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Residents urge relief as James City County budget and tax proposals draw sharp pushback
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Summary
Dozens of residents pressed the Board of Supervisors to reconsider proposed tax and budget changes after reassessments and rate proposals raised affordability concerns; staff outlined a FY27 budget with a 3¢ real-estate rate reduction and a meals-tax increase from 4% to 6%.
James City County officials heard strong public opposition on Thursday as staff presented the county's proposed two-year budget and related tax changes, including a proposed reduction of the real-estate tax rate from $0.83 to $0.80 per $100 of assessed value and an increase in the meals tax from 4% to 6%.
Sharon McCarthy, the county's finance and management services director, told the Board of Supervisors the county's proposed FY27 total budget is $413.1 million, with a general fund of $281.1 million. The proposal would direct an additional $4.3 million to school operations and align spending with an updated strategic plan. McCarthy said revaluations increased overall assessed values by 10.31% and that the 3-cent reduction would lower the effective increase but still produces an effective tax-rate change of about 7.47% for many property owners.
The public comment period drew a steady stream of residents who said the reassessments and proposed taxes would be financially harmful. "We have people who have their taxes going up 46% or even higher," said Nancy Herman, who told the board her home's appraised value jumped to $420,000 and she faces a drastic tax increase despite a fixed income. "This is my last stop. This is where I'm going to live forever. I'm not going to get the value out of it."
Several speakers urged the board to roll back spending and re-evaluate priorities. "Budgets are about choices — we cannot afford gold-plated services," said Chris Henderson, who urged supervisors to curb capital projects and demand line-by-line reviews. Henderson also recommended delaying a planned $120 million county building and said voters should be offered a clearer choice on whether to accept a larger tax burden.
Other residents focused on assessment fairness. "The average increase for riverfront properties is 35% while the county average is near 11%," said Carrie Traver, who asked the board to investigate whether riverfront parcels were being reassessed at disproportionately high values. Sheila Chandler asked why four adjacent farm parcels on Newman Road saw widely different reassessments, with increases ranging from 23% to 122%.
Local restaurateurs and hospitality workers also urged caution on the meal-tax proposal. Rachel Sears, executive director of the Williamsburg Area Restaurant Association, said restaurants operate on thin margins and the increased meals tax risks reducing customer traffic and tip revenue for servers. "We want restaurants to thrive," she said. "This makes it really hard for our restaurant industry to recover."
Board members and staff reiterated the process and next steps: no action was required at the meeting and two additional public budget hearings are scheduled — April 28 at 1 p.m. for a budget business meeting and May 12 at 5 p.m., when adoption is planned. McCarthy said the meals tax change is expected to yield roughly $3.4 million annually and that each penny of the real estate rate equals about $1.825 million in revenue.
The board did not vote on the FY27 budget or the tax changes Thursday. Several supervisors said they had heard residents' concerns and would continue to consider budget tradeoffs before any final votes at future meetings.
