Mark Hand
A Lynchburg city councilman has requested a special presentation by a fellow councilmember and city staff to clear up any confusion about this year's real estate tax equalization rate.
Ward III Councilman and Vice Mayor Curt Diemer requested a joint presentation "at the earliest possible council meeting" from Ward IV Councilman Chris Faraldi and the Lynchburg city assessor.
Diemer said the presentations would compare the "true equalization rate" presented by Faraldi in a graph included in an email he sent Thursday with the city assessor's official publicized equalization rate.
Earlier this spring, the Lynchburg city assessor stated the tax rate that would levy the same amount of real estate tax as 2024 would be 76.7 cents per $100 of assessed value.
At city council's work session meeting on May 13, Deputy City Manager Greg Patrick explained that in 2023, city council lowered the tax rate from $1.11 to 89 cents, which was 3.8 cents below the equalization rate.
Patrick said city staff then calculated that the equalization rate would be 80.8 cents over the last two property assessment periods, which differs from how the assessor is required by state law to establish the equalization rate.
In his email on Thursday, Faraldi echoed Patrick's comment from May 13 that 80.8 cents per $100 of assessed value is "truly the equalized rate over the course of time and the associated actions/reductions council has made, mainly since FY 2024."
In his request for the presentations at an upcoming council meeting, Diemer said the 80.8-cent equalization rate appears to be an attempt to "potentially justify an upcoming intent to flip/flop on Mr. Faraldi's public promise."
Diemer also requested that city of Lynchburg Chief Financial Officer Donna Witt participate in the presentations "so that all can understand the difference between this new terminology offered by Mr. Faraldi and the official city equalization rate."
As city council considers the property tax rate, At-large Councilman Martin Misjuns and Ward I Councilwoman Jacqueline Timmer have expressed support for a rate of 76.7 cents. Diemer introduced a motion at a council meeting in April for a tax rate of 75 cents, but his motion was not seconded.
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In his email Friday morning, Diemer said he made multiple campaign pledges last fall when he won election to city council to reduce the real estate tax rate below the equalization level.
In response to Diemer's email, Faraldi said the data referenced in his email on Thursday was not his.
"These concepts and numbers were presented by City Staff during our May 13 Budget Work Session -- not by me," Faraldi said in the email. "My follow-up simply provided a visual aid to reinforce the mathematical realities already introduced in that meeting. This is not a 'new terminology'; it's a good-faith effort to communicate the long-term fiscal trajectory our own staff outlined."
In response to Diemer's statement that Faraldi might be planning to flip-flop on a campaign promise, Faraldi said in the email, "I would gently remind the Vice Mayor of his own guidance -- stated during that same Work Session -- that it is inappropriate for Councilmembers to publicly speculate on each other's motives."
At the May 13 work session, Faraldi told his fellow councilmember he has voted to cut spending during his more than four years on council. But city council is now in a position to find ways to fund schools and other obligations it has made to the citizens of Lynchburg, he said, citing his plan to raise the lodging tax rate.
Faraldi then speculated that Misjuns' potential opposition to supporting his plan is politically motivated, with next year's Republican primary looming for the at-large seats on council. Mayor Larry Taylor and At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Reed, both Republicans like Misjuns, also will be up for reelection in 2026.
"There's a desire of members of this council for it not to be equalization so that there could be a vote used against some of the colleagues on this very dais a year from now," he said.
At the May 13 work session, Diemer said in response to Faraldi's comments that "speculating about people's intent or what they may or may not be motivated by and trying to get into people's heads about what they may or may not do is completely out of order."
Faraldi said Diemer's statement in his email on Friday is a "kind of escalation" that "sends a message that any effort to share information or reinforce public data -- even in good faith -- will be met with political theater and public attacks."
"That's not just unfortunate, it's corrosive. If we can't communicate in good faith among colleagues, we lose the very foundation needed for consensus," he said.
The next council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday. On the agenda is a public hearing on a plan proposed by Faraldi to increase the city's lodging tax. In the general business section of the meeting is consideration of adopting an ordinance to set the new real estate tax rate effective July 1.
Mark Hand, 434-385-5556
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Reporter (Lynchburg and Campbell County)
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