I recently attended my first City Council meeting as part of
my summer internship with the Princess Anne Independent News.
I yawned a couple times. I learned a lot about city
government. I dozed off a little. I watched passionate people plead their case
to Mayor Bobby Dyers and the City Council. In the end, I managed not to nap
(politics is not my strong suit), and it was seriously an educational
experience.
One thing that stood out to me was a program brought to
attention by said Princess Anne District representative Barbara Henley.
The freeze program
In Virginia Beach, there is a Freeze program to provide tax relief to the disabled and senior citizens aged 65 years or
older.
The way it works is that the annual household income cannot
exceed $54,989 for total exemption on real estate taxes, and the annual
household income cannot exceed $71,750 for the tax freeze.
“It speaks highly of
our concern for our people,” said Henley. “It is important that people know
about this.”
The participants are allowed $350,000 in assets other than
residence. The problem is that a majority of the elderly rent, not own, as a
lot of them live in retirement communities and assisted living.
Relief for the old, but not for the young
During the discussion of the Freeze Program, Kempsville
representative Jessica Abbott made the point that while there is relief for the
elderly, there is no relief for the younger generation who is trying to get on
their feet.
“We have a program providing relief for the elderly, but not
for the younger,” said Abbott. “We have to seriously look at what kind of
burden we’re putting on [them].”
This burden that she’s talking about is no joke.
I am not assuming that an entire generation is struggling
and incompetent, because I know a lot of successful young people. My brother is
22, just graduated from college where he had excess scholarship money, and he
already has an apartment and a job with a civil engineering company. I
acknowledge that it is possible to succeed and live comfortably in Virginia
Beach.
A struggling generation
But for a lot of people, it is difficult to get on their
feet when Virginia Beach taxes are rising and taking the money that they are
trying to put towards extremely high rent.
“People don’t want to live here. It’s too hard,” said Abbot.
“[Millennials] aren’t doing it because it’s not affordable to live here.”
As a journalist, I was disappointed to realize that theentry level salary for some news staff writers is as low as $20,000.
The average rent in Virginia Beach is $1,178 per month,
which totals $14,136 a year. After phone bills, insurance, car payments,
utilities, and every other expense you can think of, you can understand that moving out and making it
on our own is not always in the cards for Virginia Beach Millennials.
“They have to make hard decisions,” said Abbot. “Hoping
their parents can babysit, because childcare is [$300+] for one week. It’s very
difficult now.”
Upon realization that I would not be able to move out of my
parents’ house anytime soon, I had to make one of these hard decisions that
Abbot mentioned. I am enlisting in the reserves to ensure financial security
and a promising future.
While that is far from the only reason that I made this decision,
the financial burden I feel as a resident of Virginia Beach is definitely a
factor. My family is here, my friends are here, and this is where I want to
live; however, the city is not making that an easy goal for me and my
generation to attain. We want to stay here. If you want us here, prove it.
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