Editor, Gazette-Journal:

After reading John Meyer’s view on Gloucester’s bond referendum that is on the November ballot, I feel compelled to respond to his false claims. With the exception of the fire and rescue projects, all items on this referendum are in the County’s Capital Improvement Plan.

In his op-ed, John Meyer implied we had $30 million in cash in our unassigned fund balance, and that we could pay cash for the new firehouse. This is not true.

At the June 6, 2017 board meeting, the BOS (including Meyer, BOS 2014-2018) voted to increase the fund balance policy from 10-12 percent to 14-16 percent because the County Administrator told the board that “the policy change [was] to ensure that the county [could] meet its financial obligations in a timely fashion. He noted that the current policy [did] not support fiscal liquidity sufficient to support the obligations of the county.” The board, including Meyer, voted unanimously (7-0) for this policy, which is still in place today.

Based on the board’s preferred target fund balance, there is only $3,454,645 fund balance available for cash-funded capital projects. Although Mr. Meyer is aware of this policy, he misrepresented the true amount available. Mr. Meyer, based on this limited amount of available fund balance, Gloucester County cannot “afford to pay for the fire station with cash on hand, [and] pay no interest.”

I find it disrespectful to staff and the current BOS that a former board member would imply that this referendum is misleading. The referendum items were debated in open meetings since April 2023. The BOS believed that the citizens should have a voice on the projects funded through the referendum. It is disturbing that individuals with the facts would intentionally provide factually wrong and misleading information to deceive the citizens of Gloucester County.

Vote “Yes” on the referendum.

Chris Hutson
Gloucester Point, Va.