Of tax rates and other things

 

The Goochland Board of Supervisors met on the evening of April 14 to set county tax rates and fee schedules for calendar year 2026 and hold public hearings. Board Chair Jonathan Christy, District 1, was absent. Vice Chair Neil Spoonhower, District 2 conducted the meeting.

Attendance was robust, requiring overflow rooms.

Residents concerned about the proposed Valley Link electric transmission line made their objections known in citizen comment. Go thttps://goochlandva.us/1454/Valley-Link-Transmission-Project for details.

Under new business, the board unanimously approved a resolution to amend the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, allocating $250,000 from the County’s Unassigned Fund Balance to support advocacy efforts opposing the proposed Valley Link Transmission Project. 

“The approved funding will support a range of initiatives aimed at strengthening the County’s opposition, including collaboration with community members who have offered to assist the Board and the engagement of professional and technical experts to advise the Board. These efforts are intended to ensure that Goochland County’s interests are clearly represented and that potential impacts to the community are thoroughly evaluated”, from this site.

Spoonhower explained that staff is exploring ways for the county to participate in State Corporation Commission—the agency that has the final say on the project—proceedings to ensure that Goochland’s interests in the matter are fully represented.

A citizen pointed out that the next phase of the Valley Link approval process will take place at the SCC whose decisions are based on formal evidence, expert analysis, and legal arguments. Experienced legal teams, engineers, and consultants will represent Vally Link proponents.

Funds allocated will enable opponents of the project to retain the same sort of talent to evaluate the proposal and present viable alternatives. She contended that this is a technical regulatory process where well-supported evidence-based arguments carry significant weight. The fund allocation will allow Goochland and regional partners to present coordinated, well-documented, and credible opposition.

Charlie Vaughters, District 4 supported the measure but urged that the county be very judicious with this expenditure to ensure that the funds are used where they can make a difference.  He also contended that the proposed project is the result of failed policies at the state level in the Virginia Clean Energy Act, which took away power generation capacity at the state level making Virginia a net importer of power. He urged citizens to tell their state representatives that this is a “complete abomination”, the result of a failure in Richmond and not something that can be fixed tomorrow.

Calendar year 2026 tax rates

The board approved most of the tax rates and fees that were approved for advertising on February 17. (Please go to the county website goochlandva.us, click on watch county meetings and select BoS February 17 to view the entire session.) At that time County Administrator Dr. Jeremy Raley explained that the proposed budget was balanced with expenditures equaling expected revenue, determined by applying prosed tax rates to assessed valuation of property.  This did not include any revenue from projects under construction, like the Ashland Road Amazon facility, which has not yet been granted certificates of occupancy.

During several sessions, all recorded and archived on the county website, beginning in late 2025, Raley took a very deep dive into revenue sources and the budget process. A public hearing on the proposed budget, tax rates, and fees for calendar 2026 was held on April 7. Goochland sets tax rates for the calendar year, but budgets for a July 1 to June 30 fiscal year, which tends to result in a best guess for actual revenue.

While most tax rates remain unchanged from last year, they represent an increase because the same rates generate more than one percent more than in the previous year due to an increase in assessed valuation, which results in higher tax bills.

The only change from those advertised—the board may adopt rates lower but not raise them—was the rate for data centers. The advertised rate was $3 per $100 of valuation, up from the previous 40 cents. A motion made to approve the tax rates as advertised by Jonathan Lyle, District 5, failed for lack of a second. Tom Winfree, District 3, moved to include a data center tax rate of 44 cents, a ten percent increase, which was unanimously approved.

Lyle contended that the $3 rate would give the county more negotiating room with potential investors.

Charlie Vaughters, District 4 said that the Lilly project is a once in a lifetime investment on the last large parcel in West Creek with ready to develop infrastructure. He pointed out that near term capital needs will require at least $17 million in annual debt service. Imposing high data center rates would effectively lock this kind of investment out of Goochland. He opined that while Henrico is "virtue signaling” by raising its rates, its arrangement with Meta locked in a much lower rate for 20 years. Imposing a higher data center rate in Goochland would send prospects to New Kent and Powhatan who will welcome the investment.

Vaughters said that the standards included in the TOD will make Goochland’s economic development strategy a model for other localities. He refuted the notion that the county could have further refined the standards with negotiations.

“This will allow us to lock in transformational tax revenue streams that will allow funding of our entire CIP and maintain balanced operating revenue streams for years to come. When this comes together, we will be shifting the tax burden from real estate and personal property taxes to our business partners, in line with our stated goal of 70 percent residential taxes and 30 percent business. (It is currently about 82/18 residential business.)

Spoonhower said that Goochland needs to be competitive while having the leverage provided by the TOD, which was not in place a year ago. He contended that the 44-cent rate, a ten percent increase, is significant for large scale projects.

Lyle said that life science companies including Lilly in Goochland and Astra Zeneca in Albemarle tend to occur in clusters and discussions to use the vacant Reynolds campus in Courthouse Village for life science education and development could attract more to Goochland.

During the April budget and tax rate public hearing, Deputy County Administrator Sara Worley contended that a drastic increase in the data center rate would put the county at a severe competitive disadvantage with neighboring jurisdictions for commercial development. Henrico, which recently adopted a higher rate, used its many existing data centers to accomplish its strategic economic development goals. Its rate was 40 cents per $100, but since the increase, Henrico has offered to lock in a lowered rate as an incentive.

Worley said that equipment inside data centers, including servers, HVAC equipment, and so forth is all taxable and replaced often so it cannot take advantage of tax breaks associated with full depreciation. A data center is the highest revenue generating use by square foot. Those supporting AI generate twice the amount of revenue.

She said that a higher rate would discourage data center developers from looking at Goochland. The cost of a high tax rate in addition to required infrastructure improvements would make prospects walk away. The Lilly project considered advanced manufacturing, due to the nature of its equipment, will generate lower tax revenues per square foot.

Worley reminded the supervisors that since taking office in 2024, they have been committed to robust expansion of the commercial tax base. The concept of the TOD was first envisioned at an August 2024 workshop with the EDA.

Goochland said Worley has about $233 million unfunded capital improvement projects needed in the next five years.

She confirmed that there is no relation between the TOD and the proposed Valley Link transmission project.

During citizen comment period on April 14, Ben Slone of Maidens reported that he recently attended an event in Silicon Valley and heard a multi-degreed Harvard educated doctor who contended that in a few years, AI will be able to diagnose, treat, and cure a wide range of diseases. Slone opined that the world is in the midst of a revolution seen only a few times in human history like the industrial revolution, electrification, or the Manhattan and Apollo projects.

“AI is completely changing our knowledge systems, and it will be further enhancing our lives. I will argue that the reason for AI data centers is altruistic; to benefit all humanity and from a county standpoint, it will enhance our revenues.”

Slone said that the discussion about a $3 rate is being noted among those looking to invest here. Without investment in data centers for the past three years, Virginia would currently be in recession, he contended. If Goochland does not have data center development going forward it will not be part of the altruistic and major knowledge revolution taking place in the country.