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 members pressed for a clear, single view that shows what each department requested, what staff recommended and what would appear in the advertised legal notice. Supervisors asked staff to produce the advertisement-format legal notice (summary lines that roll up recommended amounts) and a companion spreadsheet showing requested vs. recommended amounts so members can see where reductions occurred.

Key numeric and program details discussed during the workshop: - Volunteer fire program (state aid to volunteer fire locality): staff reported a received allocation of $67,982 (receipt dated December 2024) and updated the FY26 proposed budget to reflect that amount so the line nets to zero relative to those funds. - Employee bonus (countywide, including employer FICA): staff reported a total of $96,121.33 under the option presented. - Vacancy savings: staff provided a countywide vacancy-savings estimate (rounding referenced in discussion as about $496,000) to be used in balancing FY26. - Itemized deficit lines previously totaled about $830,000; staff recommended funding that amount from operating adjustments rather than pulling those dollars from CIP as had been discussed previously. - A small recommended line of $1,500 for MidFlight (air transport) was discussed; Kimberly clarified the program no longer takes county funds, and the board later instructed staff to remove MidFlight if county funding was not required. - A $1,000 item for the local 4-H club was noted as missing from the current list and the board asked staff to ensure it is included. - Staff and board discussed several restricted funds (proffers and a vehicle/road decal fund). A staff figure for the decal fund balance was stated as $1,211,470; staff also reported a proffers balance on the order of the millions (discussed informally as about $1.69 million) and flagged statutory/restriction limits on how those funds may be used.

Process and next steps: The board signaled consensus (not a roll-call vote) to proceed with incorporating the Option 1 revenue and savings adjustments in full (items 1'5), to remove the $830,000 CIP transfer and the meals-tax placeholder from the advertised package, and to have staff return an advertisement-ready legal notice and supporting requested-vs.-recommended spreadsheet within a few days for review. Staff said they could produce the updated advertisement and additional detail in a few days; the board discussed advertising timing and agreed to aim to advertise for public hearings as soon as the advertisement and supporting pages are ready, understanding statutory notice periods apply.

The board also asked staff to follow up on multiple line-item clarifications before advertisement: add or confirm the 4-H $1,000 allocation, confirm the MidFlight status (removed if it no longer accepts county funds), include the $41,200 transitional position funding request for a treasurer's deputy (staff had recommended approval during discussion), and present balances for decal and proffer funds and whether suspension adjustments from the prior year reverted automatically.

Speakers and attribution: The article attributes technical budget numbers and the presentation to the staff presenter, Esther Pawn. Board members who spoke (by first name or last name in the transcript) included Pollard (chairman), Todd, Tom, Joe and others; because the transcript labels some speakers only by a given name, the board's direction to proceed is reported as a board consensus rather than ascribed to a single roll-call motion. The meeting contained no recorded roll-call vote on the advertised package.

What was not decided: No final budget adoption or formal roll-call vote occurred in the workshop. The board did not adopt fee-schedule changes during this meeting; staff and the board agreed fee-schedule work and related ordinance steps would be coordinated but can proceed on a separate timeline. Several items require follow-up documentation from staff before public advertisement.

The board closed by asking staff to circulate the advertisement and supporting requested-vs.-recommended table for review; staff committed to follow up in days and the board indicated it expected to advertise for public hearings once the documents are available and statutory notice periods are met.

Ending: The board did not take a formal vote in the workshop. Staff will circulate the updated advertisement and supporting spreadsheets for review and proceed with advertising the FY26 proposed budget for public hearings once the board confirms the advertisement packet.