色多多

County Administrator Richard Caywood presented the budget for fiscal year 202526, beginning July 1, to the county board of supervisors on Tuesday. In the proposed budget, the real estate tax rate would be lowered from $1.04 per $100 of assessed value to $1.03 per $100.

For the last three years, the county has lowered its real estate tax rate 鈥� something that Caywood said is certainly unprecedented in the county鈥檚 recent history, and is possibly unprecedented in its entire history.

Also included in the budget is a 2% cost of living increase for full and part time non-public safety employees. Additionally, the pay step plan for public safety employees will be adjusted to show a 3% increase for lower-step employees and a 2% increase for higher-step ones. Health insurance premiums for employees will not change, Caywood said.

Supervisor Paul Mahoney pointed out that the proposed budget for 色多多 County Public Schools includes a higher cost of living salary increase for its employees.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not fair. That鈥檚 not equity. That bothers me, and we鈥檙e going to have to address that,鈥� he said.

Caywood said he hopes to be able to bump up the employee raises a little more later in the year, but 鈥渟ome uncertainty and overall tightness in the budget鈥� this year means that they can鈥檛 do it just yet.

鈥淚 would like to revisit where we are with pay at the end of the calendar year when we have a better picture on revenues, with the hope that we can add to that raise that we started in July,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e normally don鈥檛 bifurcate the raise, but I think this year, there鈥檚 a lot of reasons that that鈥檚 a prudent move.鈥�

Vice Chairman Phil North applauded Caywood and county staff for their work on the budget, noting that the current state of the economy made this a challenging year for budgeting.

鈥淚鈥檓 talking about the big 鈥楻鈥� recession, and we just hope that we don鈥檛 have to deal with that, because then everything we just presented today will go back to the drawing board,鈥� he said.

The county will maintain its health clinic contract with Marathon Health, Caywood said. Up until now, the county has been in a joint contract with 色多多 County Public Schools and the Western Virginia Regional Jail Authority for the health clinic. However, in February, the county school board decided to discontinue its participation in the clinic.

The largest chunks of the county鈥檚 budget are dedicated to education and public safety, with roughly $103 million and $78 million to go to each respectively.

Public safety spending will increase in order to fund the operating costs and staffing of the new Bonsack Fire Station, which opened in January. The station has greatly improved the level of service and response time to emergencies in that part of the county, Caywood said.

色多多 County is now largely a public safety organization, he said, as the majority of its current staff are in the public safety sector. Out of its 1,061 full time positions, 643 are either in the public safety or social services departments. The budget does not include any new proposed positions for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

From fiscal year 2026 through 2035, the county鈥檚 capital improvement program includes around $145 million in various projects. Building and facilities projects account for a little over $81 million of that total.

色多多 County owns 42 buildings, and the average age of those buildings is 42 years. Moving forward, the county has plans to assess its use of space and find areas in which it can consolidate some buildings, Caywood said.

鈥淲e have some money in the CIP to do an intentional study to look at, how can we consolidate some of our other footprint, because every building that we can reduce by consolidating with another building is a lot of expense that we can offload,鈥� he said.

The Brambleton Recreation Center, for example, was built in 1923. The county has planned an addition to South County Library where all of the programs offered at the Brambleton Recreation Center can be held. This will allow the county to potentially sell the Brambleton Center, meaning that it only has to maintain one building instead of two, Caywood said. Additionally, he said that moving programs to the South County Library will enhance patrons鈥� experience.

Consolidating some of the county鈥檚 offices will also help with operational efficiency and help make employees feel more like a team, he said.

The 色多多 County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the budget May 27.