The focus for Mathews County government in 2015 will continue to be dealing with the impact of the state budget and state and federal mandates on Mathews County residents, said Mathews County Administrator Mindy Moran.

This year will be the seventh year that Mathews County, along with local governments nationwide, will contend with the ongoing financial challenges that are caused by the lingering national economic downturn and that have become the “new normal,” said Moran.

High unemployment and underemployment continue to have a major impact on families and tax revenues within the county, she said, and while local revenues remain relatively stable, state funding provided to the county for education and other purposes will continue to be well below the levels of 2007 and earlier.

The payments toward retirement for school system employees that the General Assembly has delayed have now come due and will add additional stress to the budget, Moran said. In addition, regulator...