Frederick County - No Tax Increase in 2007
Residents of Frederick County don't have to worry about a tax increase from their local government in FY 2007 and I wish Winchester residents could say the same.
This article from the Winchester Star has all the details on the County's budget. One thing that jumped out at me was that last year's budget increased by $27,402,953 in the county and there was still no need to increase taxes.
Also, as a follow-up to a previous post by Wild Turkey (Who Thinks Taxes are #1? Wednesday, April 12, 2006) it appears as though the local Republican Party had very little to say about the tax increase that's going to be imposed on the citizens of Winchester by City Council.
The Republican Party, particularly at the state level seems to sing a different tune when other tax increases are proposed - just ask Senator Russ Potts about the reception he receives when the words "tax increase" are mentioned.
At it's Tuesday, April 11, 2006 meeting the Winchester City Council voted 12-1 to raise the real estate tax by 6 cents per each $100 of assessed property value or 9.5%. Instead of the 4th lowest tax rate among independent cities in the Commonwealth Winchester now has the 5th lowest. For more info, click here.
The only member to vote against the tax increase was Stewart R. Masters, a Republican.
In many ways Winchester has what can best be described as a “lame duck” City Council. The reason for that is due to the fact that the number of people who serve on the City Council will be reduced from its current 13 members to 9 members. So, it’s likely that several people who voted in favor of the tax increase will never be on the ballot again – thus the term “lame duck”.
But, more to the point - if the Republican Party is going to chastise elected officials such as Senator Potts for voting in favor of a tax increase it should also do the same to local elected officials.
Thus far, I haven’t heard a peep.
posted by RBV @ 3:22 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
One must understand that the Republicans on the Winchester City Council are still very friendly with Russ so their actions come as no suprise.
As for Frederick: Most peoples taxes in Frederick County has increased astonomically over the past three years. This year is NOT an exception. This board of supervisors has essentially raised taxes by not reducing the rate Personal property (Homes) have gone up in some areas of our county by over 100% in the last five years. Even though the rate has stayed the same in reality most people will be paying at least several hundred dollars more next year.
Anon:
You are absolutely correct. Frederick County taxpayers have seen a huge increase in their personal property taxes.
My point is that there seems to be a major disconnect between the stance the Republican Party takes towards a tax increase at the local level and one taken at the state level, or so it seems.
We all know how much heat the Republican Party can put on an elected official who chooses to vote for a tax increase. No single Republican from the City Council or County BOS (Board of Supervisors) took any “heat” from the party for their votes to increase taxes.
My question is simply, why not?
Redbull: You hit the nail on the head. These BOS members go to the local Republican Party meeting and get patted on the back. These same Republican Committee members also criticize and badmouth Russ Potts constantly. Why is this the case? Some on the board are just using the Republican name to their advantage. They have absolutely NO clue about what it takes to be a real Republican. They are development and tax friendly with no clue about conservative ideology.
Not to mention that the state Republican "chairperson" might have a little troble putting as much heat on her mother-in-law as she does on Sen.Potts.
(BTW, vehicles are "Personal Property;" homes are "Real Property"
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