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Wythe County proposes $118M FY27 budget; board approves multiple budget committee allocations
Summary
County Administrator presented a $118 million proposed FY2026-27 budget requiring $3.8M of reserves to balance; the board approved a slate of budget committee measures—including CSA supplemental funding, election system upgrades, 911 equipment purchases, and a $200,000 JIDA allocation—by roll-call votes.
The Wythe County Board of Supervisors reviewed the proposed Fiscal Year 2026–27 budget and approved several budget-related motions during its May 26 meeting and a May 27 budget work session.
County Administrator Stephen D. Bear told the Board the proposed budget is $118 million — about $550,000 higher than the previous year after staff reduced initial requests by $5.8 million. To balance the budget the county would use approximately $3.8 million in reserves, which the administration estimated equivalent to about 14 cents on the real-estate tax rate. "We do have adequate reserves to handle that," Bear said. The school division requested an additional $2.5 million due to changes in its composite index and reduced state funding.
During the meeting, the Board approved a package of Budget Committee recommendations by roll-call, each passing unanimously unless otherwise noted. Key actions included:
- Approving an amendment to expand the FY2027 local government bonus ordinance to include full-time Constitutional Officers, Social Services, Electoral Board/Registrar and County employees (motion by Supervisor Stacy A. Terry).
- Amending and appropriating $199,360 for a CSA supplemental allocation (motion by Supervisor Terry).
- Amending and appropriating $100,000 for an Election Systems & Software upgrade (motion by Supervisor Terry).
- Transferring $126,003.34 from Sheriff’s federal asset forfeitures to the Police Activity Fund (motion by Supervisor Terry).
- Approving multiple capital and operational transfers and appropriations, including $168,321.24 for additional 911 call-handling positions and Telex dispatch consoles and $175,000 moved to Emergency Services Capital for critical equipment.
At a reconvened budget work session on May 27, the board voted unanimously to allocate $200,000 to the Joint Industrial Development Authority for FY2026–27 (motion by Vice Chair J.W. "Dicky" Morgan, seconded by Supervisor Stacy A. Terry).
The Board also approved payment of county invoices totaling $699,316.01 at the May 26 meeting and accepted routine consent-calendar items including payroll and personnel actions. The county expects additional state budget guidance in mid-to-late June, and staff scheduled a follow-up budget work session to finalize numbers before the June 9 presentation of the final budget.
Next steps: staff will present revised budget numbers after state action and execute the approved appropriations and transfers.
