Radford City Council voted last night to explore the idea of raising the City’s real estate tax by $.09, making Radford’s tax rate $.73 per $100 of assessed value. They haven’t said they’re doing it, yet, but explained that budget shortfalls necessitated looking at ways of raising additional revenue.
Good idea? Bad idea? On the one hand, municipalities need money in order to provide services that we, as citizens, have come to expect as fundamental responsibilities, things like fire and rescue services … Clean drinking water … functioning sewer systems. On the other hand, should a municipality be taxing residents in such an economy?