County administrator proposes $115.1M FY26 budget, recommends 72' tax rate; supervisors approve several easements and development actions

The Fluvanna County administrator presented a proposed FY2026 county budget totaling $115,100,000 and recommended a real estate tax rate of $0.72 per $100 of assessed value. The administrator told the Board of Supervisors the county—s equalized rate calculated from the recent reassessment is $0.689 (68.9 cents) and that a 72-cent rate would represent a roughly 4.5% increase for the average homeowner.

The administrator said the proposal includes a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for county employees, estimated to cost about $496,000 net after expected state reimbursements for eligible positions. The proposed budget also includes $300,000 to fund a compensation study and a midyear salary adjustment ($50,000 and $250,000, respectively, in the administrator—s figures). The plan contains roughly $283,000 to cover most of a modeled health-insurance increase; staff later said a vendor notice the same day showed the actual Anthem/Local Choice increase will be about 6.4%, which the administrator said would reduce the budgeted exposure by roughly $75,000.

On staffing, the administrator said the FY26 proposal includes several new or upgraded positions: one deputy sheriff, a chief of fire and EMS, a utilities operator and a family services specialist, plus two promotional upgrades in the sheriff—s office. Requests not included in the administrator—s proposal included additional deputy sheriff positions, an information-security officer and cybersecurity specialist for IT, extra public-utilities pipe-crew positions, and other department requests the administrator said require further review of return on investment.

The county administrator described the capital-improvement program (CIP) requests as totaling nearly $18 million; the proposed FY26 package funds about $9.8 million of that request. The administrator said about $4 million of the proposed CIP is non-county funding tied to the Fork Union water-supply project and that the FY26 proposal assumes roughly $6 million in fund-balance use for capital and one-time items.

The county—s finance staff estimated the per-penny value for the reassessment at $462,966 (that is, one cent on the tax rate would yield approximately $462,966 at current values). The administrator noted continued pressure from rising costs for public safety, water and sewer infrastructure, fleet and building maintenance and other operational items.

Board action and votes

- The board moved to adopt the agenda with items b, f and g pulled for separate scheduling; motion made by Mr. Hyde and seconded by Mr. God; chair vote and the board approved the amended agenda, 4-0.

- The board approved a resolution ratifying a local emergency declaration for winter weather effects effective Feb. 11, 2025 at 8 a.m.; motion by Mr. Cook, second by Mr. Hodgland; approved 4-0.

- The board approved a supplemental appropriation of $106,000 from unassigned fund balance to the Zion Crossroads Water and Sewer System budget to fund a deed of easement and a utility agreement with Macon Properties LLC. The deed and agreement will allow construction of a gravity sewer line and upgrades to an existing force main; motion made by Mr. Hyde, second as recorded in the minutes; approved 4-0.

- The board approved a revised development agreement that supersedes two prior agreements with Zion 3 Notch LLC and authorizes a grant totaling $179,000 upon completion of agreed sewer improvements; motion by Mr. O'Brien, second by Mr. Hodge; approved 4-0.

- The consent agenda was adopted by vote as presented.

Budget calendar and next steps

County staff outlined the immediate budget schedule: supervisors will set an advertised maximum real-estate tax rate after department presentations on Feb. 26; public hearings on the county—s proposed budget and on the equalized tax rate are slated for April 9; and the board aims to adopt the FY26 budget by April 16, 2025 (with April 23 as a backup date).

County finance director Tory Melton provided supplemental figures showing general-fund revenues and expenditures, the historical per-penny calculation, ten-year collections trends and details on state and federal revenue lines. Melton also noted that delinquent-tax collections have trended up in recent years and that local option sales tax receipts have grown.

Supervisors and staff described follow-up items for the near term: re-running summary sheets after school budget numbers were finalized, refining CIP priorities, and returning with additional analysis about staffing requests not included in the administrator—s proposal.