Goochland supervisors review $148 million draft budget; set April 1 hearings on tax rate and fee changes

At a February meeting, the Goochland County Board of Supervisors reviewed the county administrator’s draft fiscal 2026 budget totaling about $148 million and voted to advertise public hearings April 1 on the proposed real-estate tax rate and the draft budget.

County Administrator Carpenter opened the presentation by describing the process—staff and department meetings, constitutional officers and school consultations—that produced the draft. "It is a good budget. It is a fundamentally sound budget," Carpenter said, noting the all-funds total rises from roughly $136 million to about $148 million, a 9.2% increase he said is driven in part by growth in the utilities fund.

The draft proposes a general fund of about $95,000,673.34 and includes a 3% cost-of-living increase for county and school employees. Carpenter said the general property tax remains the largest revenue source (about 59% of total revenue), that assessed values rose roughly 11.4% (about $5.4 million), and that the county projects a roughly $1.4 million surplus in the draft.

Carpenter identified expense drivers: software licensing and IT maintenance, five new full-time deputy positions for the sheriff’s office (with vehicles), a deputy county attorney position, and the conversion of a part-time voter-registration position to full time. He also said Fire and Rescue requested more than 20 positions, but those were not funded in the draft.

On capital spending Carpenter said the annual CIP includes about $6 million for items such as vehicles, an ambulance and a $1.7 million chiller for a high school facility; the five-year CIP totals about $72 million, with roughly $46 million tied to an anticipated bond for a courthouse and a career-and-technical-education building.

Supervisors asked for detail. "So as you saw that growth of public safety spending, that reflects significantly going from a volunteer service to a career service," Carpenter said in response to Supervisor Waters’ question about costs tied to professionalizing fire and rescue, noting Station 8 has moved to 24-hour ambulance coverage and that fully staffing planned stations would require many more hires. Carpenter added that equipment price inflation has increased costs for vehicles and apparatus.

Assistant county staff member Cave explained three motions needed to meet advertising requirements for the April 1 public hearing: advertise the proposed real-estate tax rate at 53¢ (the board may lower the advertised rate but cannot raise it), advertise the draft FY2026 budget and associated non-real-estate tax rates, and set a hearing to consider amendments to Appendix C of the county code that would raise water and sewer volume and connection fees by 2.5% and increase building plan re-review fees (commercial from $100 to $250 and a new $250 residential re-review fee).

On voice and roll-call votes, the board approved all three advertising motions unanimously. During roll call Supervisors Spooner, Lyle, Christie, Waters and Winfrey recorded affirmative votes for the tax-rate advertisement, the budget advertisement and the Appendix C fee-schedule hearing.

Votes at a glance: the board voted to advertise the proposed 53¢ real-estate tax rate and set a public hearing for April 1, 2025 (motion moved by a supervisor and seconded; roll call recorded five yes votes); the board voted to advertise the FY2026 draft budget and set April 1 public hearing (unanimous by roll call); and the board voted to set an April 1 hearing on proposed amendments to Appendix C (fee schedule), including the 2.5% water/sewer fee increases and new re-review fees (unanimous by roll call).

The board adjourned after completing business. Town hall meetings on the draft are scheduled to begin in March; public hearings and the formal budget adoption process are slated for April 1 and April 2025, according to Carpenter.

(Reporting note: quotes and roll-call votes come from the meeting transcript; spellings and the jurisdiction name have been normalized to Goochland County.)