Charles City’s Board of Supervisors adopt $21.2 million budget for FY2023-24
Charles City County’s Board of Supervisors adopted its FY2023-24 budget during its regular board meeting Tuesday night.
Board members unanimously adopted the $21,210,303 budget, but not without discussion on a few issues they thought needed to be addressed.
District 2 supervisor Bill Coada’s first comment spoke about the relationship the county needed with the Charles City Volunteer Fire Department (CCVFD). Last month, the county, the paid Fire and EMS services, and the volunteer department entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together. In the county’s budget, CCVFD requested $30,000 but was pegged to receive only $15,000. That changed Tuesday night.
“Last month, we entered into a MOU with the volunteer fire department and I want to show them that we are doing this in good faith,” Coada said, pointing to CCVFD’s budget request after figures for their operations were received but never got to county leaders prior to the budgeting process. “This $30,000 essentially covers their insurance.”
In his second comment on the night, Coada said that while he’s not recommending to cut the school’s budget, he has some questions.
“We are third among schools in similar size in spending per pupil but we are tenth from the bottom in reading and math in the SOLs (Standards of Learning),” he said. “Something is not adding up that we spend so much money and not producing results.”
County leaders adopted the budget that will see schools receive $6,502,486 in local dollars. But school leaders advised the District 2 representative to look beyond the numbers.
“When you do your comparison, make sure you look at the special education population,” commented at-large school board member Preston Adkins. “They cost more to educate.”
The real estate tax rate will remain equalized at the tune of 55 cents per $100 of assessed value. The general fund is pegged at $11,646,546.
Charles City County Fire and EMS is budgeted to receive $1,558,835 (with $1,374,321 from the county). Utilities fund is listed at $560,570, social services at $1,575,843 (with the county’s contribution being $472,853), and CSA at $590,823 (with the county’s portion being $218,996).
Charles City’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) will carry a price tag of $1,708,293. Reconstruction of the wastewater plant at the Courthouse Complex is the big-ticket item for the upcoming year at the tune of $968,000. Other items include the purchase of two utility vehicles ($72,000), maintenance shop renovations ($90,000), upgraded cameras in the courthouse and library ($137,000), purchase of a Fire/EMS administration vehicle ($65,000), purchase of one sheriff’s vehicle ($62,293), and the purchase of playground equipment for Harrison Park as phase two of their upgrades ($75,000).