Tazewell County adopts FY 2026 budget with amendments; approves employee bonuses, dispatcher raises and multiple appropriations

The Tazewell County Board of Supervisors on June 27 adopted the fiscal year 2026 budget as amended and approved a series of related appropriations and personnel pay actions.

County Administrator Mr. Young, reporting for the budget committee, told supervisors the county had an ending balance of $6,505,000 — about $1.5 million more than staff had budgeted. "We had budgeted with the assumption that we would have an ending balance of $5,000,000," Mr. Young said. He outlined downward revisions to several revenue lines, including recording taxes (about $40,000), cigarette taxes (about $60,000) and coal severance (about $350,000), and described several expenditure adjustments supported by staff.

Why it matters: The board’s actions set tax levies and spending priorities for July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026, and several votes also created or revised restricted balances intended to stabilize county finances while funding targeted projects.

Key approvals and changes

- Budget amendments and adoption: The board amended the proposed FY26 budget to incorporate staff-recommended revenue and expenditure adjustments and then adopted the budget ordinance as amended. The board also approved all local tax levies as advertised for calendar year 2025.

- Reserve and contingency allocations: The budget committee recommended, and the board approved, moving $800,000 of excess year-end funds into additional contingency and $700,000 into the reserve fund to rebuild reserves toward the board’s target established by the 2018 financial responsibility resolution.

- Employee pay and bonuses: The board approved a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for county employees. The board also adopted an ordinance to provide a one-time 1.5% bonus for employees whose salaries are not principally funded by the Commonwealth; Mr. Young described the bonus as a single payment and the board amended the ordinance so the bonus would be paid only to employees employed as of July 15. Two supervisors registered abstentions on the bonus vote.

- Dispatchers (9‑1‑1): The board approved a supplemental 6% pay increase for 9‑1‑1 dispatchers in addition to the 3% COLA (9% total), as recommended by the budget committee.

- School funding and sequester: The board voted to fund the school system by category but to reduce the capital outlay line by $2,000,000 and move that amount to debt service, with the purpose of requiring the school board to justify large capital expenditures before those funds are spent. The board also voted to sequester certain school funds until contracts/bids are in place for specified projects.

- Paving and gravel roads: Supervisors ratified a paving contract with Dominion Paving for $415,563 (the contract came in under the previously approved $438,980 budget), and approved using remaining coal severance funds to provide $20,000 for a Western Gas feasibility study and $23,000 to begin paving select gravel roads (a list of candidate gravel roads was approved). The county administrator stated the paving bids “came in under budget.”

- Landfill and tires: The board approved an appropriation of $17,000 to the landfill fund to cover transport and disposal of collected tires and to host a near-term event to catch up on accumulated tires; staff said transport is expected to cost about $12,000 and the event $5,000.

- Life‑pack monitors and EMS equipment: The board ratified a poll to transfer $100,000 from contingency to purchase two LIFEPAK monitors for EMS; the board also struck $60,000 from a proposed FY26 ambulance grant match that staff judged unlikely to be funded, effectively reallocating budgeted resources.

- Law library: Supervisors approved a one-time $5,000 appropriation from FY25 contingency to cover an electronic law‑library subscription deficit; staff reported subscription costs have risen to about $1,200 per month while filing-fee revenue covers roughly $8,000 annually.

Administrative and other votes

- The board approved appropriations and housekeeping transfers (authorizing department heads to shift funds between line items as needed to close FY25 budget variances). - The board authorized an amendment to reflect that FEMA reimbursements tied to landfill leachate will be deposited into the landfill fund rather than the county general reserve, noting the timing and amounts remain uncertain. - The board approved multiple small funding requests and appointments including a $3,500 donation to the Tazewell County Chamber of Commerce for a street concert and a $5,000 transfer to the town of Pocahontas for mowing a historic cemetery.

What the board did not change: Supervisors did not alter the advertised local tax rates other than enacting the advertised levies and did not eliminate the previously discussed care-center appropriation when one supervisor requested that appropriation be considered separately (that separate appropriation was later approved, with the chairman abstaining on that vote).

Outlook and next steps: Staff will finalize budget documents, publish the adopted ordinance, and implement the payroll adjustments and targeted appropriations. Several items that were approved are contingent on follow-up (e.g., selections and contracts for school projects, FEMA reimbursements and the Western Gas feasibility study procurement).

Ending: The board concluded a series of votes that finalize the FY26 spending plan and create several smaller targeted appropriations and contingency/reserve movements the board said are intended to preserve fiscal flexibility while funding immediate operational needs.