Resident challenges Powhatan budget presentations, warns of tax pressure on fixed-income households

During the public-comment period at the joint Powhatan County workshop, a resident identified in the transcript as Mozambar used a full five minutes to assess the county’s FY26 and FY27 budget processes.

Mozambar praised aspects of the process — calling it "structured, systematic" and noting early attention to large items, a more balanced capital plan and the addition of three EMS staff — but sharply criticized presentations that he said used "selective, misleading, and disingenuous" data. He warned that the county’s heavy reliance on real-property taxes and borrowing has pushed local debt and homeowner burdens toward limits, and he said recent real-property tax changes amount to "increasing economic insecurity for residents on fixed incomes who have to make difficult choices between food and medicine."

Mozambar also criticized the proposed addition of a public information officer with an annual cost he said would be about $122,000 and argued that the 3% across-the-board raise for employees "punishes the high performer while rewarding the poor performer," saying the county is "far from being a pay-for-performance organization." He urged the boards to benchmark practices against peer localities and to consider a strategic reset of priorities to restore credibility with residents.

The comment concluded with a call for improved transparency in presenting historical trends and expected results tied to spending, and a challenge to local officials to address the issues raised.

The boards did not take action during public comment; the Chair thanked the speaker and moved to the scheduled presentations.