New Kent Board of Supervisors get financial preview in preparing for upcoming budget

One thing is for certain when it comes to New Kent County: They are about to spend a lot of money due to growth.

Such was the overall tone during Friday’s New Kent Board of Supervisors budget work session held at the New Kent Forestry Center.

County Leaders met for nearly five hours as they received updates, information, and preliminary plans to address the continuing growth and needs of New Kent. The underlining message was more along the lines of not if they will spend the money, but how and when they would do so.

Friday’s meeting began with a joint meeting with New Kent County’s School Board. After Superintendent of Schools Brian Nichols spoke about the current highlights and achievements, he moved forward in addressing the growth of the schools followed by a subsequent pitch for the construction of a new “New Kent Elementary” school.

Currently, New Kent’s enrollment sits at 3,692 students in all four schools. Among that number, 635 are currently in New Kent Elementary School. According to projections, enrollment is expected to reach 4,242 countywide. Nichols commented that the problem wasn’t capacity at New Kent Elementary, but facility conditions.

“If we renovate the school with no capacity increase, it would cost $43.6 million,” Nichols commented. “With increased capacity, that total is closer to $51.9 million. Even with renovations, they won’t resolve several issues, and we will still face limitations.”

Nichols continued, saying that maintenance costs would also increase if renovations were considered. According to preliminary studies, a new elementary school would cost around $55 million in today’s market. The superintendent added that a new build would not only increase capacity, but add modern systems and technology, alleviate traffic on Route 249 (New Kent Highway), and be attractive enough to hire new people.

The current proposal would see the new elementary school built on a plot of land behind the current New Kent Elementary School. The building is slated to be three stories to accommodate the space. The school’s plans would also see the demolition of the current New Kent Elementary School and transform it into either an athletic field or open space. The only remaining part of the elementary school that is slated to remain is the gymnasium, which is only 20 years old, in comparison to the school that is nearly 50 years old.

New Kent Public Schools asked for money to conduct a feasibility study, along with funds to enter the design phase as a possibility. They proposed a timeline to county leaders, with documents completed by May 2026, a bid accepted by Sept. 2026 and construction beginning in Nov. 2026. If this timeline is followed, the school would open in Aug. 2028. Meanwhile, the old New Kent Elementary School would see demolition beginning in Sept. 2028.

District 2 Supervisor John Moyer asked school leaders about the hazardous conditions the school system said that New Kent Elementary School was facing.

“If it’s that hazardous, should we close those kids and transfer them to other elementary schools?” he asked. “It what you say is valid, that’s a problem. How severe is this problem?”

Nichols responded, saying that they are currently managing the problem and that trailers can be brought onsite as part of emergency contingency.

Meanwhile, Ted Cole of Cole and Davenport, the county’s financial advisors, provided a current rundown of what it would take to construct the new school.

Currently, New Kent is paying off $52 million in debt but will see a significant step down in those costs in 2030, when the current New Kent High School is paid off. Currently, the county is in preliminary phases to construct a new courthouse at a cost of $65 million. According to Cole, there would be no tax impact or additional dollars needed as long as the $8.5 million to pay debt services remains intact.

Adding the construction of a new school at a cost of $65 million would bring an additional impact to taxes. The construction would roughly add three-and-a-half pennies in 2028 and four pennies in 2029 at worst case scenario. The current value of a penny on the tax rate is $551,975. Cole said if they start earlier, the cost would be two-and-a-half pennies in both 2027 and 2028. If they wanted to do it all at once, it would be four-and-a-half pennies. The project life for repayment would span 30 years, a time frame that the county traditionally hasn’t done.

A second scenario proposed is if two schools were constructed (one new elementary school and one new middle school) as well as the construction of the courthouse. To cover the $200 million in total, the tax rates would jump to nearly 10 cents in 2028 and four cents in 2029. If started earlier, six cents per year would apply to the costs. An upfront contribution of 11-and-a-half cents could also be considered.

All of the mentioned numbers took in consideration of the county’s growth rate of one percent per year. However, New Kent is currently growing faster than that according to statistics. A faster growth rate means a lower tax increase. Additionally, Colonial Downs money could be used to assist the situation.

District 3 Supervisor Amy Pearson made a comment on the situation during the budget priorities portion of the meeting.

“If we approve this money for the research and engineering, it will seem like we have approved this to be built,” she said. “I’m not going to waste $2 million to do research and design without seeing something in black and white.

“I don’t want to give the perspective that we are building it,” Pearson continued. “I would like to see how much it would take to bring the tax rate down. I would hate to approve something if we don’t know how it will affect the tax rate.”

Cole commented that in order to wipe out the entire tax increase, approximately $43 million would be needed to be allocated. Moyer agreed with Pearson, saying he would like to see the real estate tax rate and collection numbers before making a decision to fund the school’s request.

Several other issues were also addressed that dealt with budget and financial implications for New Kent County:

–New Kent County Sheriff Lee Bailey requested the county to fund six road officials, two civil process officers, one full-time investigator/detective, and one full-time animal officer in the upcoming budget.

“It took us to years to fill up the spots you gave us years ago,” he said, pointing to positions that remained vacant but were getting filled. “I want to have at least four officers on duty at all-time. Fewer than that is dangerous for the officers and the citizens of the county.”

Bailey added that the $2.13 million request would cover patrol vehicles and outfitting the officers in the first year. The recurring costs would be $941,000 per year. The sheriff added that money collected from the recently deployed speed cameras on Interstate 64 could be used as well to lower the amount.

–New Kent Fire Chief Rick Opett commented how all 70 positions for New Kent Fire-Rescue were occupied. However, he added that no matter how many he had on staff, it never seemed like enough.

“We are seeing a gradual increase in calls,” Opett commented. “We are doing better meeting fire standards to get out the door, and the impact of opening Station 6 (Bottoms Bridge) has led to a positive impact already.”

Currently, New Kent Fire-Rescue is operating on a $8.9 million budget, but Opett presented a document that showed praise for the firefighters and EMS workers for their assistance.

“This is why we do it,” he said as he presented the document to county leaders. “People complain about Fire-Rescue receiving this money, but we are only six percent of the budget and we are doing a lot with that amount.”

Currently, a new fire station in Quinton is planned to be built. The $6.4 million project will be a smaller station by size located at 3450 New Kent Highway. The station would still consist of three bays. The only other request made by Opett was upgrading positions to certify people for ALS (Advanced Life Support) and adding three paramedics.

The fire chief’s biggest concern is getting new fire engines, something that is huge concern nationwide and is currently under investigation at the federal level.

“If I put an order in today for a new engine, it would take four years for us to get it,” Opett said. “Right now, there is a hearing going on at the federal level regarding the situation and many of those in the know already knew something was not right when we heard that timeline.”

–New Kent Financial Services Director Tripp Lawrence commented that projections of funding from Colonial Downs still look strong. This year, they are on track to receive $19.4 million when they were originally projected to receive $16.6 million. He added that under the new formula that will go into effect next year after legislation passed at the state level, they will receive about $3.24 million in tax related revenue. However, they had planned for this and received a surprise when it was approved that the state will now require licensing fees for each race day. This will bring $5.5 million to the county, which brings their total up to roughly $8.7 million from Colonial Downs starting next fiscal year.

–New Kent County Administrator Rodney Hathaway commented about talks about bringing a YMCA to the county. A steering committee has provided information for the construction of a 45,000-square foot building that would have all amenities including a gym, pool, fitness area, and more that would be located behind the current New Kent Visitors Center on Emmaus Church Road. However, Hathaway said that the building alone would cost $26 million, and additional construction and fees would drive that price up to $35 million. While the county administrator said it would be ideal to fund at least $10 million of the project (which would require a one-cent tax increase), staff from the Greater Richmond YMCA is requesting $130,000 for the planning and design phase.

Pearson quickly voiced her opinion on the project.

“For now, I just can’t see doing the YMCA before doing the schools,” she said.

–The Eltham Community Center/Voting Precinct has completed preliminary work. Hathaway said the 6,000-square foot project comes in at a cost of $2.5 million, with the total including the building, fixtures, and all necessary items. The county administrator plans to add it to the proposed budget for next year.

–Construction for a new courthouse continues with the board needing to adopt a procurement at-risk policy. Procurement for architecture bids will take place beginning Dec. 1, with plans to file with the VRA by Aug. 7, 2026.

–Makemie Woods, which was purchased by New Kent County, may see a phased approach according to Hathaway. The county administrator believes the first phase would see the construction of a playground, ball fields, and walking trails in the first phase. During that phase, money will need to be committed for infrastructure of buildings as part of the second phase. However, Hathaway did mention that the city of Newport News has contacted him and informed him that the pier on the water was constructed illegally. Newport News owns the rights to the riverfront and shoreline of the Diascund Reservoir. The county administrator concluded by saying that the issue may restrict water use at the park.