Warren County sets Lake Front Royal Sanitary District tax rate

Warring neighbors silent as lower annual rate set by splitting VDOT ‘RAP’ fees

A minority of two – only Archie Fox, speaking, and Linda Glavis, listening at September work session, supported the result of the County’s own poll indicating a 60% majority of Lake Front Royal residents do NOT favor the Sanitary District designation some allege was achieved behind opponents’ backs earlier this year.

Without a bang, nor even a whimper, a tax rate for the newest of Warren County’s 10 Sanitary Districts was set on Tuesday night, October 18.   That rate will be $450 annually.  However, with the first Sanitary District tax bill going out on January 1, half way through the County Fiscal Year, the initial bill to Lake Front Royal residents will be $225.

No one spoke at the Public Hearing.  Perhaps the lack of comment was because the rate is $150 less than the most recent Property Owners Association annual fee of $600.  The discrepancy was explained by County Administrator Doug Stanley at a September work session.  Stanley said County staff decided to cut the $300 Rural Addition Program (RAP) fee portion of the POA fees in half, in order to spread the cost of planned VDOT improvements out over two years.

Responding to a question from Happy Creek Supervisor Tony Carter, Stanley said there would be no interruption to road maintenance through the winter due to the switchover from POA to County control.  According to the September work session discussion, the POA will also send out January bills to cover maintenance items not covered by the Sanitary District taxes.  The POA bill payments will be due in March.

The POA Board strongly opposed the Sanitary District designation; and consequently declined to be involved as a board in managing the Sanitary District for the County.  During a July 19 Public Hearing on a move to abolish the Sanitary District created following a January Court Hearing, allegations of foul play were cast both ways.

At a September work session, pro-Lake Front Royal Sanitary District residents in back-ground, listen, along with pro-District Board members, from left, Tom Sayre, Tony Carter, as well as County Administrator Doug Stanley, as dynamics of move toward County con-trol of the mountain sub-division are discussed.

According to some of the 18 anti-District speakers in July, no opponents appeared at the January 21 Court Hearing because they were unaware of it.  They said it was not surprising the judge ordered the District created, since only pro-residents and County Staff addressed the issue before the judge.  Some opponents of the designation stated the belief they were purposefully excluded from the Court process, including a 30-day appeal period.

Fourteen pro-Sanitary District speakers denied wrongdoing on their part.  They pointed to a dysfunctional and intimidating Property Owners Association that put a financial burden for neighborhood maintenance on a minority who paid their fees in a timely manner.  That accusation was denied by POA officials, who pointed to corrected bylaws that previously prevented delinquent collections before a certain timeframe had passed.

The result of a County Survey sent out following the July 19 Public Hearing allegations of foul play by both sides, was 60-40 percent in favor of dissolving the Sanitary District.  The survey result presented by then-Acting County Attorney Dan Whitten at the Board’s August 16 meeting showed an 88-63 majority (+25) favoring dissolving the Sanitary District.  When Property Owners were allowed to vote by the number of lots they own, and pay taxes on, that margin increased to 115-75 (+40) in favor of petitioning the Court to dissolve the District.

But despite that result, only Chairman Linda Glavis, in whose District the subdivision lies, and Archie Fox voted to follow the survey result.

“It is OBVIOUS and VERY CLEAR – a MAJORITY don’t want it,” Fox said in making a motion the County join that majority in petitioning the Court to dissolve the Lake Front Royal Sanitary District.

However, Tony Carter, Dan Murray and Tom Sayre dismissed the survey majority opinion as ill-informed or irrelevant.

Glavis countered, “This is in my District – it is an insult to the intelligence of the people of Lake Front Royal to say they don’t understand – it is NOT our job to speak over their wishes.”

However, three of her four colleagues disagreed. Tom Sayre’s motion to re-evaluate the Sanitary District in two years then passed unanimously.