City Council candidates spar over real estate tax rate

The 15 candidates were divided into two groups; candidates for the 3rd, 7th and 9th districts spoke first, while candidates for the 1st, 4th, 8th and 6th districts took the stage at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture afterward.

Affordable housing, which nearly every candidate listed as a top challenge facing their districts, was at issue — as was current 8th District Councilwoman Reva Trammell’s proposal to cut the real estate tax rate by 4 cents.

Ann-Frances Lambert, 3rd District incumbent, brought it up first. She said she added her name to Trammell’s paper because “taxes and giving some relief to our citizens is one of the major issues I’m hearing.”

“It … sparked the administration to actually get us some numbers so we can make a decision about it,” Lambert added. City Council’s finance committee is set to vote Thursday on whether to advance Trammell’s proposal or kill it.

But some of the other candidates didn’t think the tax cut goes far enough.

Eric Sundberg, who is challenging incumbent Cynthia Newbille for the 7th District seat, said the city should reform the way it taxes real estate altogether.

“We need a replacement-based tax code” as opposed to the current, market value tax code, Sundberg argued. Under a replacement-based tax structure, real estate assessments would be based on the estimated cost of replacing an existing property, rather than the projected market value of that property.

Sundberg was not the only candidate to suggest total overhaul. Sarah Abubaker, a 4th District candidate who is running unopposed, and Willie Hilliard, a 6th District candidate, both said they would back 1st District Councilman Andreas Addison’s proposal to move the city to a land-value tax model.

The land-value tax model bases property assessments solely on the value of the land those properties occupy, and not the value of the development of those properties. Addison has said this taxation method would prevent residents from being “punished” for improving their homes while stimulating commercial development.

Maria Carra Rose, running against Lambert for the 3rd District seat, likewise hinted at tax reform — specifically, targeted tax relief. Rose said the city should be “looking at equality in taxing residents,” making sure that real estate taxpayers are paying their “fair share.”

“I believe housing is a ladder,” she said. “We can go up it, or we can go down it. It’s not secure.”

But Ellen Robertson, 6th District incumbent, noted that part of the problem is that state code does not permit local officials to implement income-based tax reductions. That will have to change, Robertson said, if the city wants to use the tax rate itself to reduce the financial burden on low-income homeowners.

Rose’s and Roberston’s remarks paralleled the position of Mayor Levar Stoney, who has said that across-the-board tax cuts will most benefit the wealthy without providing substantial benefit to the low-income residents. Stoney has said targeted tax relief is a superior option to Trammell’s proposed tax cut.

Stoney’s plan, which he unveiled Monday to counter Trammell’s, includes a one-time real estate tax rebate for 2025, a $4 million pilot grant program for low-income residents who participate in required financial planning programs and real estate assessment freezes for seniors.

Andrew Breton, a 1st District candidate, said he thought Stoney’s proposed rebate was a good compromise.

Stoney’s plan would provide “tax relief while still protecting the city from future downturn,” Breton said, and would allow the administration time to study alternatives. But other candidates rejected Stoney’s idea — some, rather forcefully.

Paul Goldman, a candidate for the 1st District, was insistent that the city should implement the rollback rate, which allows officials to reduce the real estate tax rate the exact amount to offset the median rise in real estate assessments.

“State law expects you to bring it to the rollback rate,” Goldman argued, and any rate above the rollback is technically a tax increase. But “Stoney … wants to overtax the property taxpayers of this city … and use it to subsidize political programs that he likes.”

“How about cutting expenses?” Goldman said. “Has anybody ever heard the mayor say you’ve got to pay any expenses?” He specifically cited Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders’ $335,000 salary and recent budget increases in the finance department and city attorney’s office.

Tavares Floyd and Frank Wilson Jr. — 6th and 8th district candidates respectively — agreed with Goldman. Both said recent real estate tax surpluses indicate that the city can safely set the rate to the rollback rate, which this year would be around $1.14.

Some candidates referenced the affordable housing developments recently approved by City Council.

The current council members last month voted to approve seven housing projects, offering developers 30-year tax breaks in exchange for capping the average rent across all units in each development at 60% of the area median income.

Both Kenya Gibson, a candidate for the 3rd District, and Stephanie Starling, a candidate for the 9th District, said the development deals caused serious concern for them and their residents.

Starling said the developments were “pushed through without many residents” on Richmond’s South Side being consulted. That’s costing the district green space, Starling said.

“The issue we’re seeing is the tearing down of the trees,” Starling said, before asking: “are they truly going to be affordable?”

Gibson posed the same question. She said developers are receiving tax breaks for “what is essentially market-rate housing” that does not go far enough to address Richmond’s affordable housing crisis.

“We have to commit to replacing public housing one-for-one,” Gibson said. Two public housing projects in Richmond — Creighton and Gilpin courts — are set to be demolished in the coming years. That work in Creighton Court has already begun.

Richmond residents will vote in City Council and other elections on Nov. 5.