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Board approves consent items, raises data‑center personal property tax rate
Summary
Goochland County supervisors approved routine consent items and voted to change the personal property tax rate for data centers from $0.40 to $3.00 per $100 of assessed value; staff also advertised a $0.53 real‑estate rate for public hearing and accepted a $350,000 grant appropriation for the sheriff's office.
The Goochland County Board of Supervisors on March 3 approved its consent agenda, with two items pulled for separate discussion, and voted to change the county's data‑center personal property tax rate.
Board members voted to advertise the proposed 2026 real‑estate tax rate at $0.53 per $100 of assessed value and set a public hearing for April 7 on a companion fee‑schedule amendment, County staff said. The packet also included a resolution to appropriate $350,000 in grant revenue to the sheriff's operating budget and several requests to accept local roads into the VDOT system.
During review of the consent agenda, a board member moved to remove the line item that would have left the data‑center personal property tax at $0.40 per $100 and instead advertise a $3.00 per $100 rate. The board approved advertising the higher rate and later adopted the amendment to the consent agenda by voice vote.
A board member who moved the amendment framed the change as aligning Goochland with neighboring jurisdictions and avoiding an unusually low rate for data centers. "I don't know that we need to be the Kmart of data‑center tax rates," the board member said, arguing the county should not underprice growth that creates capital demands.
County staff emphasized the advertising step preserves flexibility: the board may adopt a lower rate at the public hearing but cannot adopt a higher rate than what is advertised without re‑advertising. The board followed that procedure by authorizing the advertisement of the higher data‑center rate and scheduling the public hearing in April.
Other consent‑agenda items approved included the water and sewer fee changes staff proposed (a 3% volume and tap fee increase was discussed) and the $350,000 appropriation to the sheriff's budget, which staff said reflects recently received grant revenue. The board recorded approval of the remaining consent items by voice vote.
The board also heard several staff and community announcements at the start of the meeting, including recognition of local employees and awards and an update on a Dominion Energy transmission project and county permitting performance.
The board will consider final adoption of advertised tax and fee changes at upcoming meetings following the required public hearings.
