The ThinkChristiansburg! blog reminded me of something I had put on a back burner. Sales tax revenue.
Ya see, it’s like this. Blacksburg discourages businesses that would bring in a lot of sales tax, while Christiansburg scarfs them up like a hungry T-Rex! Why such disparity? Maybe it is because Blacksburg has figured out a few things that Christiansburg hasn’t. Quite simply “why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free”.
Although the data for fiscal year 2008 is not available yet, DataPoint shows that FY 2007, Christiansburg received Local Sales and Use Tax of $1,578,041 (note, this is only slightly higher than the Business License Tax revenue of $1,406,201 and far lower than the Restaurant and Food Taxes at $4,432,695).
During that same year (2007) Blacksburg received Local Sales and Use Tax of $1,327,121 (Business Licenses taxes totaled $1,493,065 and Restaurant Food Taxes were $2,448,102.)
Soooo….for the honor of hosting the vast majority of sales tax generating businesses in Montgomery County, the Town of Christiansburg got $171,840 more that Blacksburg.
This may sound like a good deal until you start looking at what it costs to have those businesses. Traffic issues, increased Rescue, Fire, and Police, increased inspections, increased stormwater from loss of impervious surfaces. I’d be willing to bet that the $171,840 difference doesn’t compensate for the extra costs. In fact, during one of the Blacksburg Town Council Candidate Forums, one of the candidates specifically noted that one of the issues with large retail establishments were exactly those types of expenses.
Of course, this distribution of sales tax revenue is due to the fact that both jurisdictions are Towns, just think, if Christiansburg becomes a City, they will be able to add all kinds of extra sales taxes to make up for some of those loses….but, they will also have to make up for new expenses as they would have the full cost of fire/rescue, their own school system, social services, etc…etc…etc.
Maybe the best bet would be to force new large retail establishments out into the county (Blacksburg and Christiansburg would still get their cuts) and get Blacksburg Transit to run special routes from Towns to those centers. Migratory shopping patterns. Are they in the future? (Just kidding!)
Ya gotta admit though that Blacksburgs focus on keeping a quaint atmosphere, lots of greenspace, etc. certainly hasn’t hurt them. They’ve had Christiansburg to pick up all their slack…and garbage…and stormwater…and vehicle accidents…and shoplifting…etc..etc…etc…
CAMBRIA DEPOT MUSEUM
I would think business tax revenue would come into play. Christiansburg has Lowe’s, Home Depot,
Target, TJ Max, WalMart, K-Mart plus others.
From looking at your figures, I would say the best source of income for the town would be restaurants, would you agree? Do you have figures on revenue from lodging establishments?
There is no doubt that the people who elect to eat out in Christiansburg rather than go to Blacksburg or out into the county are carrying more than their fair share of the tax burden. One of the problems with focusing revenues so much on the “user taxes” rather than property taxes is that they are highly variable and an economic downturn can have drastic consequences.
Actually, that hotel/motel data is available at DataPoint.apa.virginia.gov also:
Christiansburg Hotel and Motel Room Taxes $908,605
Blacksburg Hotel and Motel Room Taxes $510,571
OH, and for the right to have 911 access:
Emergency Telephone Service Taxes (911)
Blacksburg: $81,596
Christiansburg: $145,655
And, let’s not forget all those Business License Taxes:
Blacksburg: $1,493,065
Christiansburg: $1,406,201
Or, what about Permits, Privilege Fees and Regulatory Licenses
Blacksburg: $541,753
Christiansburg: $211,538
There is a lot more available at this great site. This is Open Government!
There is also a page where you can compare Blacksburg and Christiansburg but it is less specific. Part of the 2008 information is available there right now but not all. 2007 has the most complete data.
Thanks for doing this research. Please keep us posted when the 2008 numbers become available.
I’ll let ya know. I pulled data from the last 10 years from the Commonwealth Data Point site a couple of years ago so I could do some longitudinal studies.
From original DepotDazed.com site:
aba says:
Your right
Blacksburg isn’t catering to the needs of its citizens. They have to drive or be bused (We C-burg foot that bill partially) in to our town to suit the needs of its people. Sad really. Sure they have nice bus system and greenspaces but they also live and die by VA tech and its students. Its downtown area is quaint. The shops are very expensive and its restaurants have great food if you dont mind waiting in line. I love where I live and wouldnt want to live anywhere else sure we have alot of things here in this town that need to be addressed but we are an up and coming town not an established one.
Reply: And there in lies the rub….we are up and coming…a lot of things need to be address, a lot of things need to be re-evaluated and revised, citizens need to be more involved in shaping what the town does become. Otherwise, we have Christiansburg not catering to the needs of its citizens either….both jurisdictions doing the same thing from different angles.
From the original DepotDazed.com:
Anonymous Reader says:
We foot the bus bill? Not hardly. Look at the federal stimulus funds and see that Cburg is truly getting a free ride. Someone take the scissors away from Dickie, Please!!
Reply: Christiansburg has a long history of letting others pay the way…just look at how much of the town’s bills are being carried by businesses.
From the original DepotDazed.com site:
Anonymous says:
You might want to factor the Real Estate Tax into your equation.
Reply: go ahead…tell me about it:)
From original DepotDazed.com site:
Hornet says:
Lies and Liars
Real estate taxes are only part of the total tax burden. You have to look at all taxes and fees to get apples to apples instead of apples to tire irons AND look at services and amenities provided your local government. Also pay attention to how much of this is just talk and how long it takes council to get anything sustantive put into place – like a freaking pool now Taj Mahal ACC cement pond. Return on investment is sorely lacking in Christiansburg, a town with too many banty roosters fast to claim credit after riding on the coat tails or bus seats of others while bad mouthing anyone who wants to participate who haven’t been consecrated as worthy (in other words, a Kiwanis sponsor or someone born here who has never lived more than 2 blocks from town hall and vacationed anywhere other than Outer Banks or Myrtle Beach). Send the Mayor packing because he is useless. Is that guy partially demented or just drug addled? Look at other town operations that cost more than what they bring in like recreation or water services and know some council members post as”anonymous” to try to hold up the real property tax rate as THE thing to compare. How about inclusion, diverse viewpoints, a wealth of community or public parks, subdivisions that have sidewalks or path ways connecting them to something else with no flooding after 4 hours of rain, choices in cable or land line phone service instead of monopolies, less waste in fire and rescue departments who misuse expensive equipment, outdoor parks and trail systems, filled up shopping centers, historic preservation, and fair application of zoning that pays attention to the Comprehensive Plan council supposedly created? Real property taxes will be jumping with reassessment and the need to pay for the Kiwanis pool and a bloated number of employees. OUt of control big government spending in a little bitty town hiding behind a fake real property assessment is no growth grave.
Reply: of course, lowly citizens don’t know what special discounts on property taxes or special benefits are in place … since someone asked so nicely:
General Property Taxes 2007:
Blacksburg: $4,352,569
Christiansburg: $2,664,912
According to Citi-data:
Blacksburg Median house or condo value: $226,641
Christiansburg median house or condo value: $162,077
Lower cost housing = lower real estate taxes.
So Christiansburg becomes the low income housing suburb for Blacksburg. That doesn’t solve the issue that real estate taxes don’t generally fluctuate as much as other sources. However, other jurisdictions have taken big steps to try to keep from increasing real estate taxes, but falling real estate values (in double digits in some areas of the state) will drive those revenue sources even lower unless taxes are increased.