Charles City’s proposed budget for FY2021-22 nears $18 million; no tax increase recommended

A near $18 million local budget was part of Charles City County Administrator’s Michelle Johnson’s proposed budget for the FY2021-22 fiscal year.

Johnson proposed an amount of $17,926,145 for operations in the county for the new cycle. That figure does not include money from the state or federal governments. There is no proposed tax increase for next year as the rate is set to remain at 76 centers per $100 of assessed value.

Johnson’s presentation covered areas that included continuing support for the county’s Fire and EMS services. The budget for those services increased to $1,400,107 for the next fiscal year and will cover the addition of hiring one new firefighter and the ongoing plans to work with New Kent County on their Emergency Radio System.

As part of Johnson’s recommendation, full0time county employees will receive a three-percent raise. New positions are also slated to be hired that include an assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, a GIS website technician, an electrician and/or HVAC services worker.

The social services department will see a decrease in the new year, as Johnson commented that most of the needs for that area were met in the current year budget. Social services is tabbed to receive $418,822 in local contributions, down from the current $504,726 that is being used for operations this year. In total, social services is slated to operate on a total budget of $1,464,784.

Charles City Public Schools budget is tentatively set at $10,565,871. Of that amount, $5,850,089 is listed as contributions from the county. That amount is up $150,000 from the current contribution of roughly $5.7 million. The schools had requested $893,327 in additional funds according to the county administrator’s presentation.

Current Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) include upgrades to the school’s information technology ($130,356), improvements to Ruthville’s Gymnasium, the Charles City Visitor’s Center, and a design for the refurbishment of the Parrish Hill School.

A public hearing on the budget is expected to take place in May. In other matters conducted at the board of supervisors’ meeting:

-Followed the recommendation of Charles City’s Planning Committee against the amendments to the county’s zoning ordinance pertaining to shooting ranges and unstructured shooting. The issue had been one of concern since Oct. 2020 when constituents of District 1 commented about hearing gunshots near their homes.

-Reverted 88.051 acres of land back to Charles City from C4GT. C4GT, a company that was scheduled to bring a natural gas plant to the county, did not break ground on the project by a certain date. A clause allows the county to revert the land back into their ownership, which supervisors elected to enforce.

–Announced that Breez-in will be replacing the Sandy Point Superette on John Tyler Memorial Highway. This marks the second major retail establishment to call the county its home.