Dear Gary (Skinner), Hap, Emmitt, and Ben

Did you guys see what happened in Chesapeake last night (Virginia Pilot, h/t Scott’s Morning Brew, emphasis added)?

Alan Krasnoff, an 18-year veteran of the City Council running on a low-tax platform, was elected mayor Tuesday.

Krasnoff easily turned back fellow council member Rebecca Adams in a race that saw several other Republican-affiliated candidates earn seats on the council.

Krasnoff, who pulled in 12,541 votes to Adams’ 10,880 votes, cast himself as the candidate who was most dedicated to lowering taxes.

. . .

He found himself in the minority on several key votes last year, including the vote to lower the real estate tax rate by five cents. Krasnoff wanted to drop the rate by 10 cents, winning him points with a group called the Chesapeake Citizens for Fair Real Estate Tax.

Why did I emphasized the 10-cent reduction?  Here’s why (Virginia Pilot – March 27, 2007 – via Real Estate Web, emphasiss added):

The Chesapeake tax rate is $1.09 per $100 of assessed value.

“I’m in the same boat as a lot of people,” Coffield said. “I’m going to have to move.”

The City Council cut the property tax rate to combat growing frustration over residential property values that had climbed an average of 28 percent in 2006.

This year, homeowners saw their assessments rise an average of 10.2 percent.

In other words, the ten cent-reduction Krasnoff wanted last year would have given Chesapeake a roughly equalized tax rate.  Krasnoff and his allies lost that vote, just as Gary Jackson and Jerry Logan did last month, but the voters remembered, and rewarded Krasnoff with the Mayor’s chair.

Hap can hang on until 2011, but Skinner, Emmitt Marshall, and Ben Pitts will face the voters next year.

Cross-posted to Rappahannock Red