The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - 2024 Charlottesville City Property Assessments; Citizens For Responsible Planning Analysis

Episode Date: January 26, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: 2024 Charlottesville City Property Assessments Citizens For Responsible Planning Analysis Median Assessment Increases By Neighborhood What Neighborhoods Will Get Taxed The Most? Lower Valued Properties = Highest Assessments Stonefield Commons:1 Bed For $1,943 Per Month Is This The Most Expensive 1 Bedroom In Area? Thoughts & Perspective On The Week That Was Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Friday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville Show. It's great to be with you in downtown Charlottesville, our studio on Market Street in the Macklin building. You can't miss the studio. I Love Seville written all over it. 10,000 cars at least drive by the studio on an average daily basis. Excited for today's program. I love data. I love stats.

Growing up, I was the, my brother as well. In fact, my brother and I are sons of Growing up, I was the, my brother as well. In fact, we're, my brother and I are sons of a CPA, a certified public accountant. My dad is a numbers guy to this day, whether he's trading stocks, whether he's looking at statistics tied to sports, the guy just absolutely adores data and numbers. And he passed that affinity, that commitment, that passion for numbers to my brother and I. I remember growing up in Naples, Florida, and then Williamsburg, Virginia, fighting my brother, who was the grade below me, not even two years younger than me, best friends and mortal enemies, my brother and I,

for the sports section. And we didn't want, this was over breakfast before school, we would eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch. We'd eat those chocolate intimate donuts. You guys know those donuts. I think they either come in an eight or 10 pack glazed chocolate intimate donuts that when you dunk them into some skim milk they just had the perfect texture and consistency when you would eat them we'd have bagels we'd have captain toast uh captain crunch we'd have rice krispies whatever the breakfast we were enjoying before we headed to school that particular day, there was one portion of the sports section that my brother and I always fought for, and that was page two. Page two of the sports section was the data, was the averages, was the stats, it was the box scores, the batting averages,

the points per game, the rebounds per game, touchdowns, yards, passes, and we would just pour through these stats. It got so heated, the fisticuffs before breakfast with Captain Crunchin, Cinnamon Toast Crunchin, intimate donuts flying all over the breakfast room, the breakfast table, elbows to eyes, black eyes, bloody lips, that my mom, she's all of 5'1", 5'2", but she's Cuban and she's fiery. She's wiry. She's got passion. She's got chutzpah. Only person in the world I'm scared of is my angry mom when she does get angry. She's not angry all the time, but she's Cuban. She's Latin. She's got that in her blood. She had to break up so many fights between my brother and I, including one that involved a butcher knife with my brother.

That a story for another day, that we literally had to tear the sports section in half, page two and half. One of us would get the top of page two. The other one of us would get the bottom of page two. And we had 15 minutes on the clock with one of those old school timers, one of those cooking timers that was put on the counter on the island in the kitchen. And she'd set it for 15 minutes. As soon as it beeped, we would have to shuffle half of page two to the other brother, to my brother Jeffrey, or it would go to me. And that's how we pretty much grew up from Naples, Florida and Williamsburg, Virginia into high school, fighting over page two of the sports section. Two boys, the offspring, the scions of a CPA,

who have an affinity for data. That's why I'm so excited for today's program. There's an organization in this community called Citizens for Responsible Planning. And you can find Citizens for Responsible Planning online at crp-seville.org. And this Citizens for Responsible Planning organization, I'll read their about page to you, a portion of it. The Citizens for Responsible Planning, they write, is a group of Charlottesville residents who came together sound process, risk failing to produce affordable housing, while inflicting collateral damage on the city. Members of the Citizens for Responsible Planning routinely listen to this program.

This morning, they sent out an email to those that are on their subscriber or e-newsletter lists, which I'm fortunate to be on. I forwarded that email to my colleague, Judah Wittkower, the jack of all trades, the jack of all wit, a gentleman who's single and ready to mingle, and a guy who is a key contributor to this talk show. And the data, the email I forwarded to Judah, we will relay to you, the viewer and listener of this fine and fair talk show live on air. We will showcase the bar graphs. We will talk data. We will analyze the data. And we will discuss what is the impact of increasing assessments in the city of Charlottesville.

I'm excited to do this. I'm excited also to talk a topic sent my way by Deep Throat. Deep Throat sends me a listing from Stonefield Commons. And the particular listing he sent to me, I was floored by. Why I was floored was the asking price, the rental price. A two-bedroom in Stonefield Commons starts at, what do you think the two-bedroom starts at, Judah Wickauer? Two-shot, two-shot, two-shot Judah. What's a two-bedroom in Stone Judah Wickhour? Two shot, two shot, two shot Judah. What's a two-bedroom in Stonefield Commons start at, do you think? I mean, I know the answer to this question. Tell them. 1943. That's actually incorrect. What? That's incorrect. That's the one-bedroom. The one-bedroom starts at 1943. The two-bedroom starts at108. You look at the headline on screen, it says one-bedroom for $1,943. A one-bedroom at Stonefield Comet starts at $1,943. I asked you about the two-bedroom, and that was $2,108. So Deep Throat sends me a screenshot from the website for the two-bedroom, $2,108. I was shocked by this. Then I dig into the website. I'm even more shocked by the one

bedroom. The one bedroom has a rental Commons, $1,943 a month for a tiny one-bedroom apartment on the Albemarle-Charlottesville line. I'll ask this question. Are the amenities that rich and that robust and that attractive that Stonefield Commons can charge two grand a month basically for a one bedroom? That topic on today's show. We will also highlight thoughts and perspective on the week that was. It was an extremely busy week. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts by putting them in the feed. Like the show. Share the show. We work hard for you. And the only thing we literally ask in return is you help us spread the gospel by liking and sharing the show. J-Dubs, are we on a two-shot, my friend? John Blair, welcome to the program.

Thank you kindly for joining us. Love you, John Blair, the king of knowledge watching the show. Love you, sincerely mean that, John Blair. We on a two-shot. We are. Put that first, lower third on screen if you could, please, sir. 2024 Charlottesville City property assessments. Then rotate the second headline in, and then the third. Ladies and gentlemen, we now have an idea of what the 2024 tax year assessments are going to look like. Interestingly, Rory Stolzenberg highlighted this, Deep Throat highlighted this, and a number of housing sharks or sharps or insiders highlighted this. The assessment data was briefly released online, I think incorrectly, released too early,

then taken off the interwebs, and then later positioned and published back on the interwebs yesterday as the day matured. Now it's up there, and we, the real estate owner, we, the property owner, and we, the tenants, know what we can expect. And I want folks that if you, if you do not own property in Charlottesville, but you happen to be renting property in Charlottesville, Albemarle County, or the urban ring, you 1000% are impacted by these assessment increases. If you are renting an apartment in Albemarle County, you 1,000% will be influenced by Charlottesville assessment increases. Those increases, the tax exposure associated with it, trickles down to the tenant. And Albemarle County's rental market goes hand in hand with Charlottesville City's rental market.

Whether you're a tenant at the Villas at Southern Ridge, whether you're a tenant at Eagles Landing, both those complexes down Fifth Street extended by Redfields and Southside Charlottesville, whether you're a tenant at Stonehenge, whether you're a tenant on Pantops in Hollymead, these assessment increases impact you and what you pay per month in rent. The landlord sent it down the totem pole. All right, I want you to put the first bar graph on screen from Citizens for Responsible Planning. Median assessment increase, 2023 assessment. Tell me when that's on screen. When you look at this bar graph,

and we're going to break this down in very layman's terminology for the viewers and listeners. When you look at this bar graph, you will see that Citizens for Responsible Planning has broken down the assessment increases by price point, Judah. Yeah. What jumps out at you first? And then I'll let you know what jumps out at me. The median assessment increase by 2023 assessment.

What jumps out at you there? Well, anybody that couldn't afford an expensive home is getting a much larger increase than everybody else. Over double the next... Try that in a different way. Lower-priced homes have a much larger increased assessment than... There it is. That's a very straightforward way of putting it. Say it again. Very simple terminology. Right there. Say it is. That's a very straightforward way of putting it. Say it again.

Very simple terminology right there. Say it again. Charlottesville City. Low-priced homes got a high increase. Low-priced homes in Charlottesville City got stung the most. Unpack why for the viewers and listeners. And if you're uncertain, it's totally cool as well. I mean, it's mostly guesswork,

but I would have to say that because of the zoning change, the possibility of all these cheap properties that are easier and cheaper to buy and tear down makes them attractive to somebody who wants to build up. And that's exactly what Citizens for Responsible Planning wrote under the graph. That's exactly right. Upzoning and the opportunity to build more dense housing, and I've been saying this for over two years. The opportunity to build more dense housing in Charlottesville is not going to breed affordability like housing upzoning advocates are screaming and championing. The assessment increases are hitting the lower priced homes.

And they're hitting the lower priced homes because those are the ones that are easier to develop because they're price point conscious developers. The lower price homes are the easier properties to assemble where you can start buying one, two, three, four, five, six lots side by side by side by each other. It's called assemblage. You're not going to assemble in Barracks Rugby on Park Street in North Downtown. You're going to assemble in 10th and Page in Fifeville and in Star Hill in Prospect. And these lower price homes homes when compared to every other pricing category. Put the first graph back on screen. 2x plus the assessment increase, Judah. Yeah, 2x plus the next closest one.

Any home that was a million five or above median saw a 3% uptick. But the homes sub $250,000 saw an 11% median uptick. I'll give that to you again. The very few homes that are purchasable in the city of Charlottesville, a landlocked 10.2 square mile city, the very few ones that are $250,000 and under saw an 11% median uptick. Yeah, that's insane. The next highest category of uptick was the 250 to 500 category. What does this tell you in very simple terms, Judah?

Besides the development analysis, which you put very well, it tells me that affordability is going to be even more difficult in 2023 and 2024, excuse me, and it tells me affordability is going to be even more difficult after that as well. It also tells me that I think a lot of the talk about affordability is just talk. Or worse, you know what's worse than just talk to get elected? That this is planned? No. What's worse is the people pushing this through actually believe what they're pushing through will create affordability,

and they're completely altogether wrong. Pushing something through, not knowing what really would happen in basic economic mindsets and terminology. Now, I want you to put the next graph on screen. Median assessment by grade. That's the second chart. This is from Citizens for Responsible Planning.

You got that graph on screen? Yep. Read to me what you're seeing in this graph. I don't know what grade means, so I can't really... The type of property. Okay. The lower the... C, D, E is a lower quality property grade.

Okay. Well, then we're seeing the same thing as we were seeing before. Properties that are easier to tear down are getting assessed higher. Bingo. The C, D, and E, D and E in particular, are probably teardowns. Yeah.

People buying the property just for the land so they can get opportunistic and build something upon it. Let me ask you a question. By making the lower grade buildings have a higher increase, does that incentivize people

in those types of buildings to, I guess, be more amenable to selling their property? I don't follow what you're saying. Is the level of increase in what we've seen so far in these two graphs, is that a way of incentivizing people in those lower properties to sell when someone comes along in terms of, oh, my assessment's gone up. I'm having a harder time

affording this. Here comes Mr. Moneybags saying, I'd love to buy your property, your land. I'm not suggesting that there's some type of collusion here. No, I think what it is is these properties are knock-down teardowns. Yeah, but some people are still living in those types of properties, right? I don't think the assessor is trying to push folks in the sub-$250,000 market out of their homes. I think the assessor is just utilizing market mechanics to assess homes. And it's those that are trading at higher frequency are those that are moving because of the opportunistic nature associated with them. So would you call it an unintended consequence?

Of course. I would call it straight up gentrification. I would call it the collateral damage of a popular community. I would call it creating a wealthy, homogenous city. 100%. Jason Howard watching on Rydal Road. This is great data on assessment increases. I know you and Keith highlighted this on previous show, but can you put up again what the dollar amounts are for real estate tax relief for retirees and others on fixed income, house value, total assets, all those facts. Can you see if you can find online, Judah, the real estate tax relief for city of Charlottesville homeowners.

Was that something that Keith had for us? No, no, no. You can Google that up. It should be on the city website. I would use the black laptop here instead of the network terminal. The city doesn't do a really good job, Jason, of marketing the tax relief opportunity for those

that are on the margin. Probably intentionally. Jason appreciates the data for citizens from responsible planning. Grayson's watching the program in North Downtown, says this is excellent. Phillip Dow is watching in Scottsville. Jackson is watching the program in the Greenbrier neighborhood. Does he have the data? Do you have the data by neighborhood? Oh, yes. Citizens for Responsible Planning has the data by neighborhood, and we will get to it in a matter of moments.

I'll go to LinkedIn right now. And, Jude, I want to go to the neighborhood one next. John Blair, I do remember you saying this. This is John Blair's comment. And John Blair, I do remember you saying this. This is John Blair's comment. And John Blair, 100%. John Blair, from day one, has said that the upzoning would backfire. He said, Jerry, you, myself, and many others have been predicting this. I expect upzoning will make Charlottesville one of the least affordable cities for housing in the Commonwealth. No matter if you build extra units or not, the assessed price of your land will likely increase by double digits on affordable parcels in 2024 as well. The entire idea of

up-soting creating affordability hinges on some serious unit construction increase. Is there any evidence of home builders lining up new crews for construction of new units? Bingo. John Blair knows the answer to that question. He's asking a question he knows the answer to. He's a smart man. There is absolutely no evidence of that. There is no evidence of that.

In fact, the construction crews that were going to build the housing were kiboshed by the city. Bo Carrington and Wendell Wood on the Rivanna River and Phase 3 dairy market Chris Henry. Kiboshed by the city and activists. Let's go to Deep Throat watching the program. And we're going to go to the neighborhood assessments next, Judah. This one is the juicy one that people are really going to like. This is going to be the headline, Median Assessment Increased by NH Neighborhood.

Don't put it on screen yet. I'm going to hold the viewers and listeners. That's the last one, right? That's the last one. I can't wait to pick that one apart. I can't wait to pick that apart. Deep Throat. Deep Throat throwing a little bit of shade here.

Who is one of the biggest upzoning activists in the city of Charlottesville? You could probably rattle off a couple names and get it. Are we talking council members? Not a planning commission, nor is it a councilor. Biggest upzoning. Gilligan? Yes.

Deep Throat says the Orangedale neighborhood, an 18% increase in assessments. Wow. You know what Orangedale is? Yeah. The prospect neighborhood. Right off of Ridge before Ridge becomes Fifth Street. Okay. 18% increase in assessments. In that neighborhood, you see a lot of side-by-side townhomes. I almost purchased a couple of units in Orangedale. I'd say probably five or six years ago. In retrospect, I made a mistake in not buying the units. They would have been a rental play. The reason I did not purchase them was because they needed rehabilitation and the

seller at the time I thought was asking too much for it. The seller at the time literally pitched to me five or six years ago, these are going to be significantly more valuable because it's one of the last affordable pockets in the city. And what the seller pitched to me five or six years ago literally proved to be correct. He says an 18% increase in assessments for the Orangedale neighborhood. And he's answering, tries to answer your question. The assessor is just following the data, but Judah's right that higher assessments may force redevelopment by making it unaffordable for people living in those modest housing to afford the taxes. What's that word called? Gentrification. Yeah. Yeah. Philip Dow says, Judah, I need that info for my elderly parents, the city tax relief info. Charlottesville government needs to do a better job of marketing and promoting the tax relief

opportunities for homeowners on the financial margin. It is not promoted well. The tax relief window is very narrow. Do you have that information? Real estate tax relief. Let's see. Elderly or disabled. Real estate tax relief for the elderly and disabled grant. Applications will be accepted starting on February 1, 2024. Holy doodoo that's like five days from now yeah so please get this out here folks that aren't reading the newspaper they're not

they no longer have broadcast television yeah the mail where the information is sent in the mail is unreliable you may be providing this information to members in our community that are on the cusp of getting pushed out of their homes, Judith. So what you read here is very important. All right. You want me to read the whole thing? Please, sir. Please, please, sir.

Following the accepted starting of applications, we've got the city of Charlottesville in its ongoing efforts to promote and preserve home ownership will once again offer real estate tax relief for the elderly and disabled. Applications can be submitted between February 1 and April 1 each year. Qualifications required for the grant. Property for which the exemption is claimed must be located in the city of Charlottesville and occupied as the sole dwelling of the applicant. Applicant must be 65 years of age or older or permanently and totally disabled. Proof of disability required as of December 31st of the prior year. Combined adjusted gross income, AGI, for the prior year for applicant, applicant spouse, and any co-owners residing in the home cannot exceed the amount indicated below, which I'll get to in just a

second. Application must be signed by applicant or by person acting as power of attorney for applicant. And here are the tiers for the real estate tax relief. Combined AGI of $0 to $36,990 is real estate tax relief percentage of 100. 36,991 through 49,320 is 80%. 49,321 to 55,485 is 60%, and 55,486 to 61,650 is 40%. Final determination of relief percentage is subject to review. And you can send your PDF application if you choose to apply by email or mail. This can all be found on the char choose to apply by email or mail. This can all be found on the charlottesville.gov website.

Brian, listen to this comment. Deep Throat has this comment too. Deep Throat, your comment is right on point. But your comment, I'm going to relay through the ears of someone that's going to get stung by this. This is from Brian, who's a first-time Common Runner talk show. Brian says his parents have lived in the Tenth and Page neighborhood and have lived there for almost 40 years. And I'm going to use a profanity here, but I think it's important. I rarely use the profanities anymore. So if you have your kid in the car, I'm giving you a heads up. This is from Brian. Take your hands off the wheel and cover the ears.

Giving you a heads up if your kid is listening to this. Brian says this. My parents have lived in the 10th and Page neighborhood for over 40 years. You want to know some horse shit? Brian writes, these assessments just got mailed out today. We're right before a weekend

and we don't get mail but two or three weeks later than when the post stamp says on the front of the envelope. The people that are finding out about the tax relief are literally going to have four to five days to act on them. Are we talking about this? What's the window? The window is through the end of April, or no, the beginning of April. To April 1, right? Yeah.

He's saying the assessments are going out in the mail, Brian is, to his parents in 10th and Page Now, and they get mail two to three weeks late. Okay. So if they're only fighting out about the tax relief through the back you know where the tax relief is marketed and promoted it's promoted on the back of the assessment bill okay so the bill the assessment notification is going out in the mail today there's a weekend and we know the post office is short-staffed some people are complaining that mail is getting two to three weeks late to their house. So if it's delivered on Friday, January 26th before a weekend, and it takes two or three weeks for it to get to somebody's house, you're looking at probably the middle of February to Monday, February 19th, and then the deadline you're saying is April 1? Yeah. So he's saying

it's such a little turnaround window for people. Yeah. I he's saying it's such little turnaround window for people. Yeah. I appreciate that. Albert Graves watching this program. Want to see what happens to Charlottesville? Take a ride 20 minutes west and check out Crozet

and the new affordable single-family homes starting in the mid-400,000s and no infrastructure to support said build-outs. Albert Graves, good comment. Thank you for watching the program. We've promised the assessments by neighborhood. Thank you for watching the program. We've promised the assessments by neighborhood. Carol Thorpe watching the program. Hello, Carol Thorpe.

Suzanne Coffey is reminding Judah and I to tell the viewers and listeners to vote. Suzanne Coffey says, remind people that early voting started at the Fifth Street office. Randy O'Neill is watching the program. Randy O'Neill says, let me share the old Virginia way. When rural counties were run by locals, they knew who the owners were and assessed accordingly. Now the assessors are outside contractors bound by modern practices. My taxes went up 165% last year. I'm sorry. I'm sorry as well. Stephanie Wells-Rhodes, welcome to the program. Thank you kindly for joining us. TV station down the road watching us as we're speaking right now. Kevin Higgins, welcome to the program. James Watson, Holly Foster, welcome to the program. Janice

Boyce-Trevillian, welcome to the program. Thank you for watching. Katie Pearl, welcome to the program. By Neighborhood, are you ready? Put the graph on screen. Citizens for Responsible Planning, fantastic work by this organization. Judah, which neighborhood got pop the highest? We have a three-way tie, folks. Barracks Road. Let's see, where's the other one? Greenbrier.

And Venable. Is that north? N for north? Yep. Barracks Road, 7%. Greenbrier, 7%. Interestingly, that's the mayor's neighborhood. Venable, 7%.

Followed closely by Lewis Mountain with 6%. Belmont, 6%. The highest appears to be, does it not appear to you be Barracks Road, slightly higher on the bar graph? Citizens for Responsible Planning, bang up job. 7% Barracks Road, 7% greenbrier assessment increase, 7% venable neighborhood assessment increase. Venable is the neighborhood right around grounds. Okay. Help me with that if you could please, sir. We know where, obviously, Barracks Road is.

Interestingly, Barracks Road, 7%, but Barracks Rugby, only 3%. Barracks Rugby, higher dollar homes, where Barracks Road, lower dollar homes. That probably explains the difference. It looks like Venable runs between... 14th Street? Runs between Rugby. Rugby and 14th. Right by Venable Elementary.

Something like that. West Main, 2%. Star Hill, 2%. Star Hill, 2%. I want to highlight this. For the last three years, the city of Charlottesville has had double-digit assessment increases. Prior to the 2024 data that was just released, the three years prior had double digit assessment increases in the city. So even Judah, a marginal uptick in 2024? It's like we were talking about yesterday

with the fact that just because inflation has been tamped down doesn't mean we're not still feeling the effects of previous years, as you said, compounded over each other year after year. There it is. You're on point today, Judah Wickauer. On point. There it is. You're on point today, Judah Wickauer.

On point. There it is. The last three years, folks have been starving. Even if this one's... Yeah. It's still building on... It's still... Compounded on the three years of double digit.

Right. James Watson says, could you show Barrick's map because I believe it becomes Albemarle County a little ways behind the shopping center it becomes a good question from James Watson Stonefields and Albemarle County that's right

where the line is I think it runs up part of hydraulic and then cuts off so I believe there's a new roundabout coming to Hydraulic and Hillsdale, and that's in Seville, and just on the other side of Hydraulic, it becomes Albemarle County. And on the Ivy side, right at the car wash,

that monstrosity of a car wash next to the Papa John's, right there is the city county line. Fantastic data for citizens for responsible planning. CRP-Seville.org doing yeoman's work on the data analysis. And I want to give some props to number one in the family, Deep Throat, for sending me this listing. Do we have anything from Stonefield Commons we can put on screen? I've got the layout and I've got some interior shots. You've got the layout of the one bedroom? Yeah.

That's amazing. Put the one bedroom layout Yeah. That's amazing. Put the one bedroom layout on. There it is. A one bedroom in Stonefield Commons. $1,943 a month, Judah. Explain that to me.

My wife says she spent almost a decade on the Upper East Side. She said, that's Manhattan prices. Yeah. A two-bedroom in Stonefield Commons,

$22,000 plus. And how about the three-bedroom in Stonefield Commons? The three-bedroom in Stonefield Commons, $2,700. They have a one bedroom that legitimately, according to their website, Judah, is 628 square feet. Yeah.

What is your commentary on this? I'm floored I don't know what to say if I was looking for a place I don't think I'd be looking here that's crazy I'll put this in perspective now obviously it's about timing

and it's about getting historically low mortgage and interest rates, and three levels and a completely brand new kitchen with a two-car garage and a gated Glenmore community has a mortgage that is lower than the three-bedroom, two-bath rent in this apartment complex. I'll say that again. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom in Stonefield Commons, the rent in 2024 for this three-bedroom, two-bath is more expensive than a five-bedroom,

four-and-a-half bathroom, 5,200 square feet brick Georgian on an acre of land with a basement, remodeled kitchen, and two-car garage in a gated community. I mean, I feel like you're doing a comedy routine, except nobody is laughing. Right. And the crazy thing about it is, is these will rent all day, every day, and twice on Sunday. And the even more terrifying thing is a population

uptick of 5,000 to 8,000 people over the next five years. Jason Howard, Keith mentioned that it's a three-part equation, budget assessment and rate. Is the tax rate staying the same, going up or going down? I would bet you a ‑‑ I know you don't want to take a lot of the bets we do. In fact, I don't think you would take this bet. I would bet you the tax rate goes up. Yeah, I wouldn't be at all surprised. You would not take that bet, right? Not if I was on the other end. Right. I would not take that bet if I was on the other end. I will bet you they raised the tax rate as well.

At the same time, the meals taxes went up. At the same time, credit card debt is at an all-time high in American history. At the same time, we've grown longer sticker shocked at the price of milk, bacon, a loaf of bread, some cheese, Ritz crackers. Man, that tenant cheese whiz, those intimate donuts, eggnog, skim milk. How can you list a bunch of... Cheez-It grooves. How can you list a bunch of junk food and then top it off with skim milk? I love skim milk.

I mean, that is... You give me a box of Cheez-It grooves, a sleeve of Brits crackers, a tin of Cheez Whiz, and a tall glass of skim milk, and I'll purr like a Cheshire cat bathing in the sun. I would rather you scratch your nails across a chalkboard than talk about junk food alongside skim milk. I love skim milk. Skim milk all day, every day, and twice on Sunday. My boys love skim milk as well. We pound skim milk.

James Watson, there is residential real estate in that barracks area. Remember, in that barracks area, you have Hessian Hills. You have Barracks West. In that barracks area, there's that little neighborhood right down the road from Barracks Road Shopping Center off of Georgetown Road. You know what I'm talking about? Vaguely. You got housing there I'm legitimately

legitimately oh Deep Throat's got a graph in there on the law this is a fantastic graph. Put the graph that's in my Twitter inbox if you could, please, sir. Put what? Check out my Twitter inbox. This is a great one. I'm sliding to Judah's shop. Right here. All right. You want me to grab that? Yeah. We'll close on this.

The median change in assessments from 2020 to 2024. James Watson, get ready for this data. John Blair, get ready for this data. Rory Stolzenberg, get ready for this data. John Blair, get ready for this data. Rory Stolzenberg, get ready for this data. Livable Charlottesville, get ready for this data. Michael Payne, Lloyd Snook, Brian Pinkston, Juan Diego Wade, and Natalie Orshan, get ready for this data. Tell me when that graph's on screen and we'll close on this. You ready? Just about. Jude, what color are you doing A-plus work today? This is the median change in assessments by neighborhood in the city of Charlottesville from 2020 to 2024. God, Lewis Mountain is getting hammered. God, Lewis Mountain is getting effing killed. Save that graph and post that on the I Love Seville Instagram if you could, please, sir. People need to see this. Post that on the I Love Seville Instagram. Lewis Mountain is getting obliterated. From 2020

to 2024, the Lewis Mountain neighborhood has seen a 55% increase. It's up. It's on screen. It's on screen. Everyone look at the screen. Look at the screen now. This is the type of content you're not getting anywhere else. From 2020 to 2024, the Lewis Mountain neighborhood saw 55% uptick in assessment. That is bananas, Judah. The Barracks Road area, 54%. Rose Hill, there's some OGs in Rose Hill, Judah. 52%. How the hell is anyone on the financial margin in a four-year period of time

going to be able to withstand a 52% uptick in assessment? I'm seriously asking that question. You're going to sell your house. Do you remember a man in black, KQ, the guy that I used to do I Love Seville trivia with? he was always dressed in black clothes. He was a DJ. Yeah, great voice. Great voice. Great guy. Great guy, one of my best friends.

He got gentrified out of the Fry Springs neighborhood and now lives in South Carolina. Yeah, I remember hearing about that. He could not afford to remodel his house, nor could he afford the taxes on his home as a retiree on a fixed income. Yeah. The lowest assessment increase. West Main. West Main at 21%, Venable 30%, North Downtown's at the 27% marker. Please put that on the I Love Seville Instagram if you could, please, sir.

Yeah, and if they raise the tax rate by anything at all, that would legitimately be spitting in people's faces. If they raise the tax rate by anything at all, that would be spitting in people's faces, Judah. Because they have a surplus already from the assessments. Not to mention apparently $4 million from the, what's it called? American.

American Rescue Fund? Yeah. That they didn't use during COVID? That was allocated from the federal government to stimulate the economy during the pandemic? This might have been part of it that came out in 2023. I'm not, I would need more information on that. Carol Thorpe watching the program said, Jerry, may I remind you about former supervisor Donna Price, whom you recently hosted on your show and her response to me when I shared that my home property taxes doubled in the last 10 years.

Doubled. Donna Price, Carol Thorpe said, simply said, well, many people may just have to sell and move if they cannot afford to stay in their homes. That demonstrates the lack of care and concern our elected officials have about this situation. They don't give a damn. That's from Carol Thorpe, who lives in Almarill County in the Jack Jewett District. Diantha McKeel, her supervisor. I relayed this live on air. Anything you want to close with? Judah B. Wickauer, Jack of all wits, Jack of all trades. Bill McChesney, the mayor of McIntyre, in my neck of the woods, the assessments are up 35%.

That's got to be over the four-year period of time. J-Dubs, where do you want to go? Close the showdown, my friend. Close it down and close it down with a bang. All right. There's a great meme of Ron Swanson saying, there's only one thing I hate more than lying. Skim milk, which is water, lying about being milk.

Why do you hate skim milk? It's good for you. Because it's water lying about being milk. Randy O'Neill, watch out for this being the next trend schools trying to get in the housing business because of teacher shortage and ARP this reminds me of a conversation that I had with Deep Throat

you're seeing Wintergreen for example housing staff for short term like 3-4 months the ski season and bringing folks in from Europe to work the winter season. Is that akin to working for the company store? They'd rather own where you live than pay you enough for you to be able to afford to live in the area?

That was a great way to finish the show. There you go. Judah dropping bombs right there. This from an anonymous viewer and listener, not Deep Throat, but another one. I was recently sitting down with all my staff individually for annual reviews. Made it a point to check in with those who I know rent in the city and urban ring of the county to make sure they were aware and prepared for possibly significant rent increases whenever their current leases came due, especially a few who I know rent older houses or portions of an older house in the city.

They had no idea about upzoning, assessments, et cetera. I did this as a mentor not to scare them, but shows how few people know what's going on out there and coming our way. Yeah. 100%. You've highlighted that on this show. What? Getting? No, that being a part of this program and the commentary that we discuss on the show has made you more aware of what's happening in the city.

And prior to getting involved in the show, you've said this on previous shows, you didn't follow this at all. Yeah, I don't really follow this. And, you know, I'm a fairly new homeowner. So getting, you know, getting a tax assessment in the mail, I don't really, I wouldn't have known what to do with that. I've been like, if I even opened it, I'd have been like, why are they sending me this? What does this mean? Because it wouldn't mean anything to me. Always open the mail. Always read what you sign. Yeah. You've indicated on previous shows, you do not read the paperwork you sign. I know a lot of people don't. I'm not saying that I don't, but...

Read what you sign. Open the mail. Trust but verify. Yeah. Be cautious in every regard. Cautious to the point of paranoia. Vanessa Parkhill, the current state of inflation, you were getting punched in the face by Mike Tyson. Now you're getting punched in the face by Taylor Swift. I feel like some folks think we should be excited about the latter because it's not as painful, but it still hurts. Still getting punched in the face. Still getting punched in the face. That's her point. Rob Neal, documents matter.

Read the fine print. Bingo. Philip Dow says, this is unbelievable. I genuinely believe that there is a significant portion of the population that is counting on us for their news, Judah. It is a responsibility that we should not hold lightly. That's the Friday edition of the I Love Seville show. He's Judah Wittkower.

He was on point today. There goes Brian Hluska right there. Man, he loves walking by the studio around this time. For Judah Wittkower, who was on point, my name is Jerry Miller. We will see you on Monday for Real Talk with Keith Smith, where we will certainly talk about this assessment data. So long, everybody. Thank you.