Amelia County supervisors agree to proceed with FY26 budget advertisement after revenue updates

Amelia County's Board of Supervisors agreed by consensus during a continued budget workshop to proceed with a revised draft FY2026 budget and to prepare the proposed budget for public advertisement after staff incorporated updated revenue estimates and vacancy savings.

The board's consensus centered on staff's Option 1 package: incorporate updated federal, state and local revenue estimates and vacancy-savings assumptions (items 1'5), remove an $830,000 placeholder from the capital improvements fund (CIP) and remove the meals-tax placeholder discussed earlier, and then produce an updated legal-notice-format advertisement and public-hearing packet.

Why it matters: The board's direction determines which revenue assumptions will fund next year's operating budget and whether the county must draw from restricted or capital reserves to balance FY26 spending. The advertised budget starts the formal public-notice and hearing schedule that must precede any adoption.

Esther Pawn, the staff presenter, walked the board through account crosswalks, updated revenue numbers and savings options. Pawn told the board she had reclassified several GL account names to make recurring outside-organization entries clearer and updated the FY26 proposed general-fund numbers based on collections, conversations with department heads and the treasurer. She said she had calculated a countywide employee bonus and related FICA of $96,121.33 and presented vacancy-savings estimates used to reduce staffing-cost pressure.

Board member…