities based on a locality’s ability to raise its own revenue; the formula is supposed to operate to provide greater assistance to localities with fewer resources so that all children will have the opportunity to receive a good education.
The LCI for each locality is a number generated by a formula which involves three indicators: the true value of real property, adjusted gross income, and taxable retail sales. Charlottesville’s LCI for FY 2011 and 2012 is .6560; Albemarle’s is .6872. Each factor is weighted differently in the formula. The number is then used to calculate the locality’s share of state funds. The maximum possible index is .8000. The higher the number, the greater the theoretical local ability to raise revenue for education, and therefore the less money provided by the state.
How are these indicators measured?
1. True Value of Real Property represents the potential for property tax revenue from residential and commercial lands in a locality. This is a Department of Taxation calculation using the assessed value of property and a sample of property sales in past year. The Department takes the median value of those two numbers. This measure seeks to assess an accurate market value of real property in the locality.
2. Adjusted Gross Income is the sum of reported incomes in yearly tax returns, before deductions and other exemptions.
3. Taxable Retail Sales is the total value of sales upon which sales tax can be levied; this number represents taxable transactions occurring in locality.
Overall, these factors are intended to assess a locality’s ability to access revenues and its ability to pay the local share of the state’s Standards of Quality for education. The SOQs are another complicated issue, and you can read more about them here: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/quality/index.shtml.
The Local Composite Index was developed by a Governor’s Task Force in 1973 on Financing the Standards of Quality. The LCI aims to allocate school funding to those localities based on a locality’s ability to raise its own revenue; the formula is supposed to operate to provide greater assistance to localities with fewer resources so that all children will have the opportunity to receive a good education.
The LCI for each locality is a number generated by a formula which involves three indicators: the true value of real property, adjusted gross income, and taxable retail sales. Charlottesville’s LCI for FY 2011 and 2012 is .6560; Albemarle’s is .6872. Each factor is weighted differently in the formula. The number is then used to calculate the locality’s share of state funds. The maximum possible index is .8000. The higher the number, the greater the theoretical local ability to raise revenue for education, and therefore the less money provided by the state.
How are these indicators measured?
1. True Value of Real Property represents the potential for property tax revenue from residential and commercial lands in a locality. This is a Department of Taxation calculation using the assessed value of property and a sample of property sales in past year. The Department takes the median value of those two numbers. This measure seeks to assess an accurate market value of real property in the locality.
2. Adjusted Gross Income is the sum of reported incomes in yearly tax returns, before deductions and other exemptions.
3. Taxable Retail Sales is the total value of sales upon which sales tax can be levied; this number represents taxable transactions occurring in locality.
Overall, these factors are intended to assess a locality’s ability to access revenues and its ability to pay the local share of the state’s Standards of Quality for education. The SOQs are another complicated issue, and you can read more about them here: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/quality/index.shtml.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
State Education Funding
The Community Voices blog has only been up for a few days and we have already had a lot of great ideas and suggestions. Thank you for taking part.
Periodically, I will try to post information that is helpful to the discussion. With that in mind, I wish to provide info about the House and Senate budgets, and their impact on Charlottesville and Albemarle Schools. The tables below were put together based on a report from the State Board of Education on HB 29 and SB 29, which amend the budget for FY2010, and HB 30 and SB 20, which are the proposed budgets for FY2011 and FY2012.
The budget bills can be found at the Legislative Information System on the General Assembly website, or at this link: http://leg1.state.va.us/. Links to the House and Senate budget summaries, which explain more specifically where cuts are being made and which policies are being changed, can be found in the "relevant links" box in the right sidebar.
As you can see below, while both bills present deep cuts to K-12 education, the House version has a much greater effect (both with or without Delegate Bell's budget amendment) on our local schools. In the House version--which presently includes the Bell amendment--Charlottesville's state allocation is decreased by 35.5% from 2009 to 2012 levels; Albemarle loses 14.7%. In the Senate version, Charlottesville loses 10.3% and Albemarle loses 8.1%.
-David J. Toscano
Periodically, I will try to post information that is helpful to the discussion. With that in mind, I wish to provide info about the House and Senate budgets, and their impact on Charlottesville and Albemarle Schools. The tables below were put together based on a report from the State Board of Education on HB 29 and SB 29, which amend the budget for FY2010, and HB 30 and SB 20, which are the proposed budgets for FY2011 and FY2012.
The budget bills can be found at the Legislative Information System on the General Assembly website, or at this link: http://leg1.state.va.us/. Links to the House and Senate budget summaries, which explain more specifically where cuts are being made and which policies are being changed, can be found in the "relevant links" box in the right sidebar.
As you can see below, while both bills present deep cuts to K-12 education, the House version has a much greater effect (both with or without Delegate Bell's budget amendment) on our local schools. In the House version--which presently includes the Bell amendment--Charlottesville's state allocation is decreased by 35.5% from 2009 to 2012 levels; Albemarle loses 14.7%. In the Senate version, Charlottesville loses 10.3% and Albemarle loses 8.1%.
As a hypothetical, I have also shown the House budget without the Bell amendment. In this scenario, Charlottesville loses 21.5% and Albemarle loses 20.7%.
HOUSE
.................................(HB 29) .............(HB 30)..............(HB 30)
.........FY 2009.............FY 2010..............FY 2011.............FY 2012
Alb:.. $47,369,639.......$46,725,911*......$44,331,663......$40,389,125
Cville:$20,162,267......$18,313,300*.....$13,992,214.......$12,995,468
*Includes projected federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund monies
HOUSE (without Bell adjustment)
................................(HB 29)................(HB 30).............(HB 30)
.........FY 2009.............FY 2010..............FY 2011...........FY 2012
Alb: ....$47,369,639.....$46,725,911*.....$41,505,983.....$37,563,445
Cville: $20,162,267.....$18,313,300*.....$16,817,894.....$15,821,148
*Includes projected federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund monies
SENATE
................................(SB 29) ...............(SB 30) ..............(SB 30)
...........FY 2009 ..........FY 2010 .............FY2011 .............FY 2012
Alb: ....$47,369,639 ....$46,711,974* .....$43,334,285 .....$43,551,171
Cville: $20,162,267 ....$18,307,299* .....$18,153,832 .....$18,088,680
*Includes projected federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund monies
I hope these figures will enlighten the discussion. In my view, the Senate budget is better for education in our localities.
-David J. Toscano
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