I have been involved in volunteer efforts throughout Chesterfield County for the last ten years, which certainly does not make me an expert on anything, but identifies me as a continued advocate for the quality of life in Chesterfield County.  All of us have been fortunate to reap the benefits of our affluence in tax dollars for federal, state and local levels. 

You read the newspapers and know - the bottom has fallen out (like many of our own retirement funds, etc) and even though we all agree that we need to tighten our belts we don’t want to compromise our core services – the reason we all chose to live in this county.

If we want to sustain a reasonably stable quality of life we need to stabilize that deficit and the only way to do that is to raise our tax rate.  Understand that every one of us have seen our property assessments decline - which equals a decrease in county revenues.  While we all love the fact that our taxes have decreased the result is horrific.  Add to that the fact that our state leaders are facing the same budget issues and have identified SIGNIFICANT cuts to all localities.  What will these reductions do to our police, our fire, our libraries and EDUCATION?  What will Chesterfield look like in 2015 (not so far away!)?

SO, while our county leaders need to tighten their belts at every level and efficiently reduce waste, there is still NO WAY to maintain even basic service levels without an increase in our tax revenues. 

The Board of Supervisors needs to take note and advertise an increased tax rate on Feb. 24 to allow us to maintain those basic core services.  It may not be generally understood, but the advertised tax rate does not set the tax rate; it just means that the final rate that is voted on and adopted by the Board cannot exceed the rate that is advertised on Feb. 24.

I’m going to play from the script of Will Shewmake and his comments to the Board at their February 10th meeting:  “Every citizen deserves a meaningful opportunity to be heard on what the tax rate should be and what level of services the county and the school system provide.”  That opportunity will be lost if the Supervisors do not advertise a revenue neutral tax rate.  Voice your opinion and be heard.  Tell our Supervisors to step up to the plate and advocate for our County NOW on February 24th – before the opportunity is lost and the quality and value of life as we know it in Chesterfield County becomes an icon of the past.

Leslie Haley
Midlothian