Botetourt County Budget up 46.2% to159 million public hearing held April 13

No one from the general public spoke when the Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on the fiscal year 2023 budget on Wednesday, April 13. Two persons affiliated with the school system addressed a short fall in the school budget.

The budget projections, which were incomplete because the state had not yet passed its own budget, anticipated a revenue increase of 14.3 percent in the numbers over the last fiscal year. The budget went up from $72.7 million to $83.1 million.

Local revenues increased by 6.1 percent, and “that is the lion’s share, what we depend upon,” Zerilla told the Supervisors.

Expenditures increased 42.8 percent, up from $111.5 million to $159.2 million. This figure also includes the new capital improvement projects.

Tony Zerilla, Director of Finance, attributed the increase to the county’s two major construction projects of a new courthouse and construction of a new work area for Virginia Western Community College at the Botetourt County Administration Building at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield in Amsterdam for which the Economic Development Authority recently obtained funding, and federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan. 

The school budget revenues increased a projected 18.9 percent, up from $38.7 million to $46.1 million, also in part because of an influx of federal funds. The local share would increase $800,000 under this budget, which is $568,000 less than the schools requested, according to School Superintendent Jonathan Russ. (A breakdown of the school budget is not included in this article.)

Brenda Bartee, a retiring member of the Botetourt County School’s finance office and the only citizen who spoke, told the supervisors that employees needed a 5 percent raise and that the county was neglecting repairs on school property by not improving and repairing school structures that are older or having other issues.

Revenue

Some of the anticipated increases in local revenue include a nearly $3 million increase in personal property tax collections, or 16 percent. This is mostly because of the increased value of used vehicles, Zerilla said.

Other revenue increases include an additional $400,000 in local sales and use taxes, and slight increases in the Business, Professional, and Occupations Licenses taxes in all categories.

The county also anticipates an additional $185,000 increase in the hotel/motel room tax, a $350,000 increase in the meals tax, and an increase of $108,950 in recreation fees as youth return to the ball fields and other sports venues in the county.

In summary, the local revenues are expected to increase by $3.6 million, state revenues by $206,140 and federal revenue by $6,548,296. The federal government has not given the county more than $1.5 million in many years, and Zerilla called these latter funds “extraordinary” and noted he doesn’t expect to see them in the budget again.

Expenditures

Aside from the capital improvement projects, expenditures went up modestly and were mostly due to inflation, according to a county official at the meeting. Additionally, some services that had been paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic are expected to be reinstated.

Nearly 20% of the increase is the result of mandated changes over which the county has no control. The expenditure increase also includes the first year of a two-year reassessment project, which should begin late this fall.

The county is also adding several positions, including upgrading a few part-time positions to full-time and adding more public safety personnel.

Expenditure increases that stand out are 12.7 percent increase in the Human Resources Department, and 11.5 percent increase in the Treasurer’s Office budget, and a 23.9 percent increase in the Technology Services budget.

Additionally, the Communications Office, which did not exist until this fiscal year, has a budget of $241,948, and the Electoral Board budget, which includes mandated voting changes, increased by 51.5 percent.

Dispatch, which includes new employee positions, increased 22.7 percent, and payments to the local juvenile and detention facility increased by 53.8 percent.

The fire and emergency services budget, which includes new employee positions, increased by 23.1 percent, and the Botetourt Sports Complex budget increased by 12.9 percent.

Other county departments stayed flat, had minor increases, or had decreases in funding.

Capital Improvements

Aside from the two major construction projects mentioned earlier, the county has other capital improvement projects in mind for this year. These include finishing field 5 at the Botetourt Sports Complex, painting and HVAC upgrades to county owned buildings, adding automatic doors the Botetourt County General District Court Building and the Fincastle Branch Library, new carpet at the Fincastle Branch Library, renovations at the Buchanan Branch Library, sealing a leachate tank at the landfill, radio system upgrades for emergency services, and station renovations at the Buchanan Fire Station, among other things.

Tax Rate

The county did not propose to raise taxes this year. Tax rates will remain the same per $100 value:

Machinery & Tools $1.80

Mobile Homes $0.79

Personal Property $2.71

Real Estate $0.79

Motor Homes $2.71

Wind Farms $0.99

                                                                                          Anita Firebaugh – Special to The Botetourt Bee