Recently in Local Government Category

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 7 to 2 to deny permits to build several cell towers in western Loudoun. Here's an excerpt from Sally Kurtz, Catoctin supervisor:

The towers would have detracted from western Loudoun's historical charm and natural beauty. Imagine a gigantic fake pine rising 40 feet above the rest of the trees. ... We sell scenery. Our rural tourism business is booming, and that is because of the way the area looks.

Supervisors Waters and York (board Chairman) voted to approve the applications on grounds that many residents in western Loudoun are unable to access broadband internet that the new towers could provide. They also cited a safety concern because of spotty cell coverage in some areas.

So, no new cell towers in the vicinity of Raspberry ... at least not for now.

Loudoun County property assessments were mailed last week. The assessor  indicates that the average property assessment is down 8% from last year with the eastern part of the county down even more. The west shows more modest decreases with some areas increasing slightly.

Kirby Bowers, the county Administrator, has proposed a 25.6 cent increase in the tax rate to fund what he says is the most "lean" budget in years. The proposed tax rate would be a 26.6% increase over the 96 cent 2007 rate. So lets do the math assuming your assessment is down 8% on a $1,000,000 home in Raspberry Falls:

1997: $1,000,000 assessed value at 96 cents per $100 = $9,600 property tax bill.
1998: $920,000 assessed value at $1.216 per $100 = $11,190 property tax bill.

The result is equal to a 17% increase. But, if your assessment is like mine which went up slightly, we are going to be paying a bit more than the stated 26.6% increase due to the proposed tax rate.

So, I say watch your assessment. The last time I checked, Raspberry homes sold in  2007 were selling for much less than what they sold for in 2006.

The County Supervisors will no doubt pare the proposed budget by some amount but the result will still be a hefty increase.

The LCSA is proposing the management combination of multiple community infrastructures as opposed to stand alone as we now have in Raspberry. This means rates could change. LCSA held a meeting for homeowners at the RFG&HC clubhouse on February 20th.

Representatives of LCSA made the following presentation: LCSA Proposed Rate Increase Presentation - Raspberry Falls.ppt. The following FAQ's were distributed: LCSA FAQs Proposed Rate Increase - Raspberry Falls.doc

Also, here is an Excel file to assist in estimation the new rate for you: LCSA Bill Estimator For Raspberry Falls.xls. Residents can add their information in the highlighted area. The rest of the spreadsheet is formula driven.

A recent email from Scott Lutz to the Raspberry Falls community:

Raspberry Falls Resident -
 
As some in the community may know, there are two applications for three cell phone towers across from Raspberry Falls.  I have attached my letter in response to these applications (the letter summarizes my comments I made at the Public Hearing on Tuesday, January 8th).  At the Public Hearing the Board of Supervisors referred the applications to the Land Use Committee who met on Tuesday, January 29th.  Instead of looking at any individual applications, the Land Use Committee took a step back and discussed whether the towers were needed and the wireless coverage areas across the County.  The Committee asked for additional maps and coverage information across the County.  I see this as a positive step.  The Committee is going to meet again on this issue at the end of the month. 
 
Recently, I was contacted by the Supervisor's Kurtz Office (our local Supervisor).  Four of the six cell phone tower applications across the County are in the Catoctin District (more cell phone tower applications are coming through the pipeline).  I was asked to reach out to our community to see what we thought of our wireless coverage. 
 
As for me, I have a Treo for my personal phone/internet (Verizon) and I have a BlackBerry for my business phone/internet (Cingular).  I never had a problem with either my Treo or BlackBerry within Raspberry Falls community or the Route 15 corridor.
 
What cellular services do you have and have you ever experienced problems?  Feel free to respond to this e-mail (and I will pass the information to Sally Kurtz's office) or you can forward your feedback directly to Sally Kurtz at skurtz@loudoun.gov   Also, feel free to forward this e-mail to your neighbors in the community.

Here's a copy of the letter delivered to the Board of Supervisors: 

Nextel Silo and CWS Whites Ferry Applications - Letter to Transportation and Land Use Committee.pdf

  
Thanks,
 
Scott
(571) 278-9389 

I haven't talked to anyone that isn't in assessment shock. Loudoun County mailed tax assessments to property owners last week and it seems there may be a storm gathering. According to the County Assessor half the county's residential property owners assessments rose more than 28%! That is after double digit increases the last three years. Even our Board of Supervisors are experiencing "shock and awe." The Leesburg Today reported these figures for our nine supervisors:

Supervisor	Jan 2005	Jan 2006	% Increase
Jim Burton (Blue Ridge)	$644,000	$991,900	54%
Jim Clem (Leesburg)	$420,000	$530,500	26%
Eugene Delgaudio (Sterling)	$236,100	$346,700	47%
Sally Kurtz (Catoctin-our district)	$466,380	$619,600	33%
Stephen Snow (Dulles)	$540,700	$683,800	26%
Mick Stanton (Sugarland Run)	$381,400	$510,600	34%
Bruce Tulloch (Potomac)	$541,800	$689,000	27%
Lori Waters (Broad Run)	$483,900	$642,300	33%
Scott York (At Large)	$418,200	$560,400	34%

To keep the average tax bill from increasing, the board would have to lower the tax rate from $1.04 per $100 to $0.81, according to the news article. The County Administrator has proposed $0.97 with many new school and transportation projects.

There are reports of heavy phone traffic to the assessor's office. Surprised? Not me. Appeals may reach a record this year. It will be interesting to see if any of our board members appeal their assessments.

My overall assessment went up 20%. The land portion went up 41%!!!!!!! The good news is built up equity. The bad news is the computation of assessed value (it is supposed to reflect some percentage of market value).

Are you shocked. Post your comments by clicking on the comment link below.

All of us should have received the Notice of Public Hearing concerning the Proposed Zoning Changes Affecting Your Property issued on January 23, 2006. As most of us know, Loudoun County is embroiled in bitter disputes over the zoning, packing density in the east while keeping the western part of the county more open.

Raspberry Falls was zoned AR1 before and continues to be zoned AR1 in the proposed amendment. Besides that, the community was planned back in the early 90's and was theoretically "grandfathered" before being rezoned in 2003-2004 under the last Board of Supervisors. Although, rule changes significantly delayed the building of our community pool.

While these zoning amendments do not directly effect the residents of Raspberry, they will effect most of the undeveloped land along the 15 corridor. The good news is we won't have high density development adding to the traffic congestion on Route 15.

A copy of the mailing can be downloaded here (pdf file).