Powhatan supervisors advance FY26 budget to advertising, debate code enforcement and school pilot funding

The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors on March 27 reviewed the proposed FY26 budget and directed county staff to advertise the plan for a public hearing on April 21 and possible adoption the week of April 28, while supervisors debated whether to add a full‑time code enforcement officer, a public information capacity and how much to transfer to the schools for an alternative‑education pilot.

Finance staff said the proposed general fund increased from about $82.8 million to $84.7 million under the revised tax rate, with the additional three cents in the rate generating roughly $1.8 million in revenue. “So, tonight, this workshop, what we'd be looking to do is, get direction from the board on exactly, what to advertise in the budget,” a finance department presenter said while walking supervisors through the changes.

The presenter told the board staff had reduced one transfer to the Central Virginia Transportation Authority (CVTA) to help pay for a deputy county administrator and identified $170,000 from the capital maintenance reserve to cover vehicle and small facilities purchases in the PAYGo capital program. The presenter also said total proposed expenditure increases in the plan were about $1.9 million and that staff proposed…