First look at FY 2022 Goochland County Budget

 

Goochland County Administrator Kenneth A. Young presented his recommended budget for fiscal year 2022, which begins on July 1, to the Board of Supervisors on February 16.

What a difference a year makes. The county budget adopted last April in the early days of the Covid lock down was “bare bones” in expectation of a drastic fall off in revenues. The actual results of FY 2020, which ended on June 30, 2020, however, were not as dire as anticipated.  In ensuing months. Director of Finance Barbara Horlacher updated the supervisors on the real time financial condition of the county.

Items removed from the adopted budget were cautiously added back as revenues allowed. Tax collections from the first half of 2020 came in better than expected. Federal CARES Act money helped to offset extraordinary expenditures made to deal the pandemic. These included funds for the school division to provide hotspots to students with no broadband access; upgrades to HVAC systems; upgrades to EMS ventilators; overtime for fire-rescue and law enforcement agencies; extra sanitizing of county facilities and installing dop boxes and physical barriers.

The good news is that tax RATES for calendar year 2021 will be no higher than 53 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for real estate; 32 cents per $100 ad valorem tax for the Tuckahoe Creek Service District; and $3.95 per $100 for personal property tax. However, increased property assessments will mean larger tax bills for most of us.

Because the amount of revenue generated by these rates when applied to increased values exceeds one percent of that from the previous year, the state law requires Goochland County to advertise a tax increase.

This is the first budget for Young, who took over the county reins last September in the midst of the pandemic. Annual budget documents contain a wealth of information about the county beyond its fiscal condition. Please take some time to review this information, all 236 pages, available at https://www.goochlandva.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/1925. This year’s document, like several of its predecessors, which earned awards for excellence, is a well-crafted policy statement.

In introductory remarks, Young said that the proposed budget was developed using diverse needs, wants, and challenges expressed during hours of listening to residents, departments, and organizations. The guiding principles of the county strategic plan were used to set priorities. These include maintaining competitive employee compensation; reduce dependency on surplus funds from prior years; and set utility rates at a level to make the system self-sustaining.

Increases of three percent for county water and four percent for sewer are proposed.

Over all, Young said that Goochland “is in a very good place as a county.”

Strong interest in the county resulted in $378.2 million of new capital investment in the past five years. During the pandemic, the Sheltering Arms Institute and Residence Inn opened their doors in the Notch at West Creek. Growth in housing was strong in the last year. Goochland’s 2020 average home sale price was $505,000 with a more than 18 percent increase in the number of building permits issued.

A hot real estate market pushed property values 6.9 percent higher in 2020. As recently as November, the increase in annual valuations was expected to be five percent, and when Covid first hit, no increases in property valuations over 2019 were anticipated. General funds revenues for FY 2022 are projected to be $65.2 million, a 12.9 percent increase from the previous year.

Highlights include significant funding increases for education; law enforcement and judicial administration; and fire-rescue. Three percent salary increases for all employees, who have done an outstanding job dealing with the challenges of the pandemic to deliver high levels of government services, are also included.

Capital improvement expenditures include a new Goochland Elementary School and public safety equipment and facilities.

Seven additional deputies, one full time and one part-time dispatcher; six full-time career fire-rescue providers, a battalion chief to provide middle management oversight, and a part-time assistant fire marshal to bolster public safety operations.

County departments and agencies have and will present annual reports to the supervisors.

In its continuing commitment to broadband expansion, $10 million has been earmarked for this purpose for the next five years.

During departmental presentations, Director of Human Resources Jessica Rice, Sheriff Steven Creasey, and Fire-Rescue Chief D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson, Jr.  spoke of the short supply of high-quality candidates to fill county jobs. They also reported that a “bidding war” for the best employees is underway as Henrico and Chesterfield Counties have increased their compensation packages to attract the best people.

Young pointed out that even with the increase, it will be difficult to meet growing demand for local government services, driven by new residents, which will require additional employees, equipment, and facilities. As Goochland bears most of the cost of providing education—receiving 20 percent from the Commonwealth—adequately funding our excellent schools will be a challenge.

While Goochland’s per capita income is reported as $107,506, Young and the supervisors are mindful that many Goochlanders struggle to make ends meet.

School Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Raley will present the school budget on March2. A  joint capital improvement workshop between the school board and supervisors will take place on Tuesday March 9 at 2 p.m. The session will be livestreamed. Visit the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ for details.

On March 23, a virtual town hall meeting on the budget will be held at 6 p.m. via Zoom and live stream. A public hearing on the proposed FY2022 budget, real estate and TCSD ad valorem tax rates will be held on April 6 at 6 p.m. Adoption of the budget will take place at 4 p.m. on April 20.

There is a lot of information to be “unpacked” in this budget. It may be tweaked before adoption in April. Please read the proposed budget and share concerns and comments with your supervisor or Young.