If the Town of Christiansburg has all of those homes in the low end of the price scale and the property tax is so low (see previous blog article), how does it manage to provide the services that it does? Well, first off, it seems to pick and choose what projects to work on. Per the Town Manager at a recent Town Council Meeting, sidewalk repair has not been done because the employees that do that work are busy working at the Aquatic Center. Maybe the choices are just not to upgrade and repair until something completely falls apart. Maybe it is found in the details of the revenue reports to the State of Virginia. The following data again compares Blacksburg and Christiansburg. Ultimately, what become clear is that citizens have paid, one way or the other, almost exactly as much as Blacksburg has in tax and fee revenue. The ‘devil is in the details’ in this case, if you take the time to look.
(One thing to look at in particular is the actual per person “per capita” price tag on some of those taxes/fees. Even if you try to justify the impact of VT, and allow for twice the per capita value to Blacksburg, the differences are still quite noticeable.)
From the Auditor of Public Accounts: Comparative Report of Local Government: 2009 Amended Comparative Report of Local Government (rev 3/26/10)
Local Revenue For the Year Ended June 30, 2009
|
Revenue Source |
Blacksburg Amount |
Christiansburg Amount |
|
Real Property |
$5,079,824.00 |
$2,102,749.00 |
|
Public Service Corporations |
$91,499.00 |
$46,256.00 |
|
Personal Property – General |
None |
$432,786.00 |
|
Personal Property – Mobile Home |
None |
$4,823.00 |
|
Machinery and Tools |
None |
$283,755.00 |
|
Merchants’ Capital |
None |
None |
|
Penalties |
$15,349.00 |
$13,057.00 |
|
TOTAL |
$5,191,928.00 |
$2,898,688.00 |
|
PER CAPITA |
$131.20 |
$171.04 |
|
PERCENT OF REVENUE |
25.49% |
14.56% |
|
Local Sales and Use Taxes |
$1,320,179.00 |
$1,558,600.00 |
|
Consumer Utility Taxes |
$623,945.00 |
$516,527.00 |
|
Business License Taxes |
$1,690,356.00 |
$1,990,500.00 |
|
Franchise License Taxes |
$522,122.00 |
$112,988.00 |
|
Motor Vehicle license Taxes |
$190,041.00 |
$410,439.00 |
|
Bank Stock Taxes |
$356,083.00 |
$488,370.00 |
|
Recordation and Will Taxes |
None |
None |
|
Tobacco Taxes |
$330,033.00 |
$722,964.00 |
|
Hotel and Motel Room Taxes |
$674,711.00 |
$851,512.00 |
|
Restaurant Food Taxes |
$674,711.00 |
$851,512.00 |
|
Coal, Oil, and Gas Taxes |
None |
None |
|
Communication Sales and Use Tax |
$1,198,744.00 |
$996,570.00 |
|
Other Local Taxes |
None |
None |
|
TOTAL |
$10,224,306.00 |
$12,382,884.00 |
|
PER CAPITA |
$258.37 |
$730.68 |
|
PERCENT OF AVERAGE |
54.00% |
152.73T |
|
Permits, Privilege Fees, and Regulatory Licenses – Amount |
$538,489.00 |
$137,796.00 |
|
Permits, Privilege Fees, and Regulatory Licenses – Per Capita |
$13.61 |
$8.13 |
|
Permits, Privilege Fees, and Regulatory Licenses – Percent of Revenue |
2.64% |
0.69% |
|
Fines and Forfeitures – Amount |
$274,391.00 |
$86,924.00 |
|
Fines and Forfeitures – Per Capita |
$6.93 |
$5.13 |
|
Fines and Forfeitures – Percent of Revenue |
1.35% |
0.44% |
|
Charges for Services – Amount |
$3,665,220.00 |
$2,857,291.00 |
|
Charges for Services – Per Capita |
$92.62 |
$168.60 |
|
Charges for Services Percent of Revenue |
18.00% |
14.35% |
|
Revenue from Use of Money and Property – Interest |
$269,524.00 |
$519,806.00 |
|
Revenue from Use of Money and Property – Rental and Sale of Property |
None |
$115,805.00 |
|
Revenue from Use of Money and Property Totals – Amount |
$269,524.00 |
$635,611.00 |
|
Revenue from Use of Money and Property Totals – Per Capita |
$6.81 |
$37.51 |
|
Revenue from Use of Money and Property Totals – Percent of Revenue |
1.32% |
3.19% |
|
Miscellaneous – Amount |
$203,088.00 |
$907,093.00 |
|
Miscellaneous – Per Capita |
$5.13 |
$53.53 |
|
Miscellaneous – Percent of Revenue |
1.00% |
4.56% |
|
TOTAL LOCAL REVENUE |
$20,366,946.00 |
$19,906,287.00 |
Lisa Pointer
September 29, 2010 at 4:35 pm
I was wondering if you had any informaiton on breaking down the tax revenues by type of business – say the difference between tax revenue on a gas station versus a daycare center?!?
Carol Lindstrom
September 29, 2010 at 11:59 pm
This type of detail is not so easy to obtain unless it can be found at the local level. In the example you give, it would be difficult because of the difference in the types of taxes. There is business tax, gas tax, sales tax, etc. to take into consideration. And, if you break it down even further, it gets crazier because people who use daycare usually do so in order to work … and by working may have to have a vehicle to get there, may need to buy gas, may pick up some munchies while there … all of which relate back to the daycare service that allows the person to be able to have gainful employment. There are a tremendous number of variables and a lot of things are dependent upon others. Every service provided affects other services as well as family life. I’ll try to do some digging as see what I can come up with though.