Mathews County’s public hearing on the proposed 2011-2012 budget and tax rates was sparsely attended Monday night, and only a handful of the three dozen or so residents present made comments. The meeting, which was held in the historic courthouse, was over in less than an hour.

Supervisors are expected to adopt the budget and the accompanying tax rates at a special meeting 7:30 p.m. Monday at the historic courthouse.

County administrator Steve Whiteway opened the meeting with a slide presentation on the $21.95 million budget, explaining that, while the numbers show a 4.9 percent increase over the current year’s budget, $890,000 of the total amount is for capital projects being paid for mainly through grants.

The county’s part of the budget for capital projects is just $130,900, said Whiteway, and a portion of that money has been accumulating over several years to cover the county’s share for preserving New Point Comfort Lighthouse and making the historic...