New Kent County proposes $131.1 million FY2026 budget; officials flag major school and courthouse projects that could raise tax rate

County Administrator Mr. Hathaway presented a recommended fiscal year 2026 general fund budget of $131,071,628 to the New Kent County Board of Supervisors on March 10, saying the proposal assumes no change to the county’s current real-estate tax rate.

The recommendation includes a $53,068,296 school budget and a separate $17,302,726 public utilities budget. Hathaway told the board the proposed general fund package can be delivered without increasing the current 59-cent real-estate rate but noted two large requests — replacement of New Kent Elementary School and a new courthouse — that are currently estimated together at about $130 million and could require new borrowing that would affect the tax rate.

Hathaway said a combined $130 million borrowing, financed over 30 years, would produce an estimated annual debt service of about $8.5 million. In a staff financing plan presented to the board, an initial $5 million county contribution and a staged borrowing strategy could limit the fiscal 2026 immediate impact to about 2 cents on the tax rate, with the possibility of additional 2-cent steps in FY2027 and FY2028. He described a “worst case” path that could total about…