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Onancock council outlines five-year CIP priorities, reviews reassessment and meter replacement
Summary
Council discussed a prioritized five-year Capital Improvement Plan and FY2025 budget implications after a 19.1% county reassessment; Town Manager said HRSD will replace water meters with remote-read devices and bill monthly during the transition.
At the March 25 Onancock Town Council meeting, Town Manager Matt Spuck presented a prioritized five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) derived from the Hill Studios town plan and equipment needs. The prioritized list and project funding scenarios were included in the council packet for review ahead of the FY2025 budget process.
Spuck told the council that Accomack County's recent reassessment increased Onancock property values by 19.1%. Because state law requires the town to begin the budget calculation using the current levy amount, the council must set a tax rate that would generate the same $400,000 in revenue budgeted for 2024; that calculation will guide the FY2025 tax-rate decision.
On utilities, Spuck said water meters will be replaced this summer with remote-read meters provided by HRSD; as meters are swapped out, residents will move to monthly billing, although some households will remain on a bi-monthly cycle during the transition.
Councilmembers offered operating-priority suggestions for the budget: extending downtown Christmas lights (Brockmeier), exploring limited health-insurance offsets for employees (Nock), seasonal landscaping help and a zoning-code audit (Holdren), playground mulch and funding for Neighbor to Neighbor and the American Legion (Marino), and support for regional nonprofits (Oswald). Peaches Dodge had presented the Neighbors to Neighbors volunteer program earlier in the meeting and asked the council to consider support during FY26.
Other business included committee updates: Onancock Main Street's ongoing grant application for downtown improvements and mural work, planning-commission review of parking, waterfront dredging permit re-application to include bulkhead and fuel dock, and EDA loan contracts ready for signature.
What comes next: The council will refine CIP priorities and work through the budget process in coming meetings; no final tax-rate decision or CIP appropriation was recorded at the March 25 meeting.
