One cent tax drop part of New Kent’s $58.1 million adopted budget

Even after months of dialogue, conversation, and opinions, New Kent’s Board of Supervisors continued to weigh options on whether to leave the county’s tax rate at 84 cents per $100 of assessed value or reduce it to 83 cents, the current equalized rate. It wasn’t until a final “aye” locked in the reduction of the tax rate.

Supervisors passed the resolution for an 83-cent tax rate by a vote of 3-2 during Wednesday morning’s work session. A budget of $58,184,352 was also adopted by the same margin.

After county leaders received a recap of four proposed options from county administrator Rodney Hathaway, comments poured in, first about the tax rate with District 2 representative Tommy Tiller leading the charge.

“I had Mr. Hathaway break down some numbers of 2015 property assessments,” he said, referring to a handout depicting the parcel count in New Kent. “I was shocked to see we have more than 4,100 parcels valued $100,000 or less.

“One thing is that as the value of the parcel goes up, the tax goes down,” he continued. “If my numbers are correct, it would account for less than a $10 increase a year annually to the taxpayer [at the 84-cent tax rate].”

However, District 4 representative and board chairman Ron Stiers rebutted Tiller’s comment, pointing to surrounding localities that have implemented tax increases.

“Everywhere you look, the tax rate is going up,” the chairman said. “When [Tiller] said it was a miniscule increase, it’s still a tax increase.

“We found $2 million in revenue,” Stiers continued. “I don’t want citizens to say that we had that money and still increased taxes.”

Supervisors took a vote on the 83-cent rate, passing the measure by one vote. Tiller, along with District 3 supervisor Patricia Paige, cast the dissenting votes. Paige had been adamant in past meetings that the 84-cent rate should remain in place to help fund future projects.

With the tax rate approved, county leaders focused on the FY2016-17 budget, with the primary topic revolving around schools receiving an additional $400,000 in revenue.

“I believe we should take some funds from the school to hire a new firefighter,” commented District 5 representative Ray Davis. “The state is giving them an additional $1.5 million in revenue and when I heard that, I believed we could provide them level funding for this year.”

However, other supervisors disagreed, speaking about the continuously improving relationship between both boards.

“Superintendent Dave Myers has been level-headed and fair,” commented Stiers. “I think his request has been appropriate.”

“I believe when this budget started, schools wanted more than $400,000,” chimed in District 1 leader Thomas Evelyn. “I think that is a number that came from the county when we first started. Right or wrong, that was what was told to them.”

Hathaway clarified Evelyn’s comment, referencing meetings with Myers and how information had been provided for them. Evelyn added another comment, saying that schools and emergency personnel are priorities on his list.

“Schools and public safety are something we need to look at not just for the future but this year,” the District 1 supervisor concluded.

A vote on the $58,184,352 yielded a 3-2 approval, with Davis and Tiller casting dissenting votes. The approved budget included more than $2 million in revenue.

Among top expenditures are debt service payments to the emergency radio system ($512,747), three new firefighters ($172,446), set aside funds for school construction ($237,847) and a two-percent raise for county employees effective Dec. 1 ($122,164). The budget also includes debt service for the construction of a $1.8 million fire station to be paid over a 20-year period ($126,650 to repay to debt services per year).

County schools are slated to receive $30,035,861 for the upcoming fiscal year. Those funds include the additional $400,000 in county funds.

The county’s $3,938,742 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) passed 4-1, with Paige casting the lone dissenting vote. Tabbed as major projects on the plan are continued construction of radio towers and a fire station in addition to a new fire engine ($2,642,000), replacing security cameras in the courthouse complex ($30,000), and vehicle replacement ($408,850). Schools will receive $857,892 towards their CIP plan, with replacement of three buses as the high-priced line item.

Paige summarized the budget process, the first for her as a supervisor.

“I learned that you can’t have everything in the budget, but you have to learn to work with it and with what you’ve got.”