New Kent supervisors adopt $80 million budget for FY2021-22

New Kent supervisors adopted the FY2021-22 budget Wednesday morning during their monthly work session.
County leaders adopted the $80,711,106 budget for the upcoming year. Of that amount, $38,406,920 will be allocated to county schools, which is approximately 47 percent of the budget.

The real estate tax will remain at 79 cents per $100 of assessed value, which is no change from the current fiscal year. The budget also includes a two-cent increase to the meals tax, which was highly debated at the May 10 board meeting.

An increase of $3,695,824 in the general revenue will be allocated to cost-of-living raises for employees (four percent), hiring three new positions for the sheriff’s office, three new communication officers, and salary adjustments. Local safety officers will also receive a $5,500 base salary increase based on the projected revenue.

Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) are tabled at $2,530,976 for the new year. Big ticket items include the purchase of six school buses, upgrading four vehicles and purchasing three additional ones for New Kent Sheriff’s Office, and upgrading technological needs.

The public utility fund, which is self-sustaining and paid by the users, will operate on a $8,134,874 budget. Sewer and water rates will have a one-percent reduction, and there will be no increase in connection and availability fees. The Bottoms Bridge Service Tax Rate will see a reduction for a second consecutive year, dropping by three cents from 13 cents to 10 cents after staff identified an additional penny. The tax rate was originally scheduled to drop to 11 cents.