THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408260291
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Nearly three-quarters of the property owners at Sandbridge have approved higher taxes to pay a 50-year mortgage on a huge, public sandbox that would not only provide recreation but also save their homes from the advancing ocean.
The city attorney's office said Thursday that 73 percent of landowners at Sandbridge signed petitions agreeing to tax themselves to fund a sand replenishment project. A simple majority, or 51 percent, is required to establish the special tax district.
``No one likes taxes, but we're willing to do it,'' said Dick Dunleavy, president of the Sandbridge Oceanfront Property Owners Association.
City Attorney Leslie L. Lilley said there are 1,660 properties in Sandbridge. As of Monday, 1,206 affirmative responses were received.
``They (affirmative responses) are coming in from all over Sandbridge, '' Lilley said, and not just from oceanfront property owners who are most threatened.
While the deadline for the petitions was Monday, the city will continue to accept and tally votes.
The City Council has told Sandbridge residents that if they want sand, they have to pay for it.
A majority on the council will not commit city taxpayers' money to bail out private property owners who voluntarily assumed the risk of oceanfront living. They also say dumping sand on the badly eroding beach is tantamount to throwing money in the ocean.
The 50-year beach nourishment project would be a joint venture with the Army Corps of Engineers, funded 65 percent by the federal government and 35 percent by the locality. Virginia Beach's share is $3 million initially and about $1.8 million every two to three years thereafter. The federal share is $6 million initially and about $3.5 million thereafter.
The council, at its Sept. 27 meeting, is expected to approve a funding plan for the sand project and raise both the real estate and lodging tax on Sandbridge residents.
By signing the petition, property owners authorized the city to raise their real estate taxes by 6 to 12 cents, and the lodging tax by 2.5 to 5 cents. The exact increase would depend on the funding plan the council develops. The special taxes would go into effect January 1995.
In addition to tax surcharges, money also would be kicked in from these sources:
A $2.8 million refund from the state to the city from the sale of 550 acres at Camp Pendleton. The General Assembly already has agreed to the rebate from the $4.7 million sale if it is used for sand at Sandbridge.
Money from redirecting to Sandbridge its share of lodging taxes earmarked for the Tourism Growth Investment Fund (TGIF), about $130,000 a year.
Under the current proposal, the city also would kick in about $100,000 a year from local taxpayers to pay for land it already owns at Sandbridge (such as Little Island Park and the city beach parking lot).
But Councilwoman Barbara M. Henley said she is opposed to spending any local dollars at Sandbridge and will make an alternate proposal.
Henley will suggest that revenue generated from the fishing pier and concessions at Little Island Park and the parking fees at city lots - about $66,500 - be earmarked to help cover the city share instead of general funds. Because this amount is just short of the $100,000 needed, the Sandbridge tax would have to be slightly higher than under the existing proposal but still far below the stated limits in the petition.
Under Henley's plan, the real estate tax rate would increase by 9 cents and the lodging tax rate by 3 cents.
``This is a very reasonable way to have the users of the beach participate in the sand costs,'' Henley said. ``The general taxpayer who does not own property at Sandbridge, visit Sandbridge or use its beaches would not be paying for it.''
Before the first grain of sand is dumped on the beach, Sandbridge oceanfront property owners would have to grant the city easements on their property, making the private beach public.
The council is expected to approve easement documents at the September meeting. The city must then go to oceanfront property owners and ask them to sign. ILLUSTRATION: File photo
There isn't a beach to be found along parts of the Sandbridge
oceanfront during high tide due to erosion.
KEYWORDS: SANDBRIDGE EROSION BEACH REPLENISHMENT SPECIAL TAX
DISTRICT VIRGINIA BEACH TAXES by CNB