The Times Dispatch is reporting that the City is expecting residential gas bills to increase 40% due to rising fuel costs.
What the newspaper and other mainstream local media are not reporting is the expected bonanza the City government is anticipating from this energy price spike.
The highly questionable, if not illegal, ‘PILOT’ (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) in the City’s residential utility bills continues to pad the City’s ‘General Fund’, while hitting the City’s poorest residents the hardest.
Of course, this may be even more egregious when it comes to the water utility…
We don’t hear much about this resolution!
https://richmondva.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=5329677&GUID=812DB37B-E05C-4C4A-BAFC-297DCE1B04DB
AYES: 9 NOES: 0 ABSTAIN:
ADOPTED: JULY 24 2017 REJECTED: STRICKEN:
INTRODUCED: June 26, 2017
A RESOLUTION No. 2017-R049
To request that the Chief Administrative Officer cause the Department of Public Utilities to prepare and submit to the Council a plan to phase out Payments in Lieu of Taxes from the Department of Public Utilities over a ten year period.
Patron – Mr. Agelasto
Approved as to form and legality by the City Attorney
PUBLIC HEARING: JULY 24 2017 AT 6 P.M.
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Richmond, by adoption of this resolution, establishes its intent to eliminate Payments in Lieu of Taxes (“PILOT payment”) from the
Department of Public Utilities; and
WHEREAS, eliminating or reducing the PILOT payment would require an amendment to
section 13.06 of the Charter of the City of Richmond (2010), as amended; and
WHEREAS, the Council believes that the elimination of the PILOT payment would best
be accomplished by an approach that gradually phases out the payment over several years to provide for budget adjustments due to the lost revenue; andWHEREAS, the Council believes that it is in the best interests of the citizens of the City
of Richmond that the Council request that the Chief Administrative Officer cause the Department of Public Utilities to prepare and submit to the Council a plan to phase out PILOT payments from the Department of Public Utilities over a ten year period;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND:
That the Council hereby requests that the Chief Administrative Officer cause the
Department of Public Utilities to prepare and submit to the Council, no later than November 1, 2017, a plan to phase out PILOT payments from the Department of Public Utilities over a ten year period and that contains, at a minimum, the following:
1. A requirement that during the ten year phase out period, the Department of Public
Utilities will continue to make PILOT payments to the General Fund and will assess alternative
fees to City departments designed to recapture the amount of the PILOT payments.
2. A requirement that the alternative fees collected by the Department of Public
Utilities will be used to decrease the utility rates charged to the residential and commercial customers of the Department of Public Utilities.
3. A requirement that the ten year phase out plan will only apply to PILOT payments
and all other payments required or assessed by the City shall continue to be paid into the General Fund.
4. A requirement that during the ten year phase out period, the Department of Public
Utilities shall submit annual reports showing the fees and taxes on each utility paid through PILOT payments.
5. A requirement that the ten year phase out plan begin in the fiscal year commencing
July 1, 2018, and ending June 30, 2019, with the exact amount of the revenue reduction to be determined by the phase out plan schedule and the alternative fees proposed by the Department of Public Utilities.