Prince George supervisors authorize advertising 82¢ real-estate tax rate, set April public hearings

Prince George County supervisors at a March 13 budget work session voted to advertise an effective real-estate tax rate of 82¢ per $100 of assessed value and to advertise all county tax rates, with public hearings set for April 22 and a separate budget hearing scheduled for May 13.

The action allows the county to hold the required public hearing on an “effective tax increase” tied to higher reassessed values. Ms. Drury, county budget staff, told the board the reassessment produced roughly $502,700,000 in growth — “about 12.5%” — and that the equalization rate had been reduced by 9¢ to 73¢, increasing the effective tax burden by about 12.3%. She said the value of a penny for fiscal 2026 is $420,000, up from $372,000 this fiscal year.

Those reassessment figures and the decision not to equalize were the central justification the county used to seek authorization to advertise. Ms. Drury said the introduced FY 2026 budget holds the real-estate tax rate at 82¢ to address priorities that include a $1.2 million increase to the public school system’s operating and textbook funds, step and market adjustments for public safety personnel, a mandated 3% state pay increase for state-supported local employees, and the addition of 16.5 county positions (including 11 in fire and EMS).

The board’s packet and Ms. Drury’s presentation also noted other specifics: the adopted current-year real property budget was $30,750,000; the introduced budget would increase current real property tax revenue to $34,950,000 (an increase of $4.2 million); and the introduced package included contract inflation and ongoing maintenance obligations. Ms. Drury said the county is still awaiting final personal-property assessment data from the Commissioner of the Revenue and corrections from the State Corporation Commission on public-service tax bills, so revenue figures remain subject to change.

The board discussed school funding and carryover dollars. Ms. Drury said the school division expects additional state revenue of about $1.8 million and that Superintendent Dr. Lyle asked the county for roughly $2.17 million more than the amount included in the introduced budget. During the session Supervisor Cox questioned a separate school carryover amount from FY 2024; Cox said the schools had left roughly $2.82 million unspent and expressed concern about repeatedly approving carryover funding. “It’s basically we’re putting money in a bank account they’re holding but we’re not drawing any interest on it,” Cox said.

County staff also alerted the board to several items that could affect the current fiscal year (ending June 30), including confusing language in the General Assembly’s budget bill about a one-time 1.5% bonus for state-supported local employees and how it should be calculated and timed. Ms. Drury said the county is seeking clarification from the Compensation Board and other state agencies; if the bonus must be paid this fiscal year, the board may be asked to appropriate additional state funds and take action to authorize the payments.

On formal motions, the board approved two agenda items by roll call vote. Mrs. Wymack moved and Mr. Webb seconded a resolution authorizing staff to advertise the effective tax rate at 82¢; the board voted unanimously in favor. Later the board, on a motion by Mr. Webb and second by Mr. Pugh, authorized advertising of all tax rates for 2024–25 (real property at 82¢ per $100; personal property at $3.90 per $100; machinery and tools at $1.50 per $100; and mobile homes at 82¢ per $100). Both motions passed on unanimous recorded votes.

County staff said they would advertise the public notices at the 82¢ rate to preserve flexibility to lower the rate later in the budget process but noted the board cannot adopt a rate higher than the advertised amount without re-advertising. Ms. Drury also reminded the board that tax-rate notices must be published before the public hearing and that a recent change in state code reduced the minimum notice period from 30 to seven days.

The board did not adopt the final FY 2026 budget at the work session; staff said further work sessions could be scheduled on March 26 or April 15 if updated revenue figures become available. The tax-rate public hearing will be April 22; the FY 2026 budget public hearing is scheduled for May 13.