The Mathews County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Thursday to advertise a real estate tax rate of 57.5 cents per $100 of assessed value for the 2017–2018 fiscal year—a rate that is 3.5 cents higher than the current rate of 54 cents.

A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 17, in the historic courthouse.

The proposed rate doesn’t reflect a full 3.5 cents per $100 increase in taxes for all taxpayers. County Administrator Mindy Conner explained that 2.13 cents of the increase represents the equalized rate of 56.13 cents per $100 that’s needed to make up for the loss in total revenue due to decreased property values that would occur if the rate were to remain at 54 cents.

Conner said that, while some people’s property values might have increased over the past seven years, and those people might see a resulting increase in taxes of 3.5 cents per $100, overall there has been a $67 million decrease in property...