“Murder Hornet” is the headline grabber of the moment with the most frightening parts of the story rapidly spreading across the internet and any perspective or context the report carries being left out or ignored.
No citizens commented at last week’s public hearing on Buena Vista’s proposed budget. As advertised, the budget calls for raising the real estate tax rate from $1.21 to $1.33 per $100 assessed value.
At a public hearing last week on Buena Vista’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2021, no one objected to an advertised real estate tax increase of 12 cents that, if enacted, would take the rate to $1.33 per $100 assessed value. There were no citizen comments at all, actually. Who knows if the silence stemmed from acquiescence to the proposed tax increase or to a reluctance to speak at a virtual Zoom meeting being held during the pandemic?
For the vast majority of us here in Rockbridge, the health effects of the coronavirus pandemic have been mostly an inconvenience, coupled with some anxiety about being infected. For some, it’s been a severe economic hardship, because of losing a job or threats to their business.
