Accomack supervisors review FY2026 budget; discuss EMS tax, cigarette-tax increase and volunteer fire funding

Accomack County supervisors spent a Feb. 2025 special meeting reviewing the proposed FY2026 budget and weighing how to cover mounting public-safety and capital costs, including a possible tax increase to support emergency medical services and proposals to shift or delay other capital spending.

County administrator Mike Mason opened the substantive discussion with a presentation on volunteer fire and rescue funding, comparing Accomack’s average cash contribution to volunteer companies with Northampton County and outlining several revenue and grant streams. Mason said the county currently estimates average support to each volunteer company at about $154,000 for the year and noted that two companies are delinquent in submitting required audited financial statements; the county is withholding roughly $681,000 until those audits are filed. He also described a proposed $250,000 allocation for personal protective equipment in the FY2026 budget.

The board’s discussion focused on public safety funding needs, especially the county’s EMS fund. Supervisors debated whether to send a tax-rate increase to public hearing to cover shortfalls in EMS operating costs. Members discussed using capital funds as a short-term measure and whether delaying planned capital spending — notably seed money for a Northern Accomack wastewater treatment project — could reduce the need to raise taxes this year. Several supervisors warned that moving capital money would be a one-year fix and could leave the county with larger funding gaps later.

Supervisors also discussed raising the county cigarette tax by an additional 10¢ (bringing it nearer the 40¢ cap cited in the meeting) as a revenue source. Staff modeling shown during the meeting indicated an additional 10¢ could generate on the order of $300,000; board members proposed allocating portions of that revenue to school resource officers (SROs), to additional sheriff’s office positions, and to volunteer fire and rescue support. Sheriff Wessels and board members discussed a compromise in which the sheriff would withdraw an animal-control position request and the cigarette-tax increase, combined with other adjustments, could help fund SROs and county requests.

Members asked staff to test specific scenarios in the working budget worksheet: add a $300,000 cigarette-tax revenue line to the model, include the sheriff and school requests as draft line items, and refine totals. County staff and the finance office were asked to recheck and fine-tune the numbers and return updated runs. The board did not adopt a final tax rate or a formal budget at the meeting; supervisors agreed to hear a presentation from the school division at their next regular meeting and to set dates for any public hearings afterwards.

Other items discussed in the working document included a request for additional county support for external agencies (an example figure discussed was $5,000 for Eastern Shore Aging work), the possible deferral of a $65,000 amphitheater allocation in parks and recreation, and two nominal new positions noted in the proposed budget (a grant-management position and a deputy for animal-control/bridal control were referenced as the only "new" positions in the draft). Staff noted the budget otherwise contains few new ongoing positions.

Next steps: staff will run updated budget scenarios that include the cigarette-tax revenue option and other line items the board identified; the school division will present its request at the board’s next regular meeting; and the board expects to set a public-hearing date and further consider tax-rate options after that presentation.