No tax increase part of New Kent’s proposed $79.6 million budget for FY2021-22

With an expected bump in revenue from the county, New Kent County Administrator Rodney Hathaway presented his proposed FY2021-22 budget at Monday night’s board of supervisors meeting.

Hathaway presented a budget of $79,688,523 for the upcoming cycle. By contrast, the FY2020-21 budget totaled $75,062,698. Of the proposed amount for the new fiscal year, New Kent County schools are slated to receive $37,602,203, roughly 47 percent of the proposed total budget.

The county administrator commented that most of the budget increase will be in part due to an increase in the collection rate of taxes. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Hathaway made an adjustment that roughly 95 percent of the county’s taxes would be collected. However, that return rate was 97 percent, the same percentage the county had been previously budgeting in years prior. Because of this, Hathaway recommended the county budget at the higher percentage rate.

The real estate tax rate will remain at 79 cents per $100 of assessed value for the new year, which is no change from the current year. The county is currently not in a reassessment year.

Hathaway projects an increase of general fund revenues in the amount of $2,758,199. Of that amount, $752,835 is expected to be the result of the aforementioned expected increase in collection rate. A meals tax increase of two percent is expected to garner $591,880, and personal property taxes is expected to bring in $365,213 are among other top expected revenues.

To allocate the new revenues, Hathaway’s focused on spending $1,288,918 on personnel actions. Employees are expected to receive a 3.5 percent cost of living adjustment ($$462,535). Other additions include the hiring of three new positions for the sheriff’s office ($195,096), three new communications officers ($158,913), increasing minimum wage at several offices, and salary adjustments.

The school set aside fund for the new Quinton Elementary School is being eliminated and being repurposed for operations as construction of the new facility has begun. Eliminating the set aside fund returns $3,150,574 to the new revenues. Of that amount, $2,045,000 will go towards school operations and $1,296,023 will be applied to the debt service for the new school. Other revenue allocations include a new capital set aside for the two percent meals tax increase ($591,880), a maintenance contract for the sheriff’s office communications system ($202,635), and a school operating transfer for existing operations in the amount of $150,000.

While health insurance rates are expected to increase by 3.5 percent, Hathaway recommended that the county absorbs that amount and not pass it on to employees. There is no change in the VRS Retirement rate (10.94 percent), health credit rate (0.22 percent), or VRS Group Life Insurance (1.34 percent).

The Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) recommendation totals $4,379,130 for FY2021-22. The biggest ticket amount is obstruction removal at New Kent Airport in the amount of $1.5 million. Of that figure, New Kent County is responsible for $30,000 as the airport’s operations are mostly state and federally funded.

Other big ticket items on the CIP include the purchase of six school buses ($698,700), upgrading four vehicles and purchasing an additional three for New Kent Sheriff’s Office ($495,000), updating data network infrastructure ($225,000), and notebook computers for the schools ($200,000).

The public utility fund, which is self-sustaining and paid by the users, will work on a budget of $8,134,874, which is an increase from this year’s budget of $5,806,413. The water and sewer rates will have a one-percent reduction, and there will be no increase in the connection and availability fees. The Bottoms Bridge Service District Tax Rate will see a reduction for the second consecutive year, dropping by two cents from 13 cents to 11 cents.

The public utility’s CIP projects total $3,110,000. Top projects include engineering for solids stabilization and dewatering at the PLW Wastewater Treatment Plant ($1.3 million), storage tank replacements at The Colonies ($700,000), water and sewage lines along Route 106 as part of utility extensions ($700,000), and site planning for a utilities operations center ($150,000).

As with most presentations on the proposed budget, county supervisors elected to reserve comments for their annual budget retreat which will take place on Friday, Mar. 12, 9 a.m. at Providence Forge Recreation Center.

A public hearing on the budget is tentatively scheduled for May 10, 2021, with final adoption of the FY2021-22 budget slated for May 26.

In other action taken by county leaders:

–Approved awarding a $756,000 to David A. Nice Construction to build a new facility for New Kent Post Office. In Jan. 2019, the determination was made that the current post office on New Kent Highway in the courthouse complex was insufficient to hold day-to-day operations. At the July 2020 regular board of supervisors meeting, county leaders agreed to construct a new facility that the United States Post Office would lease for 10 years at the rate of $60,000 a year. The total cost of the project to New Kent County (including the awarded contract to Nice Construction) is $897,740.