Prince George supervisors keep tax rate at 82¢, set $1.2M school transfer and greenlight personnel priorities in FY2026 budget consensus

The Prince George County Board of Supervisors signaled unanimous operational priorities March 4 as staff prepared the county's proposed FY2026 budget: hold the real estate tax rate at $0.82 per $100 of assessed value, transfer $1.2 million to the school division, eliminate a planned contribution to the debt reserve and advance funding for a slate of public-safety and county positions for inclusion in the introduced budget.

Finance Director and Deputy County Administrator Meredith Jury told the board staff will use member feedback to assemble the introduced budget for presentation March 11 and that the board’s current consensus will be reflected in that document. “We spend a lot of time focusing on our general fund budget, because that is the budget where our tax dollars go to work,” Jury said.

Why it matters: holding the tax rate preserves current millage for taxpayers while allocating additional dollars to schools and public safety. The choice reduces the county’s ability to add to debt reserves for FY2026 (the staff-calculated amount available by not contributing to debt reserves is $611,686) but funds recurring personnel and benefit commitments prioritized by board members.

Key budget staff and board priorities discussed - School funding: Three supervisors (Brown, Womack and Webb) indicated support for a $1.2 million increase in the county transfer to the school division; two supervisors (Cox and Pugh) favored a $750,000 increase. Staff reported the superintendent had requested a larger local increase; the board’s consensus the night of March 4 was $1.2 million. - Debt reserve: Board feedback was to eliminate the FY2026 contribution to debt reserves; staff estimated that change frees $611,686 for…