Supervisors to hold public hearing Monday on $22 million county budget, proposing real estate tax hike of 1-cent per $100
The Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors will hear citizens’ views next Monday on a proposed $22 million county budget that would raise the tax rate on real estate by one cent per $100 of valuation, or 1.7%. The public hearing is set for 7 p.m. at the county court house in Washington, VA.
The proposed budget for fiscal 2009, which starts July 1, 2008, shows an increase of more than $1.7 million from the current year’s budget, up 8.5%. The proposed increase is sharper than in the previous two years, when the county’s total spending rose by 4.6% in each of those years.
The larger increase is being driven mainly by an unusual number of large capital spending projects, including a new emergency communications system for law enforcement and fire and rescue squads, the closing of the last cell at the Amissville landfill, the restoration of Scrabble School as a county senior center, and others.
Except for the new 800 megahertz emergency communications system, the capital projects do not require new taxing, because they are being funded by the draw-down of accumulated reserves or through grants obtained from state and federal governments and through private fund-raising, according to County Administrator John McCarthy.
The county proposes to spend $885,000 in the coming year on the new emergency radio system and to raise the Fire Levy on real estate to 5 cents per $100 in value, from the current 4 cents. That would raise the total tax rate on real estate to 60 cents per $100, from the current 59 cents. The one-cent increase in the rate would apply to each of the next two years to finance the full installation of the system.
Total spending in the new county budget would be $22,033,315, more than half of which is accounted for by the $11,813,799 schools budget that was approved by the supervisors on May 5.
Besides schools, the largest categories of spending in the county budget include:
- Public Works, $2,287,972, up 67% from the current year, due mainly to costs of closing the landfill site ($500,000) and the Scrabble School project ($544,450).
- Health and Welfare, $1,255,975, up 0.4%, for operation of the county health department, welfare administration, public assistance and other social services.
- General Government Administration, $1,239,811, up 0.8%, for salaries and operations of county offices and boards, including the county administrator, county attorney, Treasurer, Commissioner of Revenue, Registrar, Board of Supervisors and others.
- County Jail, $1,087,354, up 0.4%, for operation of the jail, including pay and benefits of staff, maintenance, operation and food services.
- Sheriff’s Office, $921,545, up 0.3%, for staff salaries, benefits and operations.
The budget drafted by the county administrator proposes a cost-of-living pay increase of 3%, effective in December 2008, for all county employees and those of the Constitutional offices, such as the Sheriff, Treasurer or Commissioner of Revenue. The School Board’s final budget includes a 2.5% pay increase for school employees, effective at the start of the school year.
-- James P. Gannon
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