It took the Mathews County Board of Supervisors less than an hour to adopt the FY 2027 budget and tax rates during a meeting last Thursday in the historic courthouse.
The vote was 4-1 on both the budget and tax rates, with supervisor Pat Beattie dissenting. The board also approved an increase in the meals tax rate, from 4 percent to 6 percent, beginning July 1. The vote on that measure was unanimous.
The FY 2027 budget includes a real estate tax rate of 62 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, an increase of 2 cents from the current rate of 60 cents per $100 of valuation.
The decisions followed months of budget discussions in numerous budget workshops during which supervisors delved into budget numbers line by line, seeking ways to reduce costs. All the work culminated in an April 16 public hearing at which only one resident objected to the proposed 2-cent increase in the real estate tax rate and only two people commented on the proposed $47.68 million budget.
During this meeting’s public comment period, former Mathews supervisor Dave Jones expressed displeasure at the increase in the tax rate and the inclusion of $2.8 million in maintenance costs for county schools in the $12 million bond issuance the board had previously approved, saying the schools are over-funded. Regarding the $215,000 per penny that the increase in taxes is expected to raise, Jones said, “I could find it in your budget in my sleep.”
Supervisors shared their thoughts before voting, with Beattie saying he was opposed to items included in the bond issuance that won’t last the life span of the debt, and that although the board had worked hard, he thought the tax increase could have been cut to 1 cent instead of 2 cents.
Supervisor Janice Phillips pointed out that, while some things included in the bond issuance have a shorter life span than the indebtedness, some have a longer lifespan. In addition, she said, there’s the possibility of paying the bond off earlier.
Supervisor David Walsh said he would be having lunch with Jones “to see where we can find more cuts and use the money to pay down the debt.”
“We do have a lot of projects that need to get done, and we need to finance them,” Walsh said.
Supervisor Tim Doss said that, although some things included in the bonds don’t have a 20-year lifespan, “all are a need, not a want.”
“I hope you can find something we’ve missed,” he said to Walsh. “We really did a lot of cuts.”
Chairman Tom Bowen said that the county has the possibility of raising $1 million a year with a 1 percent increase in the sales tax if the General Assembly passes legislation to approve the measure and if local residents subsequently vote for it. He said it would help pay for school capital construction and debt service and help decrease the real estate tax rate. Additionally, it’s a tax that tourists would help pay, he said. Beattie expressed support for that measure, should it come to pass.
Walsh suggested that the board start looking at revenue options earlier in the year during future years and said he supported lowering the tax rate on machinery and tools to be more business-friendly, while Phillips said that a cigarette tax is a possibility for increasing revenues.
During the supervisors’ reports section of the meeting, Phillips commented that “inflation is on us, and there’s no growth to offset it.” She questioned how the county will pay increased costs when there’s no growth, saying that “we have to raise taxes.”
“I think we’re very much doing our job,” she said.
Beattie said that the Mathews Economic Development Authority is looking at having Mathews become a Certified Local Government. “I think we need to look at it seriously,” he said. “It can maybe take some bills off our back.”
Bowen agreed that the board needs to see if there are other sources of revenue, cuts that can be made, taxes that can be lowered, and other measures that can “take the burden off the taxpayer.” The EDA and other groups have been working on such measures, he said, adding that he’d like to see the Mathews Chamber of Commerce organize once again.
“It is going to take a different approach to be successful,” he said. “I think we have a good team up here that can lead us down that path. We share a lot of different ideas, and, as you can see tonight, we don’t always agree, but we always disagree in a respectful manner. Even if we disagree on one item, we work together on others. We’ve done a lot of good things. It’s not a perfect job, but we can’t always wait on ‘perfect.’ We have to move forward on ‘good’ and try to improve on that,” Bowen said.