Stafford County staff present FY2026 budget; schools account for majority of spending

Andrea Light, Stafford County’s chief financial officer, gave a brief presentation of the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget at a special-called Board of Supervisors meeting and public hearing on the budget.

Light said the county’s proposed all-funds budget exceeds $1 billion and that the largest single share of spending is tied to the school division. “59.5% of all of the expenditures of our all funds really relate to schools,” Light said. She added that, across all funds, property tax makes up a significant revenue source, and that roughly “32% of those are property tax.”

Light walked supervisors through the general fund breakdown, saying the school division accounts for roughly half of general fund expenditures while public safety is the second-largest single category. She also outlined items in the proposed budget that county staff expect to change between the proposed and adopted budgets: one-time school funding tied to prior-year school savings (for purchases such as Chromebooks) will be pulled out and staff will return to the board on April 22 to request that specific appropriation. Light said the county recently received updated bond-refunding numbers that will reduce FY2026 debt-service costs by $13,854.

The presentation covered several restricted or special-purpose funds that are shown in the all-funds document: a fire-and-emergency-services levy to support fire capital; the Hidden Lake special revenue fund to support a loan and maintenance; a transient-occupancy-tax-funded tourism account; asset forfeiture funds administered by the sheriff and commonwealth’s attorney; and multiple service districts including Garrisonville Road, Lake Arrowhead and Lake Carroll. Light noted the debt service fund groups debt-related revenues and expenditures in one place, except for the utilities enterprise fund.

Board members asked for follow-up detail. Supervisor Panitch requested a clearer breakdown showing how much of the $1 billion budget is county-government controllable spending versus restricted funds and school spending; Light and the board referenced a worksheet showing FY2025 figures and department-level breakdowns. Vice Chair Allen asked staff to calculate the school division’s required local effort, and Light agreed to provide that information and to share it before the scheduled joint meeting with the school board. Supervisor Volki asked about proposed health-insurance changes for county employees and whether the school division has proposed parallel changes; Light said she would coordinate with school staff and make sure the joint meeting was prepared to answer that question.

On service districts and bonds, Light and other staff said the Garrisonville Road service district bonds were issued as long-term debt; the county expects the tax tied to the district to remain until the debt is repaid in the early 2030s. Board members discussed the limited geographic scope of service-district levies: residents or businesses outside a specific service district do not pay that district’s tax.

The presentation closed with Light noting the county’s proposed FY2026 budget schedule and offering to answer questions from the public during the hearing that followed.

The board did not take a vote at the special meeting; the session served as the required public hearing on the proposed budget and a forum for public comment. Staff and the board flagged multiple follow-ups to be completed before adoption, including a more detailed required-local-effort calculation for schools and a scheduled April 22 return to the board for the one-time Chromebook/school funding request.