Richmond council debates 4-cent property tax cut as CAO warns of $17M shortfall

Richmond — Richmond’s informal City Council meeting focused on a proposed four-cent reduction in the real-estate tax rate, a measure proponents say would provide relief to homeowners and opponents say would endanger services and school funding.

Mayor Thor, who co‑patroned the ordinance with the council president, told colleagues he understands constituent concerns about tax burdens but that "this is not the year" to enact a broad rate cut. He said the proposed reduction would fall disproportionately on homeowners — roughly 44% of residents would see some direct savings while the majority of residents, renters, would not. "It’s a $17 million hit," the mayor said, and "it means potentially 150 or so staff" cuts or "a 13% reduction in our operating budget," if the revenue gap were not otherwise closed.

The city’s chief administrative officer, Mr. Donald, presented the administration’s fiscal analysis and framed the numbers as projections. He said general property taxes account for about 57% of the city’s revenue and that each penny of the tax rate represents about $4.3 million in annual…