Budget: Raise for staff, no tax hikes for residents
▶ More funds for social services, paid EMS ▶ Schools eye expanded programs ▶ Lodging tax would double
Edging toward normalcy a er the pandemic year, Rappahannock County has presented a budget that shaves spending overall while opening the county purse for key priorities, including an across-the-board ve percent raise for all county employees.
For the scal year beginning in July, the budget proposed Wednesday evening by County Administrator Garrey W. Curry envisions spending $27,666,734. That’s nearly 5 percent less than an adjusted spending
gure of $28,947,023 in the current scal year. Because the county must present a balanced budget, revenues, raised through taxes and supported by federal and state infusions, equal the planned expenditures.
According to Curry, the new budget “is founded on the expectation of a much more normal planning cycle.” He went on to say that two elements shaped the hopeful outlook. First, the county enjoyed surprisingly healthy tax revenues in the current scal year, including a jump in sales taxes thanks largely to an increase in online shopping. And second, critical to restoring normal economic activity in the new scal year starting in July is “the expectation of fairly widespread vaccination.”
The budget blueprint now enters a short season of wrangling and negotiation, with public hearings and working sessions culminating on May 12, when the Board of Supervisors
will gather at the county courthouse for the formal adoption of the new budget.
People who may never have set foot in Rappahannock County provide crucial financial support in the form of state and federal infusions. The 5 percent pay increase for county employees is projected to cost $220,662, but the county is looking to the State of Virginia to cover $92,684 of the bill.
The proposed budget protects residents from any increase in real estate or personal property taxes. Visitors to the county don’t get off so easily: the county’s lodging tax would double to 4 percent from the current 2 percent. The tax hike is expected to bring in $40,000, essentially equal to projected spending to promote and support tourism in the county. The meals tax rate is already 4 percent, so aligning meals and lodging levies ends a complexity for establishments that offer both food and a bed.
As in the past, the new budget taxes land to educate children. This simplification rests on the fact that property taxes are the largest contributor to local revenue — $13.4 million in the proposed budget — and schools are the largest single expense, with a total outlays set at $13.6 million.
People who may never have set foot in Rappahannock County provide crucial financial support in the form of state and federal infusions. The five-percent pay increase for county employees is projected to cost $220,662, but the county is looking to the State of Virginia to cover $92,684 of the bill.
Outside support is a lifeline for the schools, which would receive $8,845,964 from the county under the new budget, with another $4,743,622 rolling in from the State of Virginia, the federal government, and a handful of other grantors.
However, Virginia — the largest outside contributor — calibrates its support through a formula that disadvantages many rural school systems, Rappahannock County in particular. Because of demographic shifts (the county is aging rapidly) the official student population has shrunk to 765 from 888 in the academic year 2013-2014. Fewer students, combined with higher property values, have the effect of shrinking Rappahannock’s education subsidy to one of the smallest in Virginia.
The logic behind the state formula holds that the high property values should bring in local taxes sufficient to carry a larger share of the school bill. But in Rappahannock County, taxes on larger land holdings are chopped by the widespread use of conservation easements and land-use tax deferrals. The upshot: only 14 percent of the taxable land in the county is taxed at fair-market value, meaning that for purposes of funding its schools, Rappahannock isn’t as flush as the state formula would suggest.
The schools begin a phased reopening process this month, with the youngest four grades set to offer four days of in-person instruction per week. But Rappahannock County Public Schools Superintendent Shannon Grimsley warned that funding supplemental programs for students who fell behind during the pandemic — plus a new health-science program and agricultural “academies” for the high school — will be a challenge.
“We’re busting at the seam with students who want to take these (health and agriculture) courses, and we’ll want $20,000 for each of them,” Dr. Grimsley said. In the current fis- cal grants to help the schools in various ways, and she expects to pursue a range of funding options in the new fiscal year.
One program under exploration is a school-based Wellness Center providing mental health services for elementary school students, along with physical exams, and diagnostics for COVID, flu, strep, and chronic problems such as asthma and diabetes. The school gained a grant to explore the idea last year, and is working with partner organizations that deliver mental health and medical services. If the experience is considered positive, the school would seek to establish the Wellness Center in the Fall, but entirely through grants, at no cost to the county. Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office expects a modest expansion. The budget would add a full-time entry-level patrol deputy, as requested by Sheriff Connie Compton, plus additional funds for part-time dispatcher support. The budget would continue a past practice of replacing two vehicles each year.
While Rappahannock County coffers aren’t suffering in the pandemic as many feared, some county residents struggle with isolation, substance abuse, and economic strains. The schools have added one professional to assist its sole social worker, bringing the overall county social services budget to $1,751,978, up from $1,711,051 proposed in the budget a year ago. Social Services, which include costly and critical foster care arrangements for children in situations that pose a significant risk, is sustained by federal and state finances, which carry 72 percent of the bill under the proposed budget.
The county’s Fire & Rescue Services are adjusting to a mix of hired staff and volunteers. The budget plan includes funding for paid Emergency Medical Services, including $211,000 for a year-round emergency provider, plus $68,500 for EMS operational expenses. Meanwhile, a fire service fund is supported by a separate fire-service levy.