2024 proposed Goochland County Budget

 

          The days are getting longer, which means spring will soon be here and Goochland County is in high budget season. The supervisors will adopt the county budget for FY24, which begins on July 1, and set tax rates for calendar 2023 in April.

          On February 21, Goochland County Administrator Vic Carpenter presented his recommended FY24 budget to the Supervisors.  (Details are posted on the county website goochlandva.us)

          The budget was based on retention of a 53 cent per $100 of assessed valuation for real estate tax and $3.95 per $100 for personal property tax. However, the recommended budget includes a $5,000 per vehicle exemption to provide some tax relief.

          The proposed FY24 budget is $138 million, an  increase of approximately 11.5 percent, or $14 million, from the FY2023 budget. Most of the county’s revenue comes from real estate tax, which Carpenter likened to a “one legged stool”. The total valuation of property in the county as of January 1 increased by $895 million, personal property values rose by $53.9 million.

          The retention of the 53 cent tax rate represents a 12.8 percent tax increase as described below:

          NOTICE OF PROPOSED REAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASE The County of Goochland, Virginia proposes to increase property tax levies, while keeping the tax rate unchanged at $0.53 per $100 of assessed value. 1. Assessment Increase: Total assessed value of real property, excluding additional assessments due to new construction or improvements to property, exceeds last year's total assessed value of real property by 9.6 percent. 2. Lowered Rate Necessary to Offset Increased Assessment: The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above, would be $0.47 per $100 of assessed value. This rate will be known as the "lowered tax rate." 3. Effective Rate Increase: The County of Goochland proposes to adopt a tax rate of $0.53 per $100 of assessed value. The difference between the lowered tax rate and the proposed rate would be $0.06 per $100, or 12.8 percent. This difference will be known as the "effective tax rate increase." Individual property taxes may, however, increase at a percentage greater than or less than the above percentage. 4. Proposed Total Budget Increase: Based on the proposed real property tax rate and changes in other revenues, the general fund budget of the County of Goochland will exceed last year's by 9.7 percent and the total budget of the County will be 11.6 percent more than last year’s budget, primarily due to the increase in the Capital Improvement Plan. A public hearing on the increase will be held on April 4, 2023 at 6:00 pm in the Board Meeting Room at 1800 Sandy Hook Road, Goochland, VA.

          Carpenter explained that the budget process is ongoing year-round that includes listening to citizens, all departments, the school division, supervisors, and constitutional officers. The formal process began last fall as those discussions were translated into numbers. The budget, said Carpenter, is a tool to create change implemented by the board of supervisors who were elected to implement that change.

          Priorities expressed in the budget are consistent with the Board’s strategic plan to fund core services of public safety—law enforcement, fire-rescue and emergency services—and education. Goochland, said Carpenter, uses a conservative approach to revenue projection and expenditure growth. The county seeks efficiency in cost savings while expanding service levels of public safety.

          The headwinds of inflation and a recession anticipated next year have an impact on the county budget he contended. As with any organization, the strength of our local government is its people. To attract and retain the highest caliber employees, increases and other salary adjustments for staff were necessary and are reflected in the budget.

“Our well trained and competent employees are desired by other locations, we want to keep them for ourselves,” Carpenter said. The county will absorb an 11 percent increase in insurance rates, imposing no additional costs on employees.

Nine new public safety positions are included in the budget, six for fire-rescue, three for the Sheriff’s department, one 911 dispatcher and two deputies.

          Four categories account for 70 percent of county spending. Education about 30 percent; capital improvements 18 percent; public safety 16 percent; and public utilities 14 percent. The school budget will be presented to the supervisors at a future meeting.

          An increase in utility rates, three percent for water, four for sewer and connection fees with go up by 5.5 percent are included in the recommended budget in order to keep the department self sufficient. The ad valorem tax levied on property in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District on top of the 53 cent real estate tax, will remain at 32 cents per $100 of valuation.

          Carpenter said that, until approved, the budget is a work in progress. Indeed, three years ago, the recommended budget presented in February was “sliced and diced” in anticipation of pandemic privations before it was approved in April. “We don’t know what’s going to hit us in the next two months, we don’t know what’s coming out of Richmond,” he said, the last referring to fiscal machinations of the General Assembly.

          To listen to the supervisors’ discussion of the proposed budget, go to the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/  click on “watch county meetings” and select February 21.

          To see the proposed budget, go to: county-goochland-va-budget-book.cleargov.com/9226/introduction/history-of-city.