Nottoway supervisors hear public on $59.3 million FY2026 budget and proposed Fire/EMS tax levy; vote postponed to next week

Nottoway County supervisors held a public hearing on May 20 on a proposed $59,286,434 fiscal year 2026 budget that would create a new Fire and EMS tax fund and change multiple real‑estate and personal‑property tax rates; the board opened public comment and postponed a final vote until a meeting next week.

Logan Presley, a staff presenter, summarized the budget to the board: “The 25, 26 fiscal year budget is proposed at a total of $59,286,434. This is an increase of $7,112,259 from fiscal year 20 25. To balance the fiscal year 26 budget, $983,672 of fund balance transfers are needed.” Presley also described the new Fire and EMS fund, saying, “The new fund would be broken down as follows. Fire and EMS real estate tax is gonna be at 7¢ per 100 for a total of $875,000. Fire and EMS personal property tax is gonna be at 63¢ per 100 for a total of $598,500.”

The nut graf: the proposed budget includes a new dedicated Fire and EMS fund intended to generate roughly $1.47 million for local emergency services; the hearing drew detailed public comment about EMS finances, volunteer staffing and county oversight, but supervisors did not adopt the budget at the meeting and scheduled the formal vote for next Thursday.

Most important facts first: Presley presented revenue and tax changes the board will consider if it adopts the proposal next week. Among the tax changes described were a real estate rate of 48¢ per $100 for the general fund, a $4.12 per $100 tangible personal property rate (with specified exceptions), and separate Fire and EMS levies that together add 7¢ per $100 on real estate (2¢ for fire, 5¢ for EMS) and 63¢ per $100 on personal property for Fire/EMS. The presentation said the landfill tipping fee will increase July 1 from $42.42 per ton to $55 per ton, and that the total local appropriation to schools was budgeted at $6,480,485.28, including an ANTC contribution of $318,710.28.

Presley outlined the planned uses of the Fire and EMS fund if approved: recurring contributions to volunteer fire departments (Blackstone, CREW and Burkeville) and rescue squads, a $213,935 allocation to the county emergency services department, $5,000 for preventative maintenance on an aerial ladder truck, and other equipment and operations support. She told the board the new fund would “produce 1,473,500 additional revenue to go towards fire, EMS and the county emergency services department.”

Public commenters pressed for accountability and for more detail on how new money would be used. Brenda Payne urged greater financial scrutiny of the county emergency squad and said she opposed the proposed tax increase until the squad’s books were made available: “I ask that you not give another dollar to him until you see it,” she said. Joyce Neff, chief of the CREW Volunteer Fire Department, told the board that her department is volunteer‑run and that its “funding for the fireside…we did not ask for an increase. ...We are 100% volunteer.”

An emailed statement from Burkeville Fire Chief Brian Welch, read into the record, said he supports a Fire and EMS levy provided that recipients file monthly reports showing “where these funds are going as well as what level of staffing is being provided with this increased funding allotment,” and asked that the county explore other revenue streams and review county budgets for excess spending.

Supervisors and residents described operational pressure on EMS in Nottoway County: a speaker who identified himself as a former patient said, “I had a heart attack. I got flown from Hooper Park to Chippenham Hospital. ...If it hadn't been for the Nottoway County emergency squad, I don't know what would have happened.” Several speakers described the emergency squad as largely paid rather than volunteer and said payroll and staffing have become central issues.

Board action at the meeting was limited. Earlier the board approved a secondary Six‑Year Plan during a brief procedural vote. At the start of the hearing the board voted to open public comment and later voted to close the hearing; the board did not adopt the FY2026 budget or the tax levies at this session. The chairman told the room, “Next week Thursday the actual vote will take. We're not voting tonight.”

What remains unsettled: final adoption of the FY2026 budget and any property‑tax rate changes, how the board will structure oversight and reporting requirements for recipients of the new Fire and EMS fund, and whether the board will modify the proposed levy levels before next week’s vote. Several residents asked the board to withhold new funds until the county has completed additional financial reviews of EMS and related recipients; others said withholding the levy risks service gaps.

The board scheduled further deliberation and the final vote for its next regular meeting. The record from the May 20 hearing and the presentations the board received will be available in the county’s meeting materials and video archive for residents who requested more detail.