County Public Budget Hearing had few followers

Only one person spoke at the public hearing on Botetourt County’s $100 million budget on Wednesday, April 10.

William Brown asked the Board of Supervisors to consider running sewer further down US 460 so the new school could take advantage of it instead of utilizing its own septic system, which for all intents and purposes will be a small wastewater treatment facility. Brown suggested that the money spent on a septic system solely for the purpose of the school would be better utilized with a sewer line extension.

Brown also said the six residents who live along Murray Drive, where the new school construction is underway, are being inconvenienced by the construction and all have concerns about loss of yard if the road is widened to accommodate more vehicles and school buses.

As is normal for the Supervisors when holding a public hearing on the budget, they did not address Brown’s concern or respond to his suggestion.

Tax rates will remain unchanged if the budget passes as proposed at the April 23 Board of Supervisors meetings. The real estate tax rate would remain $0.79 per $100 value.

The budget is up about 4 percent over last year. Finance Director Tony Zerrilla told the Supervisors the revenue increase was due to economic growth and utility enhancements, such as the new power grid in Cloverdale.

The school board budget, which had been contentious last month when the possibility of losing an agricultural teacher was made public, flew through the public hearings without comment. The schools requested an additional $500,000 from the county but the budget as proposed only allows an additional $400,000.

Aside from public officials, media, and Brown and his wife, no one else was at the meeting.

                                                   — Submitted and photo by Anita Firebaugh