Pittsylvania County finance committee previews tight FY2027 budget, flags water, landfill financing

Pittsylvania County finance staff told the Board of Supervisors’ finance committee on Tuesday that FY2027 spending requests total about $100,356,092 while current revenue estimates only support roughly $94,000,000, leaving a multimillion-dollar gap to close before the March 10 balanced-budget deadline.

Miss Vanderheide, presenting the committee’s FY2026 year-end projections and FY2027 preliminary plan, said building-permit growth added about $75 million in assessed value but that other revenue categories remain uncertain. “I’m just the bearer of just telling you what you’ve got and what I see,” Vanderheide said, summarizing conservative assumptions used to project revenues.

Why it matters: the county faces near-term capital and operating financing needs that will affect tax and rate-setting choices. Vanderheide said county leadership must consider how to cover debt service for key projects and rising departmental requests while preserving reserve and service levels.

Key financing pressures highlighted

• Waterline: Vanderheide said financing must be secured for the R and L Smith water line, estimated at $5.6 million. On a 20-year amortization, she said the county would face “just over $400,000 a year in tax payment” and would likely need to raise water rates or identify alternative revenue to cover the debt.

• Landfill: Opening Phase 3 of the county landfill and required site work was estimated at about $8.2 million, and Vanderheide warned additional landfill equipment replacement could push total financing needs to $10 million–$12 million. “They do not have the funds to pay this debt,” she said of the landfill enterprise fund.

• Public safety and fleet: The sheriff’s vehicle rotation and replacement was estimated at about $800,000 (an additional $500,000 above last year’s $300,000 budget), and Fire and Rescue requested roughly $1.4 million more operational funding and a new capital ask that includes about $500,000 a year for three years for a ladder truck.

Revenue assumptions and potential tax impact

Vanderheide outlined major tax-category projections: real-estate revenue is expected to increase modestly to about $34.5 million (an added $336,007.98), while personal-property figures remain provisional pending final commissioner data. She noted the county’s per-penny yield is about $602,000–$605,000 and sketched scenarios where incremental penny increases compound over multiple years.

On solid-waste fees, she said household-fee collections ran near 90% versus a budgeted 95%, and she recommended not budgeting inflated collection percentages going forward.

Offsets and adjustments

Vanderheide reported some federal and state offsets that reduce the county’s near-term burden: about $9 million in SCAP funds reduced a school-related loan award and the governor’s decision to continue the SRO program would lower county costs (she cited a roughly $500,000 offset). She also said recently received VRS retirement figures were lower than expected and would reduce retirement cost projections by “a couple of hundred thousand dollars” after reworking the estimates.

Next steps and deadlines

The committee was reminded that a public budget forum is scheduled for Feb. 26 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., when department heads will present larger requests and the board will discuss setting the tax rate. Vanderheide noted that a balanced budget must be presented by March 10 and that advertising and tax-bill mailing timelines mean the board should set a rate in time for a May 15 mailing for June 10 tax payments.

Votes at a glance

• Motion to approve the meeting agenda — passed electronically, 4-0.

What remains unresolved: the committee must reconcile the roughly $6 million budget gap without committing to a specific tax hike; decisions on water/sewer financing, landfill funding, and public-safety capital requests were deferred to the Feb. 26 forum and later budget calendar items.