Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Budget Taxes topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Buckingham supervisors approve FY 2025-26 tax rates and operating budget with school bus retrofit funding
Summary
The Buckingham County Board of Supervisors approved the fiscal year 2025-26 tax rates and adopted the operating budget as amended to add funding for school-bus air conditioning retrofits and an increase for the circuit court.
The Buckingham County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt fiscal year 2025-26 tax rates and approve the county operating budget as amended, adding funds to retrofit school buses with air conditioning and to increase the circuit court budget.
The board approved the advertised tax rates and then took up the operating budget for FY 2025-26. A supervisor moved to amend the budget to add $54,000 for the school division to retrofit full-size buses with air conditioning and to raise the circuit court budget by $12,000. The motion was seconded and approved. The board then voted to adopt the operating budget as amended, with the presiding officer announcing seven yes votes.
Board members discussed options for cooling school buses. During the discussion members noted that retrofitting existing, compatible buses would cost less than buying new vehicles, and that eight buses were reportedly compatible with retrofits. The board also heard that a circuit court request largely consisted of one-time funds. A supervisor filed a statement for the record saying he is a part-time employee of Buckingham County Public Schools and that he could participate fairly in the budget vote.
The tax rates read into the record were: real estate 60 cents per $100 of assessed value; public service corporation 60 cents; SCC personal property $4.05; personal property $4.05; machinery and tools $2.90; merchants capital $1.00; aircraft $1.10. The motion to adopt the rates was made, seconded and approved by voice vote.
The board recorded and incorporated a conflict-of-interest disclosure: a supervisor explained in a statement that he is a part-time employee of Buckingham County Public Schools, that the school system receives county allocations, and that he could participate fairly in the transaction. That statement was placed into the record before the budget vote.
The board did not specify a detailed funding source breakdown for the bus retrofits during the meeting beyond the $54,000 amendment. The motion and vote adopted the budget with the changes, and there were no further actions assigned during the session.
