I’m advocating nothing here, other than for discussion and conversation.
Easy questions about “if Crozet became a town”?
- Would you be willing to pay more in taxes to have more control over the future of Crozet?
- Would yet another layer of bureaucracy be a good thing?
- How is being a town working out for Scottsville?
A big question
@realcrozetva what additional services would you want for your town taxes?
A Budget from a friend
Here is a link to what a Crozet budget would look like if incorporated from a very well run Town that is comparable in community feel and size.
ACSA would provide the water and sewer, so the budget would be around $5mm per year, and provide police services in the Town. Of that, 40% is streets, much of which is funded via VDOT cost sharing.
Police is $850K annually, parks and rec around $600K. They have really nice baseball/softball facilities and parks. On par with what Crozet would provide.
The pie chart on the last page is instructive.
Added tax rate is 9 cents per hundred on Real Estate in the Town.
…
Town status could be a Pandora’s box for either side of the argument, depending upon who would be elected, but I do think Crozet would benefit from Town status and to be able to more closely control and direct its own policies, decisions and land use outcomes.
In response to my inquiry as to if he knew any other localities that successfully sought and achieved town status – (bolding mine)
There was a movement at Massanutten to seek Town status, but that was an anti-growth movement and there is no “town” there apart from the Resort who is opposed.
I think it would be relatively easy to define the Town boundary – just take the existing Comp Plan boundaries and survey it. The actual steps to seek Town status at the General Assembly do not appear daunting, but that excludes the County/State politics discussion.
Bridgewater is a great example to use as it is in a similar place as the premier bedroom community to a major public university town. Full of parks and town pride and a perfect family community, but really lacking the ability to attract new major employers despite the quality of life.
“Really lacking the ability to attract new employers” … or in Crozet’s/Albemarle’s case, the desire/will to do so.
See this.
