Did you know that the City of Richmond has been reducing the tax rate annually over the last 10 years? This reduction has been possible as a result of economic development activities that bring in sales tax to the City, new development, and market growth for properties, according to a recent press release.

The City of Richmond Commissioners and Mayor Moore adopted the 2020 Tax Rate, as well as the 2019- 20 Annual Operating Budget at this week’s monthly Commission meeting. The  adopted Tax Rate is set at $ 0.69990 cents per $100 valuation, which is the same as last year.

This tax rate has been reduced annually over the last 10 years from .79 cents per $100 value in 2009. This reduction has been possible as a result of economic development activities that bring in sales tax to the City, new development, and market growth for properties. The City’s tax rate is split between operations and maintenance and debt service, with 0.1745 cents allocated to pay off long term debt and 0.5254 cents allocated to maintenance and operations.

The net taxable value, which is property that can be taxed by the city, less any exemptions, has risen in the last 10 yrs as would be expected. This net taxable value had grown from $363,670,037 in 2009 to $562,107,243 due largely to new growth and market values over the last 10 years. Of the city’s total market value, 37% or $333,566,642 is lost due to exempt property. Sixty four percent of the property tax base continues to be commercial, providing a healthy mix since commercial property values  are higher than residential property values which represent thirty six percent of the tax base.

The General Fund relies on four major sources of revenue with primary revenue coming from Sales Tax at just over $4.6 million, followed by Property Tax at just over $3 million. The third source of revenue is Fire Protection Fees at $2.6 million which are funds collected for fire protection service outside the city limits. And fourth are Franchise taxes estimated at $690,000.

The adopted  Annual Operating Budget is set at $28.3 million for fiscal year beginning October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020, with 63% of funds coming from the General fund, 30% from the Enterprise Utility fund and 7% from Debt Service to support the city’s Capital Improvement Program. The priorities of the 2020 budget remain Public Safety and Infrastructure, which is apparent when looking at the $17.78 million General Fund Expenditures where 58% goes to Public Safety and the remaining 42% is divided among other services such as Streets, Solid Waste, Facilities, and Public Works.

The Utility Fund is comprised of two major Enterprise funds- Water and Wastewater (Sewer) funds. These services are not supported by taxes but by user fees. This fund is responsible for, among other things, the operation of the City’s water, surface water, and wastewater systems including regulatory compliance. The total Utility Fund revenue is estimated at $8.54 million, with $7.88 million coming from charges for service for Water and Wastewater. The other revenue in these funds comes from service and other miscellaneous revenues. The Utility Fund expenditures total $8.54 million primarily split between operations and debt service.

The final major component of the Annual Operating Budget is the Debt Service Fund. This fund services the City’s debt related to General and Utility related capital projects. This fund’s revenues are derived from Property Taxes, which are a legal pledge, the Development Corporation and Utilities. The combined debt service for fiscal year 2020 is $3.66 million. The debt service fund services $1.91 million for General and Utility debt and the Surface Water debt of $1.75 million is serviced directly from that fund.