The Mathews County Board of Supervisors held a sparsely-attended public meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 9, to give residents the opportunity to comment on development of the upcoming budget before the process begins.

Mathews County Administrator Mindy Conner opened the meeting with a discussion of the 2015-2016 budget numbers. She said that, while local taxes and fees provide nearly 76 percent of the revenue in the current budget, expenses that are mandated by either the federal or state government make up nearly 71 percent of the expenditures.

Conner shared a breakdown of local revenues, which showed that real estate and personal property taxes together make up nearly 98 percent of all the money the county receives locally, with nearly 88 percent of it coming from real estate taxes alone.

“It’s quickly evident that we are very dependent on real estate taxes,” said Conner.

The county is always looking at ways to cut expenditures, she said, but while the budget has been &...