Supervisors approve 159.2 million budget

A $159.2 million budget, which includes school funding of $73.3 million, government spending of $42.6 million, and $30 million in capital improvement projects, passed at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.

Supervisor Chairman Richard Bailey noted that the, “42.8 percent increase [in funding] are from outside sources,” and won’t be replicated next year.

The Board passed the budget despite the lack of funding from the Commonwealth, which has not yet passed a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Budget talks in the state legislature have stalled as of this writing.

One of the anticipated increases in local revenue include a nearly $3 million increase in personal property tax collections. This means most people would be paying more personal property taxes on their vehicles when those bills come due this fall.

The budget was up 14.3 percent over last fiscal year mostly due to the upcoming construction of a new county courthouse in Fincastle and a new structure to house Virginia Western Community College classes at the Botetourt County Administration facility at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield in Amsterdam.

In summary, the local revenues are expected to increase by $3.6 million, state revenues by $206,140 and one-time federal revenue by $6,548,296.

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 were expected to be reinstated.

The Supervisors also approved the tax rates, which did not change from last year. The rates are: Machinery & Tools $1.80

Mobile Homes $0.79

Personal Property $2.71

Real Estate $0.79

Motor Homes $2.71

Wind Farms $0.99

In a related matter, the Supervisors moved forward with plans for a real estate reassessment to be completed in 2024. The county hopes to hire an assessment firm this fall to begin the process.

                                                                           — Anita Firebaugh, Special to the Botetourt Bee