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Botetourt adopts $146.9 million FY2026 budget; tax rates hold steady
Summary
The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors adopted the county'wide fiscal year 2026 budget totaling about $146.9 million and left tax rates unchanged after public notice and a hearing.
The Botetourt County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt the county'wide fiscal year 2026 general budget and to keep tax rates unchanged at its April meeting. Katie Davis, the county's finance director, presented the budget and supporting documents before the board voted to adopt both the tax-rate resolution and the budget resolution as advertised.
Davis told the board the total proposed budget for operations, capital, debt service and funding to Botetourt County Public Schools was $146,900,000 (rounded) and represented a 2.1 percent increase from the prior year. The recommended appropriation to Botetourt County Public Schools was $80,500,000, a 0.7 percent increase from last year. The board held a public hearing on April 9 and the tax-rate resolution and budget were advertised in the Fincastle Herald prior to the hearing.
The board first voted to adopt the tax rates as proposed; later it moved to adopt the full FY2026 general budget. Both motions passed by voice vote with no recorded dissents. Chair and board members who spoke praised the budgeting work and noted the modest overall increase amid ongoing county growth; one supervisor emphasized that the county's overall increase of 2.1 percent and a restrained schools increase reflected fiscal restraint.
Board members and staff said the county's contribution to schools increased more substantially in dollar terms: the county contribution to schools was characterized in the meeting as an 8 percent increase in one internal comparison, while county operating contributions rose roughly 4 percent. Davis said the precise budget numbers were included in the packet and on the advertised materials.
The adopted budget will fund county operations, capital projects and school funding for FY2026. Davis and other staff who presented the budget said the packet includes more detailed line items and attachments for constituents and that staff would provide follow-up information on request.
For context, the county's standard public-notice and hearing process was followed: the tax rates and the budget were advertised in the Fincastle Herald and a public hearing took place April 9 before final adoption.
