New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 29, 2024

First amendments made to Charles City’s proposed FY2019-20 budget

By Robb Johnson | May 10, 2019 3:37 pm

A May 9 public hearing on Charles City’s budget for FY2019-20 also came with a lot of changes from the first rendition of the $22 million figure.

Amendments to the proposed budget saw three CIP projects postponed. The wastewater plant at the Government Administration Building ($349,250), renovation of the courtroom that is currently home to Heritage Public Library ($100,000), and clerk office security ($25,400) have been tabled as future projects, amounting to a savings of $474,650.

The updated proposal also calls for the addition of an assistant registrar position ($22,234), restoring funding to the local history center ($6,550), the addition of a part time Commonwealth’s Attorney ($25,000), and an increase to schools to cover a state shortfall ($15,196). The adjustments lower the amount requested from the county’s fund balance to $166,551, approximately $405,670 than in the original budget proposal.

No tax increase will take place in Charles City for the upcoming year. Schools are tabled to receive $5,700,089 from the county, an increase of $195,516 from the current fiscal year. The proposed total general fund budget is $7,634,888, an increase of $129,137 from the current year.

Fire and EMS services are pegged at a rate of $1,234,600 in the next budget cycle. Of that amount, the county is responsible for $1,070,377, designating 12 cents on the tax dollar to provide 24-hour coverage of Fire and EMS services for the county. The local contribution to Social Services is slated to be $401,534, an increase of $48,825 from the current year.

In total, the CIP budget for FY2019-20 is $342,578 for county projects and $790,856 for school projects. On the county’s side, the figure is a decrease of $625,978 for the current year, with the school system receiving an increase of $125,856 to address capital needs for next year.