The Mathews County School Board, meeting Tuesday night at Thomas Hunter Middle School, began its preliminary discussions on the 2024-2025 budget, a process made difficult by declining enrollment and an adjustment in the Local Composite Index that will likely mean a reduction in the state’s contribution.

Superintendent Dr. David S. Daniel gave a presentation on some of the factors going into the coming budget during a work session, which was held prior to the board’s regular monthly meeting.

In the state’s 2024-2026 biennium budget, Mathews County has a Local Composite Index, or LCI, of .5904. That number, based on such factors as county real estate values, residents’ adjusted gross income and local retail sales, has been steadily inching upward in recent years.

For the present budget, the LCI figure is .5453. That number was .5162 for the 2020-2022 biennium and .5060 for the years 2018-2020.

The increase in LCI represents an increased “ability” to fund education at the loc...