Mathews supervisors made it clear during a virtual budget work session held on Feb. 3 that they don’t intend to raise taxes this year.

“It ought to be our priority not to raise taxes,” said supervisor Amy Dubois.

“We should do everything we can not to raise taxes,” said supervisor Paul Hudgins. “People have had a lot of stress financially due to the pandemic, and raising taxes would add to the problems they already have.”

“Everybody supports not raising taxes, so that’s what we’ll move forward on,” confirmed chairman Mike Rowe.

In opening remarks, County Administrator Mindy Conner explained that the county is heavily reliant on real estate taxes for the budget, with approximately $10 million in receipts annually to draw from. The second-highest source of income for the county is personal property taxes, at around $2 million, which is subject to fluctuation, depending on how many people buy cars and what their value is, and the communication tax brings in around $400,000.

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