Let's Talk Albemarle Serena Gruia

Yay! Season Two of Let's Talk Albemarle is FINALLY HERE!!!

Episode Notes
Katie VanLangen, co-executive director of LEAP, the Local Energy Alliance Program, and Gabe Dayley, Albemarle County's Climate Protection Program Manager, join me to discuss Solarize Virginia, an innovative program to help support community members put solar energy to work for them. We also cover an intro to solar energy – how it works and why it’s important in our climate protection program’s mix.

Resources
https://www.solarizeva.org/
https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund/solar-all

Introducing the Community Voices Audio Project. The intention of this project is to create a platform for community members to share their experiences and knowledge so that together we may build a deeper understanding of complex topics. The idea came to me as I was reflecting on the variety of perspectives and opinions people were sharing about community growth and the future of Albemarle County.

This episode will focus on growth in Albemarle County. The Weldon Cooper Center Demographics Research Group predicts that Albemarle County’s population will grow by 30 thousand residents in the next 20 years. A growing community faces many challenges and opportunities that have wide-ranging implications for the future. This is particularly important right now as we work to update our Comprehensive Plan.

So, here’s how it’s organized. I asked my team to nominate people whose work focuses on quality of life, resilience, development, infrastructure, or land use. I asked each participant to record a 3-to-5 minute response to these questions:


How could we accommodate growth in our community
What should we consider as we plan to accommodate growth, and
What challenges or opportunities do you anticipate?

This episode is a collection of those responses.

I hope that listening to this show will add new and valuable context for you as you participate in the Comprehensive Plan Update project.

In this episode, we'll learn about the Comprehensive Plan Update (AC44). This is a great introduction to understanding what the Plan is, how it's developed, and what it’s used for. We’ll also get some insight into the project team’s role in the process and some of the challenges associated with such a big (comprehensive!) community project.

All community members are invited to participate! Please take advantage of these tools to get started:


Visit the Introduction to AC44 webpage to learn about the background of the project, why we have a Comprehensive Plan, and what the Plan is used for in day-to-day life.
Visit the Planning for Growth webpage to learn the background of the Growth Management Policy (a component of the Comp Plan), review the initial ideas about ways we might update the Policy, and share your feedback.
Sign up here to receive email updates and participation opportunities. Select the "Albemarle 2044 - Comprehensive Plan Update" box and any other topics you are interested in.

Have You Visited Our Online Engagement Center? We are looking forward to providing you with a variety of robust tools designed to enable you to share your expertise, ideas, and feedback with us on a regular basis. Please visit the site and register to access current and future projects.

In this episode, we’ll learn about the Climate Protection Program, what’s next for the Climate Action Plan, and get a glimpse into the future of Albemarle County if we realize all of the goals associated with this important work.


Sign up for Albemarle County’s Climate Action newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yhc4wfps
Learn more about Albemarle County's Climate Protection Program:http://www.albemarle.org/climate
Comments, questions, or suggestions? Email climate@albemarle.org
Visit the Albemarle County Environmental Stewardship hub website to find information on the County’s environmental programs and can also learn how you can participate in stewarding our natural resources: http://www.albemarle.org/stewardship

This episode is part of a live fireside chat-type community event associated with the promotion of Colonel Sean Reeves to Chief of Police. Our host is my boss and the director of Communications and Public Engagement, Emily Kilroy, who spoke with Colonel Reeves about his professional experience and his vision for the future of the department. Colonel Reeves is the first patrol officer to rise through the ranks to become Chief. The conversation ranged from traffic safety to cyber-crime to community engagement. Toward the end of the live event, we took questions from the audience.

Prefer to watch the video? Check it out here.

Have a question or comment for the Chief? Email AskACPD@albemarle.org

About the Podcast
Let’s Talk Albemarle seeks to foster community participation through the exploration of important topics in Albemarle County, Virginia. Serena Gruia, host and public engagement specialist, designs each conversation to make local government interesting and accessible for our community.

I would love to hear from you. Call or email me to share your constructive feedback, suggest a topic, or ask a question you have about Albemarle County local government! 434- 296-5841 x3274 or sgruia@albemarle.org.

About the Show
Welcome to Let’s Talk Albemarle. I’m your host, Serena Gruia. I’m the public engagement coordinator with Albemarle County in beautiful central Virginia. Every day I learn more about local government and our community. I have spoken with so many people who really want to get involved in local governance, but don’t know where to start. Well, it is my hope that this podcast is a starting point to supporting community participation, and for those of you who are already super engaged, a chance to dig into important topics.

I would love to hear from you. Call or email me to share your constructive feedback, suggest a topic, or ask a question you have about Albemarle County's local government! 434-296-5841 x3274 or sgruia@albemarle.org.
Let’s Talk, Albemarle!

Episode Notes
In this episode, we have a special guest host, the director of Communications and Public Engagement, Emily Kilroy, who will have a conversation with County Executive Jeff Richardson about the proposed fiscal year 2023 budget and how it seeks to meet the strategic needs of the community. We’ll also learn about Mr. Richardson’s career in public service, and what inspires and motivates him to do the work.

Visit the Albemarle County Budget Development Webpage

Show Highlights
What are some of the fiscal drivers in this year’s budget?


Real property assessments increased 8.4%
Consumer-driven taxes, like sales tax, food and beverage tax, and transit occupancy, which is what you pay when staying at a hotel or inn, are up 17.1%
Business-driven taxes, like our business licenses and business personal property
We look at key indicators – consumer-driven tax revenues, TOT and meals for tourism, building permits and certificates of occupancy, the unemployment rate – and we look for trends, anomalies, how we compare to peers.
Overall, our economic fundamentals are strong, and in most sectors, the indicators have not only recovered but are above where they were prior to the pandemic – and we expect that to continue.
We recently had our credit rating affirmed by Moody’s, Fitch, and S&P at the highest, AAA level. That rating reflects the risk to investors in buying the debt that the County issues to fund capital projects – and the AAA rating means that our financial management is top-notch. That rating allows us to issue debt at more competitive rates, meaning we can afford to make more investments in our community.

What are some programs and projects that you would highlight in the budget recommendation?


Transportation Leveraging - put local dollars to leverage state and federal dollars to address road capacity and safety, bike and pedestrian facilities
Broadband – with state funding, we have a plan in place to achieve near-universal broadband
Economic Development
Biscuit Run Park
New Courthouse at Court Square downtown.
Community Response Team, led by the Department of Social Services
Urban service delivery – we want to keep our development areas vibrant and so we’re increasing service levels for road maintenance
Quality Government Operations – which is where we fund customer-focused process improvements and systems that underpin the programs and services we offer for the community.

How is the budget balanced?


The real property tax is the largest local revenue source for Albemarle County. The real property tax rate is recommended to remain at its current level, 85.4 cents per $100 assessed value.

This is the first budget that includes the revenues from the Cigarette Tax, which the Board passed last year and took effect on January 1.
This budget also includes another new tax, a plastic bag tax, which would charge 5 cents for every plastic bag given at stores and takeaway restaurants.



The tax rates for Food & Beverage, sometimes called the Meals Tax, and Transient Occupancy are recommended to increase in this budget. Thousands of people visit our community for vacations, sporting events, weddings and to visit our nat