By Lizzie Stone, contributor
City taxes will stay the same next year if the Harrisonburg City Council sticks with the proposed budget draft that officials unveiled Tuesday. Some city charges will increase, including water and sewer utilities and the stormwater fee, while the sanitation fee will decrease.
City Manager Ande Banks presented the proposed budget at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Real estate taxes will stay at $1.01 per $100 value, while personal property tax rates will remain at $3.45.
The city will face challenges like “constrained revenue growth, economic uncertainty, and potential implications of federal policy,” according to the budget proposal. Council members said they plan to adapt to future challenges as they come while seeking to avoid raising costs for residents in the present.
“I’m proud to say that we are a governing body that thinks about ways in which we can release some burden from the citizens today,” council member Monica Robinson said.
Several council members said it was important to keep a tight budget so the city can adapt later if necessary. During budget creation, city officials were encouraged to think about maintaining instead of expanding services in the upcoming year, according to the budget proposal.
Council member Dany Fleming said education and transportation might be among the areas most affected by federal cuts. He said federal funding remains a “pretty significant unknown moving forward.”
Before the budget is officially accepted, the city council will hold public hearings to hear feedback from the community.
Businesses rezoned for onsite cat adoption
Cat adoptions will now be allowed in the central business district. This change in the zoning ordinance is based on a proposal from Cat’s Cradle, whose staff explained Tuesday that they have to move cats offsite to hand them over to new owners.
A Cat’s Cradle employee explained that volunteers work to bring the animals offsite, often to a local PetSmart, to make adoptions instead of from the organization’s downtown location. This requires a lot of time and effort. They said the change will save time and effort and streamline the process of rescuing the animals.
The change defines cat adoption separately from pet shops while they were previously grouped together. It will allow adoption of cats but not other animals in business zones, and not the sale of cats.
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