The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Town Center, the city's recently constructed downtown, fell in value this year for the first time after nearly a decade of growth.
The 10 blocks of office towers, shops, restaurants and residences dropped in assessed value by 4.7 percent, according to records from the city's real estate assessor's office. Citywide assessments this year declined by 6.5 percent.
The Studio 56 condominiums, Cosmopolitan Apartments, Dick's Sporting Goods and the One Columbus Center office building proved to be a particular drag to Town Center, with values there dropping by 15 to 25 percent.
The data indicate that even Town Center, which started as a public-private partnership between the city and developer Armada Hoffler in 1999, is not immune from the economic downturn, said Charles Phillips, a real estate appraiser who recently retired from the City of Virginia Beach.
Beach officials have long touted the increase in its assessed value as a sign of Town Center's success. In 2003, the area was worth $18.5 million; this year the assessor pegged its value at $381.6 million.
The city has invested nearly $84 million into the first three phases of the project. The City Council has agreed to put another $60.1 million into Phase Four, which currently is stalled as Armada Hoffler secures financing.
The increase in assessed value and real estate taxes at Town Center and the surrounding area go toward paying off the city's investment into the project.
Beach Finance Director Patricia Phillips said she's not worried about the decline right now.
"For the time being, there is sufficient funds to make debt payments," she said. "This is part of the business cycle."
Town Center's initial growth exceeded the city's expectations and allowed Virginia Beach to build a financial buffer for when times got tough, Patricia Phillips said.
The Town Center fund has about $2 million in savings, she said.
The tax increment financing district, which includes the core of Town Center and the surrounding parcels, will bring in about $6 million in revenue this year, while the city's debt payment is about $5 million, Patricia Phillips said.
The decreasing assessments, however, are not a good sign, especially with some buildings falling as much as 25 percent in value, said Beth Allen, a critic who has studied Town Center for the Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance. The alliance advocates for lower tax rates.
"It can't be this volatile thing, where we have enormous success when the economy is strong and this plunging down when the economy is down," Allen said. "It's too dependent on the overall economy for the survival."
There is no possibility that the city will default on its debt; officials would find other ways to pay for it, said Vice Mayor Louis Jones.
The debt ultimately is backed by Beach taxpayers. Still, city officials said it would take many years of declining assessments in Town Center before they would worry about how to pay for the project.
"My projections are anticipating a slow growth scenario, and we're still in the black," Patricia Phillips said. "We would have to rethink that if the world entered a major depression."
Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com
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Discredited VBTA
Actually Al, calling the VBTA moribund is simply an accurate descriptive term. Referring to the angry old men who purport to represent taxpayers but actually support anti taxpayer policies is again a statement of fact. The VBTA opposed Town Center, the 31st Street Hilton, TIF's, Light Rail, and any other public investment that stimulates private investment that increases the tax base and keeps our tax rate the lowest in the region. Therefore, you clearly wish the cost of government to be borne on the back of the residential tax payer, a policy that will lead to much higher tax rates. Frankly Al, there no longer is a VBTA, as Ben Krause recently acknowledged it can't really adopt new positions because the officers can't reach agreement. Clearly, the VBTA ticket of DeSteph, Moss, Erb, and Hedrick is in real trouble becasue of its discredited positions that would lead to higher tax rates. Do you know if anyone in the organization has your back?
You could use some counseling on how to focus
GOSH MIKE. MAYBE YOU COULD SHARE WITH OUR TAX BURDENED
taxpayers who pays for police, fire, sanitation, etc and schools within the district if all the real estate taxes is captured not only from the 33 acre core, where all the TIF related development is taking place, but from the non core which has 565 established & prominent taxable properties located in 317 acres that were virtually siphoned off the tax rolls? These properties clearly did not meet the "but-for" designation for TIF eligibility, did they? They might as well have snatched the taxable real estate properties in LogoMar or for that matter any neighborhood in the beach. Perhaps you can share why you believe it is important to continue to ignore restoring our 985+ aging neighborhood who support 85% of the real estate tax base and an equal share of the debt ceiling? You continue to violate the Pilots standard to abide by no name calling or harassing statements. Since you are fast approaching 3000 blogs, you would think you would have learned to abide by their rules.
Moribund VBTA
Perhaps Al, you should define for us what you mean by overburdened since the tax rates at the Beach across all categories are the lowest or next to lowest in the region. Why? Because City Council has made targeted investments in public infrastructure that have stimulated private investment that increases the commercial tax base. Ironic that the VBTA, which purports to support taxpayers actually opposes the very commercial projects which help keep our tax rates low. Town Center is just one example, but of course, so is the 31st Street project which like Town Center, has become one of the most popular places for visitors and citizens alike, and which have stimulated hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment that allows the city to fix neighborhood roads, sidewalks, parks, and to buy and set aside open space like Pleasant Point. Leave it to the moribund VBTA and their ticket, and we'll have to close the libraries.
Wrong again VB was linked wi have the highest or next to
highest tax burden within the region primarily because we have retained the highest housing cost for many years particularly, when our residential assessments climbed by about 175% since 2000. The City tried to compile numbers a few years ago claiming that the average housing cost across the region was about $280,000. Than City analyst applied the same fictional housing costs of $280,000 for Portsmouth, Hampton and the rest of the Hampton Road Cities who clearly retained lower housing costs. The City than proceeded to let each City apply there particular "tax rate" to the $280,000 so it artificially drove up the regional City's housing cost and subsequent tax burden. In other words the average housing cost in Portsmouth was about $140,000 so despite having a higher tax rate, their actual tax burden was much lower. It took a retired Navy captain to research all the cities in the region and VB came in at second highest. How is that for being misleading.
Please Al, keep posting
Al, once again, you have to make up facts in order to "prove" your inane points. Instead of directly comparing the tax rates which any logical statistician would do, you say taxpayers pay more because our houses are worth more. Duh, why must you mislead the readers? On property assessed at the same amount, a Beach taxpayer pays less real estate tax than a taxpayer in Portsmouth or any other city in the region. This is a classic example of the fact that the VBTA "leaders" are so entirely confused by their libertarian rantings that they must ignore reality and set up a virtual reality that works according to their own inane rules. Every time you post, you prove the point. Keep posting.
Mike.. You have Zero Objectivity. Let readers decide
Its obvious your not interested in correcting deceptive policies. NOTE: The City comparison tax burden study came up with an average price for all homes in VaBeach & than applied our existing VB tax rate & arrived at our City's average household tax burden on housing costs. Instead of using a specific average housing cost foe ea. of the other Cities in HR, the City analysts applied the same "average housing cost" peculiar to VB TO ALL the other Cities in HR, many of whom have MUCH lower housing costs i.e. Hampton, NewportNews, Portsmouth, etc! Nows the City analysts applied each City's actual tax rate to a housing cost that was significantly elevated for most HR cities. When they applied each cities existing tax rate they "falsely elevated" the actual tax burden & reported the misleading fact to council & public claiming VB had the 1st or 2nd lowest tax burden in HR. In other words, the City incorrectly reported retaining the lowest tax burdens when they retained one of the highest. There are some very capable people in the City but someone set up a protocol that could not be more egregious.
Simple explanation
Thanks again Al for proving my point. When objective facts don't fit your preconceived ideology, you make up new ones. We have the lowest real estate tax rate in the region. I know that is extremely disappointing to the moribund officers of the VBTA who want to be able to say we are overtaxed. Of course, herein, you try to redefine lowest tax rate, but of course, all you have done is prove that the VBTA is dishonest and totally out of touch. We tax payers want lower tax rates, and the best way to do that is to have new, high value commercial property added to the tax base. The VBTA has consistently opposed that, thereby working against the interests of taxpayers at the Beach. It really is that simple.
Gosh Mike. maybe you could share with our tax burdened
taxpayers who pays for police, fire, sanitation, etc and schools within the district if all the real estate taxes is captured not only from the 33 acre core, where all the TIF related development is taking place, but from the non core which has 565 established & prominent taxable properties located in 317 acres that were virtually siphoned off the tax rolls? These properties clearly did not meet the "but-for" designation for TIF eligibility, did they? They might as well have snatched the taxable real estate properties in LogoMar or for that matter any neighborhood in the beach. Perhaps you can share why you believe it is important to continue to ignore restoring our 985+ aging neighborhood who support 85% of the real estate tax base and an equal share of the debt ceiling? You continue to violate the Pilots standard to abide by no name calling or harassing statements. Since you are fast approaching 3000 blogs, you would think you would have learned to abide by their rules.
Discredited and just plain wrong
Yes, it is odd that the Pilot would ask a discredited member of the VBTA to comment on the Town Center especially in view of the fact that she not only has her facts wrong, but she carries the ideology of a moribund organization that purports to represent tax payers, but if their misguided policies were to be adopted, would actually increase real estate taxes. Not only does the TIF allow the debt service for public improvements to be paid only from increased assessments, but the tax district has also created a revenue stream including business license taxes, hotel and meal taxes, general sales taxes, personal property taxes, and admission taxes that within the core area generated $5.7 Million in FY 2009. Now again, the worst thing than can happen for the moribund VBTA is for projects to be successful, as this one has been. The VBTA ticket of DeSteph, Moss, Erb, and Hedrick will have a hard time explaining their opposition to a project most citizens really enjoy and which helps us keep the lowest tax rate in the region.
what are Beth Allens qualifications
What are beth allen's qualifications. Cant the Pilot get one of those realty professors at ODU to comment?