At an April 16 meeting, the Goochland County Board of
Supervisors unanimously approved the budget for FY25, which begins on July 1
and set tax rates and utility fees for calendar year 2024. The final budget, which
was tweaked a bit since the public hearing on April 2, remains at a total of $134,056,574.
Tax rates are unchanged from last year: real estate 53 cents per $100 of
valuation that has been in place since at least 2007; the ad valorem tax for
property in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District 32 cents; and personal property
tax at $2.99 per $100. Water and sewer rates for those served by public utilities
will increase by three percent. Animal shelter adoption fees will increase to
$90 for dogs and $75 for cats regardless of gender. These all take effect on July
1, 2024.
Since County Administrator Vic Carpenter presented his
proposed budget in February, there has been a great deal of discussion, including
citizen input about spending tax dollars. Inflation has reared its ugly head as
schools, the Sheriff, fire-rescue, and county departments highlighted the need
to increase salary scale to attract and retain the best employees for
Goochland. Schools asked for an additional $1.4 million to bring their salary
scale to the regional median.
The fact is that Goochland cannot keep pace with its
deep pocketed neighbors. Among other losses, Matt Longshore, who served as
director of public utilities, left to take a similar job with Hanover County.
We wish Matt all the best in his new position and thank him for his service
here.
Everyone involved in the budget process, supervisors,
schools, department heads, constitutional officers worked long hours with “sharpened
pencils” to fund as many necessities as possible—defining these was a difficult
task—using available funds.
Jonathan Lyle, District 5, finishing his first budget
as a supervisor, thanked his fellow board members for their exchange of ideas,
opinions, and perspectives. He also thanked Carpenter, Director of Finance
Carla Cave, department heads and Constitutional Officers for being generous
with their time and exhibiting good humor in response to his questions. Lyle
also thanked school board members, School Superintendent Dr. Cromartie, and
School Director of Finance Debbie White for being active participants in the budget
dialog.
He also thanked citizens for weighing in on the matter,
having received 43 communications from them in the previous three weeks.
The FY25 budget, said Lyle Is not perfect, no budget ever
is. He went on to list what he considered positives. The budget is balanced requiring
no borrowing except that approved by voted in the 2021 referendum. It focuses
on people because an organization is only as good as those who make it work.
“This budget has looked at staffing needs for a county
that is growing, and compensation needed to attract and retain productive team
members. Even with the focus on people, the reality is that Goochland is not
the leader in employee pay scales or staffing levels. The result is that people
who are part of the Goochland team are here for more than a paycheck. They are
investing in our county through time and energy as well as compensation. Even
so, we’re going to lose team members.”
Lyle compared Goochland to a “mid-major” college basketball
team where talent develops and blossoms, then moves to a higher level. While in
Goochland, he contended, they give full effort.
The budget, he said, focuses on needs. Not every initial
budget request was granted. Priorities addressed by the budget are public
safety and education, which is reflected by the addition of deputies, dispatchers,
and fire-rescue personnel.
Lyle commended Board Chair Charlie Vaughters, District
4, for initiating discussions on adding more deputies. He cited changes in policing
protocols implemented in neighboring jurisdictions that could have a negative impact
on Goochland. Being proactive to anticipate issues is prudent, contended Lyle.
He said that discussions on this topic were dynamic and unexpected with a
positive result.
Lyle said that school funding in Goochland is at a historic
high and that concerns about competition voiced by the school board and administration
are “being actively worked on.” He expressed cautious optimism that those conversations
will have a positive outcome.
He noted that while the tax rate remains unchanged at
53 cents, it does represent a tax increase due to the increase in assessed
valuations.
A tax rate cut—each penny of tax represents about $860,000—would
require less funding for county services. Lyle said that some calls he received
asked for a rate cut without reducing service levels, a task complicated by
inflation.
Lyle expressed concern that the budget does not reflect
significant growth in the county’s business tax base. He advocated for robust
efforts to grow that tax base, especially by developing West Creek.
“West Creek is a business park, with no rezoning
needed. It has water and sewer, four lane roads, and sits astride Rt. 288. It
is a diamond in the rough. I hope we will cut and polish it this year. A billion
dollars invested in West Creek could contribute millions of dollars to the
county tax base with no demand on schools and minimal impact on county services.”
Neil Spoonhower, District 2 said that this was his
fifth budget—two were prepared in 2020 to deal with the pandemic emergency—and that
his experience taught him the lesson that “nothing we do is permanent. We will
continue to meet needs as they present themselves. We do the best modeling we
can and look to see where the greatest needs are.”
Spoonhower said he had just learned that the number of
building permits issued by the county has decreased significantly. “We’ve heard
from our citizens loud and clear that continuing to grow at this pace is not
smart. This board made a commitment (at its January workshop) to be intentional
and thoughtful about everything we do. I’m proud of the fact that when our (in
2020) new sheriff presented a five-year plan for deputies and dispatchers, we’ve
met that plan. The community has said time and time again that public safety
and education are its biggest concerns, and this budget reflects that. We do
more with less and I want to thank every person who makes that possible.”
Vaughters agreed with all comments and expressed appreciation
for working with his supervisors to a good outcome. “With sagging eyes and a
wife who is ticked at me, means we’ve done the budget the right way. We can
never make everyone happy.” He thanked his fellow supervisors, school and county
staff for the unbelievable number of hours dedicated to crafting the budget. He
expressed gratitude for and pride in all the people working for Goochland.
(Thanks to supervisor spouses for their sacrifice of
family time and patience in support of good local government.)
Public hearings
The public hearing on a rezoning application filed by
Sidney & Sidney was deferred to June 4.
Two parcels were added to the Tuckahoe Creek Service
District.
Conditional use permits for electronic message boards
at Randolph and Byrd Elementary Schools were approved.
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