New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 28, 2024

NK draft budget unveiled

By Alan Chamberlain | March 26, 2008 2:42 pm

A proposed fiscal 2009 budget of just under $54.2 million is under consideration by New Kent County’s Board of Supervisors.

County Administrator John Budesky unveiled the figure, which is $2 million less than the current year’s $56.2 million budget, during a work session yesterday (Tuesday). The bottom line reflects belt-tightening that all state localities are experiencing.

“This year we asked [county departments and agencies] for flat-funding and cut budgets,” he told supervisors, adding that more than $1.4 million in budget requests have already been trimmed.

Budesky’s proposal includes a real estate tax rate of 72 cents per $100 of assessed value. Supervisors, however, opted yesterday to advertise and go to public hearing with a 73-cent rate to provide some wiggle room in the event state revenue figures, not yet set in stone, come in below expectations.

Both numbers may sound low when compared to the county’s current 93-cent rate. But the proposed rates are equalized to reflect the county’s recent property reassessment that kicks in next year for tax purposes. On average, property values in the county rose by 45 percent.

Under the current 93-cent rate, a homeowner with a house valued at $200,000 pays $1,860 in real estate taxes. That same house, assuming a 45 percent increase in value is factored in for next year, would be assessed at $290,000. The homeowner would then pay $2,088 or an increase of $228 under a 72-cent rate. If the rate becomes 73 cents, the levy rises to $2,117 or an additional $257.

Supervisors are aiming for a May 12 budget public hearing. After the county’s proposed tax rate is advertised to the public, supervisors can legally lower the amount but cannot increase the figure.

The county’s $3.75 personal property tax rate is to remain unchanged under Budesky’s proposal. But the current $3 assessment on machinery and tools is being cut in half to $1.50.

“We got word from people in the business community that [the $3 rate] was deterring interest in our community,” Budesky told the board.

The administrator is forecasting an 8 percent hike in county water/sewer rates and fees. Also proposed are a 2.5 percent cost of living increase and a 2 percent merit pay raise for county employees. Six new staff positions are included in the proposal.

County schools, meanwhile, are slated for $10.7 million in county dollars, an increase of just over $1 million or almost 11 percent above the county’s contribution for the current year. Schools had requested just over $10.9 million in local money.