Budget shortfalls, the housing market & the immigration resolution
Prince William County has released their budget forecast for the next 5 years. According to a Potomac News article, ‘Real estate tumble could force tax increase‘, fiscal year 2009 is short $51.7 million, 2010 is short $79.5 million and in 2011 the shortage is estimated to be $108 million. These deficits can be directly attributed to the decline in the real estate market which has been exacerbated by the immigration resolution. According to a Washington Post article, ‘ Pr. William Immigration, Housing Ills Seen as Linked ‘:
“If I’m not welcome somewhere, I’m going to sell my house,” said Jose Luis Semidey, a real estate agent whose business in Prince William shut down in August when he laid off 40 employees and moved the company to Reston. The county’s anti-illegal immigrant measures, which he and a coalition of other Latino businessmen are fighting, “have accelerated the collapse of the real estate market in the minority community,” he said.