Madison County hears funding requests and budget pitches from service providers and departments

Madison County supervisors spent a large portion of Monday’s session hearing budget presentations and funding requests from nonprofit service providers and county departments as the board develops its FY-26 spending plan.

Presenters described program caseloads, staffing needs and one-time capital requests while asking the board to consider restored or increased local support. Many presenters tied their requests to preventive services or regional partnerships that county leaders said help limit downstream costs.

Skyline Community Action Program (Skyline CAP) sought local support for Head Start and housing services. A Skyline representative said the organization served 238 individuals across the county last year and that Head Start provided preschool to about 40 low-income families in Madison. The presentation noted a request to increase local funding to help close a federally required 25% in-kind match for Head Start and to raise teacher salaries toward public-school entry scale. “Head Start is still the main part of our grant overall,” the Skyline representative said, noting Head Start classrooms scored well in a University of Virginia CLASS assessment used by the Virginia Department of Education.

Parks and Recreation Director Jerry (last name not specified in transcript), outlined operations covering more than 120 acres of parks, youth and adult sports programs, summer camps and 28 annual events. He said staff had installed dugouts and speed bumps, built a temporary hockey rink and handled…