Mathews County, along with local governments nationwide, will continue this year to contend with ongoing financial challenges that were caused by the economic downturn, said Mathews County Administrator Mindy Conner in a written statement.

She said that the situation has become the “new normal” and that high unemployment and underemployment continue to have a major impact on families and tax revenues in the county.

While local revenues remain relatively stable, said Conner, state funding that’s provided to the county for education and other purposes will continue to be well below the levels of 2007 and earlier. Payments toward retirement for school system employees that the General Assembly has delayed have now come due, she said, and will add even more stress to the budget. In addition, regulatory mandates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality impact the county’s budget and increase the cost of deve...