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structure, one that weighs most heavily on those least able to pay.
And what does the revenue window reveal about our choices between education and other public services on the one hand and private, market goods and services on the other? Put another way, how much have we been ready to forgo in the way of private goods to pay for public programs?
Our only major tax, on real estate, has been at 50 cents last year and this. No nearby county had so low a rate even last year, not to mention their increases this year. Specifically, the five adjacent counties ranged from 53 cents to 63 cents last year. The eight in the next ring around us ranged from 54cents to $1.42. Taking only the five rural counties in that second tier, the average was 62 cents. Even our 58-cent rate now set for 1986 is well under that regional average.
As for the rest of Virginia, rates on real estate are lower than ours in the poorer southwestern counties but as much as three times as high as ours in the more urbanized counties. The statewide county average, at 62 cents last year, was roundly a fourth higher than ours has been.
What seems clear from these studies is that we in Rappahannock County have set an unusually high—and rising—value on material possessions, on market goods and services, as against education and other public services. In this, we stand out even in comparison with other, often less affluent, counties in a low-tax state.
It’s a picture that will appeal to many. But how many?
CHARLES AND HELEN PLATT
Rock Mills P.S. We want to express our gratitude publicly for the help our budget studies received from County Clerk Diane Bruce, Revenue Commissioner Merle Seoggin, Treasurer Frances Foster, and School Superintendent Robert Estabrook. While the findings and conclusions are ours, it was their patience in supplying requested information and helping us dig out data that made these studies possible.
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