An edgy crowd attended last Thursday’s public hearings on Mathews County’s proposed $36.34 million FY2025-2026 budget and tax rates, with some attendees worked up over an advertised increase in the real estate tax rate and others over proposed cuts to the Mathews County Public Schools budget.

Mathews Board of Supervisors’ chairman Tim Doss took a proactive approach to presenting the budget by moving supervisors’ comments to the top of the agenda so each supervisor could help explain the budget challenges that the county faces. Their comments appeared to take some of the ire out of the gathering.

The board took no action after the hearing, but is scheduled to adopt the final budget and hold a second public hearing on the tax rates at a special meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, in the historic courthouse on Court Street. The board also held an emergency meeting Monday with the school board to further discuss the budget (see below).

Before last Thursday’s hearing began, Doss explained that the county’s revenue is almost completely funded by real estate and personal property taxes and that the board’s goal is to support the school system and its teachers and employees, reminding the audience that supervisors worked hard to provide funding for a 6 percent salary increase last year.

The schools have had very little maintenance for several decades, said Doss, and the problems need to be addressed, so the county and the school board have drafted a memorandum of understanding to have the county take over the maintenance. The only problem is that “the numbers don’t add up,” said Doss. While the schools spent $1.68 million on maintenance and operations last year, they only wanted to give up $1.04 million in funding for the county to take on that responsibility, with the balance retained for custodial services.

“When we calculate based on their numbers, it appears they’ll have a large surplus,” said Doss. “My numbers may not be right,” he said, “but we have no data they can articulate that shows that.”

Doss emphasized that the board of supervisors does not want cuts to teachers or athletics or other programs and that the members are “committed to working with the school system and having a positive resolution.”

Other supervisors reiterated Doss’s remarks, adding their own comments, as well. Supervisor Mike Walls said the board of supervisors started the budget process with a $3.8 million surplus that would have required an increase of 18 cents per $100 of assessed value in the real estate tax rate. After seven budget workshops, two of them with the school board, supervisors managed to whittle the surplus down to around $800,000, or a 4-cent increase in the real estate tax rate, he said. Among the cuts made was $1.09 million to the school budget, representing a savings of 5 cents per $100 of assessed value on the real estate tax rate.

“I don’t know if we can get it lower,” he said. “We don’t want taxes to go up, but we don’t have a choice.”

Walls said the board had heard that people, salaries, and programs such as athletics could be cut from the school budget, but said, “It’s time for the school board to go back to the budget and do everything they can to get these people paid.”

Supervisor Dave Jones said that student enrollment has decreased since last year and that the state’s composite index indicates where the school’s budget needs to be—at around $8.55 million. While the state provides funds for six teacher’s aides, Mathews has 24, he said, adding that the schools have 200 employees for 725 children.

“A lot of people had a property value increase,” he said. “I don’t want to make it harder for the citizens to live. If we’re wrong, show us we’re wrong. Show me why you’re not lining up with the state.”

Jones said the schools are top heavy with administrative positions, with all the teachers combined making $6.789 million while administrative staff is paid $1.9 million.

“We have a disconnect,” he said.

Supervisor Tom Bowen said that the $9.148 million the board has proposed for the schools should mean there will be no loss in personnel or athletic programs “or anything” and that there should be money left over.

“Right now they’re operating with a $9.7 million budget, and they had a $200,000 surplus last year,” he said. “You factor it all in, and they have a surplus of $118,000.”

Supervisor Janice Phillips said she believes in education and wants the schools to have everything they need. “It may be tight,” she said, “but we don’t want to see the governor’s school or anything cut.”

During regular public comment period, Sheriff April Edwards gave a lengthy address about the critical need for dispatchers as the contact point for deputies who might be facing danger in the field, a helicopter that needs to land, a citizen who needs CPR instructions, and multiple people calling in when disaster strikes. She expressed anger about a proposed reduction in the dispatchers’ budget in such areas as telephone charges, travel reimbursement for training, dues and memberships, and machinery and equipment, amounting to a total $5,452. She said the cuts “scream of lack of consideration” and she asked the board to “please do better.”

Tax public hearing

During public comment on the tax hearing, several people spoke in favor of funding the schools in the amount requested. Former Mathews teacher Amy Bohannon Stewart said she’s “willing to pay the taxes” to maintain the schools, including retaining the custodial staff as employees of the school system rather than a private company.

Mathews High School Athletic Director Amy O’Neill said that school superintendent Dr. David Daniel is “a very competent individual” who cares about what he’s doing, and that she “has faith he will work on the budget and make it right.”

School board member Bobby Dobson said he doesn’t want to pay more taxes than he has to, “but it’s getting to a point where we have to … We kicked the can down to the end of the road and there’s no further kicking it.”

Mathews High School student Ivan Schaible spoke of the academic pursuits and activities he’s been involved in, including governor’s school and wrestling, and of other programs, such as ROTC and nursing, as great investments.

“It would be nice to know our way of life wouldn’t be altered because of budget cuts,” he said.

Wendy Brown of Hudgins said that CTE programs, the Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School, and athletics should not be cut because they provide “lessons that last a lifetime.”

Melody Smith of Foster read part of a petition she circulated pleading with the school board not to cut “supporting staff, essential programs, classroom resources, career building/college prep, or extracurricular activities” from the budget. She decried a top-heavy administration.

Sharon Frye of Port Haywood urged that school consolidation take place sooner than planned. “Remember the fixed-income people,” she said.

Crystal Coons of Mathews asked that the board not “cut the one vital link my husband (a deputy) has in that 911 center.”

Also making comments were Penny Pastiva of Mathews, Randall Dobson of Cobbs Creek, Bill Scott of Port Haywood, Peter Machen of Foster, and Ruth Machen of Foster.

Budget public hearing

After the tax public hearing, the board held a public hearing on the $36.34 million budget, which has an operating budget calling for a transfer of $9,148,000 in local funds to the schools, $1,152,375 in local funds to Mathews Social Services, $1,667,138 in local funding for capital improvements and projects, and a county budget of $14,272,326, for a total expense of $26,240,239 in local funds. The remaining $10,100,913 in the budget consists of state and federal funding for various local expenditures.

County Administrator Ramona Wilson briefly went through the cuts made to the budget during budget workshops that had gotten the budget deficit down $844,931, including significant cuts to the schools, the library, the school maintenance budget, and other items. She said the $5,452 in cuts to the dispatch budget that the sheriff questioned were based on the fact that funds allocated for those uses in 2024 were not fully spent.

Jones said he wouldn’t vote for the budget until there was a line-item budget because the school administrators are “going down on the lower essentials instead of cutting themselves.”

Phillips said she felt the school budget was tight, with not a lot of fat, but that “it’s workable.” She mentioned all the cuts made from the county budget, including 20 percent removed from the requested library funding, 40 percent from the YMCA, the elimination of funding for Mathews Market Days and the July 4th fireworks, and the reduction of county administration’s contingency fund to zero.

“Many of the things we’re reducing affect our young people,” she said. “We don’t have any wiggle room.”

Phillips then suggested setting the tax rate at an additional 5 cents per $100 of assessed value rather than 4 cents, explaining that a 4 cents real estate tax rate increase for a person with a home assessed at $300,000 would mean an additional $120 a year in taxes, while 5 cents would be an additional $150 a year.

“A lot of people think it’s huge numbers,” said Phillips, “but it’s $150 a year … $12.50 a month … It’s not a huge increase considering where we are.”

Bowen spoke at length, mentioning the strides made in the relationship between the supervisors and school board, the improvements Daniel is bringing to the school system, and the vast need for funding for maintenance projects in every area, from building infrastructure to software. He talked of lowering ongoing costs by addressing maintenance issues, of addressing the need for a new firehouse, encouraging new housing by reducing lot sizes, and bringing a municipal water system to downtown Mathews.

“We’re bringing sound business practices to the management of the county and the school system,” he said, including consolidating the schools for cost savings, selling property purchased for the firehouse at a profit, and funding major expenses with the issuance of bonds.

Joint meeting with school board

The Thursday meeting generated a final joint work session with the school board, held on Monday. Daniel gave a presentation to both the supervisors and school board members, prefaced with the comment that he had some good news.

Daniel then explained that budget projections made in February had been prior to any knowledge of the funding that would be coming from the state. While the budget that was finally approved by the Virginia General Assembly could still be vetoed by the governor, Daniel said it contains additional funding for SOQ (Standards of Quality) positions that would shrink the gap “quite a bit,” and that, while the number of students had decreased, the money allowed per student had increased. As a result, the funding being allocated by the county would fund all school costs, including new hires needed and a 3 percent raise for all employees, and leave the schools with a surplus of $83,500. The cost of providing all teachers with a 5 percent raise rather than just 3 percent would be $97,558, he said.

Daniel explained further that the decision had been made to contract with a private company for custodial services, but that the company is providing 10 positions, and that all nine current custodians had been offered a job with the company. He said the deal includes a supervisor and new equipment, all at $35,000 less than the school was paying.

Just as Phillips had earlier, Bowen suggested setting the tax rate at 5 cents in order to be able to provide teachers with the additional increase and to have some room in the budget to take care of other possible expenses, as well. But Jones said he would not support that “knowing there are cuts that can be made in administration,” and Walls said he wanted to see the teachers get 5 percent, but wanted administration to cut their budget to pay for it.

In a social media post following Monday’s joint meeting, Bowen wrote that the supervisors and school board had agreed on school funding for the next year. “There is enough money to operate the schools next year in basically the same fashion as they did this year i.e. no teacher layoffs, no cut in programs or class offerings, & the funding for Governor’s School and athletics has not changed. Some of the teacher retirements will be absorbed. The math specialist at MES has been funded, as well as a new reading specialist & CTE position. All staff to receive a 3% pay raise. The supervisors are in favor of increasing the teacher pay another 2%, for a total teacher raise of 5%, which is an additional $97,558. There is $84,476 in the budget that has not been designated and could be used towards that pay raise.”

The tax rate will be set after the May 1 public hearing, the second one to be held on tax rates.