For anyone interested in a prime example of the City of Charlottesville’s and County of Albemarle’s occasionally dysfunctional relationship, Rachana Dixit and Brandon Shulleeta have great story in today’s Daily Progress . … The clash over money between Charlottesville and Albemarle County is turning into a political civil war, with warnings that each step from here will undermine collaborations that would cut expenses and instead possibly cost taxpayers big bucks down the road.
…Many county officials say it’s unfair that a state formula that determines education funding for localities — based largely on localities’ wealth — fails to account for the revenue-sharing agreement. Bell’s amendment proposal would count the money Albemarle pays Charlottesville toward the city’s wealth instead of the county’s wealth — which would increase state education funding for Albemarle in fiscal 2012 by $2.6 million and decrease Charlottesville’s state education funding by that same amount. …
