East versus west

Who benefits from economic development in Goochland?

Perhaps a better question is who is punished by a paucity of businesses in the county?

The need for sources of public revenue above and beyond real estate taxes is more pressing than ever.

A quick look at county property values confirms the oft- heard whine that property owners from roughly Cardwell Road east pay most of the taxes in Goochland.

Land to the west tends to have lower assessments so its owners fund a smaller share of the county revenue pie. When the national, state and local economy went into meltdown mode, the pie began to shrink.

The board of supervisors will face hard choices when they craft the county budget for the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1, 2010. They can cut spending, raise taxes, raid the general fund, or any combination to keep things going.

They undoubtedly want to do none of those things, but will have to chart a course to minimize the pain, a very difficult task that could have been lightened had there been more businesses in the county.

What are all those tax dollars, the county budget was more than $57 million this year, used for?

County schools consume all of the real estate tax collected. All other services from law enforcement to courts to solid waste are funded by other sources.

Many items fall between the cracks.

For instance, last year board chairman Andrew Pryor, District 1, came to his fellow supervisors hat in hand to request funds to improve playground equipment at Byrd Elementary School. Playgrounds at the county’s other two elementary schools were equipped by their respective PTAs.

Located in an economically challenged part of the county, Byrd parents are less able to raise funds.

Residents of Goochland’s “gold Coast” along River Road seem to have little interest in economic development and why should they?

They are either retired or work outside of the county. If they have kids, they likely attend private schools. They fulfill their recreational needs at the nearby country clubs and shop in Richmond or New York or wherever.

They use almost no county services. Their garbage goes elsewhere, they use Henrico public libraries and some subdivisions even have their own automatic electronic defibrillators to compensate for a dwindling fire-rescue volunteer corps.

Things are different in the rest of the county.

Public schools are the only opportunity most kids who live west of Manakin Road have to get the tools to help them participate in the American Dream.


The population of Goochland, like that of the rest of the country, is aging. Many of the people moving here are retired, passing through on the way to the cemetery. They have no family ties to the county and have little interest in what goes on here. They just want low real estate taxes and lots of rural character, whatever that is.

Goochlanders whose names can be found on local voting rolls and land records for decades if not centuries, are getting lost in the shuffle. They stand to benefit most from economic development. Better school funding to give their children a leg up in life is only a part. They’ll be able to stay here well into the future and pass their family heritage along to future generations.

Although the supervisors brag about having the lowest property tax rate in the region, as property values skyrocketed, tax bills exploded.

Some supervisors talk about length about discerning the difference between wants and needs as relates to county services, which is an important part of their job.

The people who will suffer most as the result of the budget cuts are those least able to compensate for any loss of services.

Goochland needs a wide range economic development throughout the county just to stay even.

Revenues from economic development, be it a truck stop or a corporate headquarters campus, fund the things that build community including soccer fields, libraries and parks.

Truck stop developers are less likely to demand the financial incentives that major corporations require. This puts revenue in the county’s pocket much sooner.

The county’s record with attracting corporate headquarters is spotty at best. When Motorola was on the horizon, the board acted as though its economic development work was over instead of just begun.

It’s hard to understand the resistance to preparing the Oilville interchange for significant commerce. The area in question is very small. The proposed wastewater treatment plant has relatively small capacity, which will limit the spread of development. Best of all, the plant will be owned and controlled entirely by the county. None of those pesky agreements with outside entities that plague other county utility schemes.

There will be some start up costs, but the bulk of the expense will be borne by the property owners.

Repeated efforts by the supervisors who represent the western portion of the county to quash development at Oilville are incomprehensible.

How exactly do they expect the county to pay for amenities their constituents want and need? These items include a fire-rescue station near Sandy Hook, which will probably be staffed by costly career personnel, a new community center and a continuation of the funding policies that have dramatically improved Goochland schools.

Goochland needs to get serious about attracting businesses large and small. Western supervisors who stand in the way of economic development for petty personal reasons should be ashamed of themselves.

Their actions penalize only their constituents.

The objections to development at Oilville have little to do with the project on the table and everything to do with a juvenile power struggle among grown up men who ought to know better.