However, if this is a tax funding issue, as Moderate mentioned - the city has had a tax surplus. The Richmond real estate tax rate is the highest of the metro area localities, and city council just voted down a proposal to provide a temporary reduction. The bottom line is that Richmond is poorly managed, and has been for decades. That is no secret. For some reason, the majority of residents have historically been willing to accept that fact. But now that the incompetence has affected literally every resident of the city in a very real way, it seems that people are starting to ask questions that should have been asked a long time ago. Better late than never, I suppose.