The Mathews County Board of Supervisors, meeting last Thursday, April 16, conducted a public hearing on the FY2027 budget. The members heard few complaints from the public about either the budget or the 2 cents per $100 of assessed value increase it will require in the real estate tax rate. However, board members themselves expressed concern about the budget as it stands and decided to have another workshop before adopting the budget on April 30. That workshop was set for 1 p.m. this coming Monday, April 27.
County Administrator Ramona Wilson outlined a proposed budget that was originally advertised for $37.75 million, but that supervisors in subsequent budget workshops had lowered to $37.59 million by making various cuts, including cutting the school budget and halting implementation of a new classification and compensation plan for county employees.
Wilson explained that these changes are possible because the law allows the board to reduce the amount of expenditures after the proposed budget has been advertised; however, additions may be made.
“We’re refining the budget and taking out any fat in there,” she said, “and there wasn’t much.”
However, the cuts to expenditures in some areas have been offset by decreases in revenue estimates.
Because more than $600,000 in federal funding in the budget won’t be added until July 1, said Wilson, the county will begin the fiscal year in the red without the tax increase. In addition, she said that the county’s expenditures should currently be at 20 percent of the budget, but they’re at 25 percent because of legal fees, IT needs, regional jail costs, and school maintenance expenditures. While IT and school maintenance expenditures “can be slowed down,” she said, “there’s not much we can do about jail costs, and we’re working on the legal part.”
Personal property tax will be an issue this year, as well, she said, because it was “probably $1 million overestimated” due to a miscommunication between administration and the offices of the treasurer and commissioner of the revenue.
However, real estate tax revenues “are tracking pretty close” to the estimates.
“We’ve eliminated quite a lot, but the 2 cents is still there,” said supervisor Pat Beattie.
“That’s because of the adjustments on revenues,” said Wilson.
Wilson said that the 2 cents per $100 of assessed value in the real estate tax rate would mean that taxes on a house assessed at $500,000 would increase by $100 a year, while taxes on a house assessed at $250,000 would increase by $50 a year.
During public comment period, former Mathews School Board member Bobby Dobson said that the only School Resource Officer that had been planned for in the schools had been removed, even though “we were supposed to get two.” He urged the board to “get this done. The sooner the better.”
Foster resident Suzy Buckhalter asked whether an upcoming reassessment had been figured into the budget, and whether it would increase revenues, and Wilson and Chairman Tom Bowen explained that if reassessment shows increased home values, the tax rate would be equalized, so that if valuations increased by 10 percent, the tax rate might go down by 10 percent to equal it out.
Beattie pointed out that the state government has significantly raised the pay for social workers, and that the county will be responsible for paying part of the costs, and Supervisor Tim Doss said that the schools will be receiving as much as $232,000 more from the state than was projected in the current budget, and he called for the additional budget workshop.
Tax rates public hearing
During public comment period on the proposed 2 cents increase in the real estate tax rate, from 60 cents to 62 cents per $100 of assessed value, only one person spoke.
Tracy Royals of Dutton compared tax rates in other localities to the proposed tax rate in Mathews, stating that Gloucester’s rate is 61.4 cents, while Middlesex’s rate is 61 cents. She said the county’s salaries are “as high as Gloucester and York,” but should be closer to what Middlesex pays.
“We the people,” she said. “You work for us, not against us.”
Bowen said that Gloucester has advertised a tax rate of 63.7 cents, adding, “there’s a difference between the existing rate and the advertised rate.” Supervisor Janice Phillips commented further that Middlesex has solar farms that bring in revenues, while Mathews doesn’t want such farms, and supervisor David Walsh added that Middlesex also receives revenue from the cigarette tax and has more businesses than Mathews.
Board members also discussed the need for the $12 million bond issuance that it recently approved, with Bowen saying that the 2 cents increase in the tax rate is to pay for the bonds.
“You can’t expect real estate to pay for $12 million in one year,” he said. “There are times when borrowing is reasonable and necessary.”
Beattie said the budget needs to be “whittled down a little more,” while Doss said the county wouldn’t be in the current situation if maintenance had been done on county facilities year after year. He spoke of a school tour during which supervisors saw a bathroom stall that had a root sticking up through the floor, a hallway that had been leaking for 10 years, a boiler that hadn’t been inspected since 2009, a roof in the high school auditorium that had been leaking so long it had damaged the stage floor, and bathroom sinks with no hot water.
“A lot of facilities need immediate repair,” he said. “We could kick the can down the road, but it would be the doing the same thing we’re frustrated with now.”
Meals tax public hearing
The board held a public hearing on a proposed increase in the meals tax from 4 to 6 percent of sales, with Wilson stating that it will increase revenue by an estimated $200,000. She said the tax would be on prepared food that is ready for human consumption, but not on entities or activities that are exempt from taxation.
“This is a tax paid by people coming into the county, and not necessarily a burden on citizens,” she said.
Bowen said the tax isn’t paid at the grocery store, but just when someone goes out to eat, and that all counties have a meals tax.
Beattie said that the meals tax has caused some localities to experience a 20 percent decrease in sales at some restaurants, although Mathews might not be hit as hard because of its tourist base.
During public comment period, Dee Russell of Hudgins said that the meals tax wouldn’t just hit tourists, since many Mathews residents eat out at local restaurants and sustain local restaurants all winter long. She said that prepared foods in grocery stores and convenience stores are taxed, as well.
“This doesn’t help us, and in the long run, I don’t think it’s gonna help the county either,” Russell said.
Her comments were met with applause from the audience.
No action will be taken on any of the budget matters until the budget adoption meeting on April 30.
In other matters, the board:
—Delayed discussion until the April 27 meeting on a report from Sheriff April Edwards that there has been a major failure of the security equipment at Liberty Square that will require replacement of the entire 20-year-old system at a cost of over $310,000, paid for over a five-year period in installments of $62,000 annually;
—Voted unanimously to update the code regarding Mathews Memorial Library and increase the number of members on the Board of Trustees to nine;
—Voted unanimously to allocate $2,500 from the contingency fund to the Mathews County Sheriff’s Office as part of the match for a $60,000 Department of Criminal Justice Services grant that would pay for software, equipment, and employee training to enable in-house retrieval and examination of cell phone data rather than having to obtain that service from other localities, sometimes causing a delay in a case.