The Mathews County Board of Supervisors held a budget workshop Monday focused on trimming the draft $26.44 million FY2025-2026 budget and thereby lowering the 10 cents tax rate increase that would be needed to fund it.
The board appeared hesitant to make some of the cuts proposed by County Administrator Ramona Wilson and ended up trimming just $79,747 from the budget, leaving the tax rate at 10 cents per $100 of assessed value and the board with more work to do.
With a public hearing on the budget scheduled for 6 p.m. next Thursday, April 17, supervisors’ chair Tim Doss said on Tuesday morning that the board will be looking at the budget again. A meeting for that purpose was set for 9 a.m. this coming Monday in the historic courthouse on Court Street.
During past Monday’s meeting, Doss explained to those present that the initial budget the board looked at on Feb. 3 included requests from all departments, schools, and outside agencies and would have required a whopping 18 cents increase over the current 56 cents per $100 of assessed value in the real estate tax rate. In that budget, expenses were $3.6 million more than expected revenues, according to revised figures provided by Wilson that include changes to the school budget.
After adding $67,878 to the budget because of higher tax revenues projected by Commissioner of the Revenue Les Hall and $5,500 from the Library of Virginia, Wilson cut the budget by $2.02 million. During a March 26 budget work session, the board modified those cuts to restore $255,500 in funding to the fire department and rescue squad, but the deficit still came down to $1.76 million, requiring a tax increase of 8 cents per $100 of assessed value. Wilson estimated that debt service on a loan to pay for a new firehouse in downtown Mathews would require an additional 3 cents tax rate increase, so supervisors advertised a tax increase of 10 cents per $100 of assessed value but vowed to bring that rate down with further cuts.
However, while the agreed-upon numbers announced by Doss during Monday’s meeting did include cuts, they also included reinstatement of some amounts that Wilson had initially cut from the budget.
On top of the $255,500 restored to the fire department and rescue squad, he added back two items she had cut from the Mathews Sheriff’s Office budget—$110,000 for part-time wages and $6,000 for machinery and equipment, plus $35,000 of the $65,000 that was cut from the YMCA, $35,963 for a part-time employee that had been cut from school maintenance, and $8,000 that was cut from the VA250 Committee, for a total of $449,963 put back in the budget.
On the reduction side, Doss announced a cut of $204,876 to the county’s IT budget that included, in addition to the March 26 decision to remove all salary and benefits for employees, a reduction of $60,000 in Broadband Telecom’s $120,000 contract, a $20,000 cut in finance and accounting systems maintenance, and a $25,000 reduction in technology supplies and equipment maintenance. He said that left the IT department with a $525,600 budget that the board wanted to reduce further at a later date.
Finally, the library’s budget was reduced overall by $82,000, with the cuts to be made by Library Director Bette Dillehay. This brought the total reductions made by Doss to $286,876.
Along with the reductions made by Wilson that weren’t restored, total reductions made in the budget came to $1,988,154, leaving a deficit of $1,615,205. Each penny increase in taxes equals approximately $210,000 in additional revenues, bringing the needed penny amount to 7.69 cents, rounded up to 8 cents per $100 of assessed value.
In addition to the 8 cents, an additional 2 cents per $100 of assessed value would be needed in 2026 to fund the new firehouse and a number of maintenance projects identified in a recent energy performance survey conducted by Schneider Electric. Further tax increases would be needed in 2027 and 2028.
Project financing scenarios
The county’s financial advisors Davenport & Company gave a presentation earlier in Monday’s meeting showing two possible scenarios for fully financing the firehouse at $5 million and energy performance projects at two different levels. Both of those scenarios showed that the county will need to increase the real estate tax rate by 2 cents in 2026 to pay for the projects. Under the first scenario, the maintenance projects under the energy performance study would be limited to $3 million in expenditures and would require an additional 1 cent raise in 2027, followed by 0.5-cent increase in 2028. In the second scenario, which includes all of the recommended maintenance projects for a total of $9.1 million plus the firehouse, the subsequent increases would be 3.5 cents in 2027 and 0.5 cents in 2028. These rates would have to be sustained over the approximately 20-year term of the loan.
The presentation included a number of ways to possibly offset the cost of the school maintenance projects, including a grant from the School Construction Assistance Program, funding from the Literary Loan Program, and an additional 1 percent increase in the county’s sales tax.
Additionally, supervisor Dave Jones suggested that the county could save money by turning ownership of the former Boys and Girls Club, recently purchased for conversion into a firehouse, over to Mathews Volunteer Fire Department and allocate $3 million to the department to pay for the required renovations.
Public comment
Several people spoke during public comment period, and none were happy with the proposed budget cuts.
Tim Tillage, the county’s facilities and grounds manager, pointed out that he was tasked with the responsibility for maintenance of the schools under an agreement between the board of supervisors and the school board. He said he was hesitant to take it on, but that the schools have suffered from neglect for years and he agreed. However, among the budget cuts made was a $309,714 reduction in the $1.79 million that the schools had agreed to give up in funding in return for the county shouldering school maintenance (not including custodial duties).
“This is a budget area that should not have been cut,” he said. “My department is expected to operate on a skeleton budget while addressing the needs of facilities that have been neglected for over 20 years … I have provided realistic numbers based on actual costs, including fuel oil, purchased services, and staffing needs.”
Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Michelle Williams spoke of all the achievements her students and students throughout the school system have made, saying that the brunt of the funding for all the activities they’ve participated in falls to the teachers.
“We all live with financial constraints,” she said. “As you consider devastating cuts, consider that the teachers are already stretched.”
Mathews School Board chair Dr. Mari Gibbs said that the $1.1 million cut to the schools that’s proposed would be devastating, and she asked that the board “continue to work with us as we traverse this most difficult time for schools in Mathews County.” Parents of at-risk students are concerned that “we don’t have the heart to have the level of schools in our counties required for success,” she said, adding, “I don’t believe we would be able to have schools with these cuts. Please work with us.”
Supervisors’ remarks
During supervisors’ remarks concerning the budget, Jones again suggested using the state’s composite index figures as a basis for funding the schools. This would bring the county’s funding down to $8,850,000, which would be an additional $298,400 reduction.
Mike Walls said that when he was elected four year ago, he would never vote to raise taxes unless the board first scrutinized the budget.
“We’ve scrutinized the budget more this year than any previous year,” he said.
Tom Bowen said he would like to see the school board develop a plan for each part of its budget—capital improvements and operating costs—and would like it to provide more parity between county employees and non-teaching school staff. He also said he’d like to see the school board consider consolidating the schools to save money.
Bowen said the board will explore such revenue sources as increasing taxes on waterfront properties and adding 1 percent to the sales tax for just school funding.
Janice Phillips said that everyone needs to “think out of the box,” pointing out that the Norfolk school system is closing 10 schools to reduce spending. She also said that cutting the library funding is difficult to her because “I believe it’s truly a gem” and has been “the technical leader in the whole region.”
The board needs to look at ways to raise revenues, she said, including possibly increasing the transient tax and building permit and license fees and possibly requiring a business license of short-term rentals. She also challenged all departments to “look at any opportunity to cut costs.”