Stafford supervisors increased the county real-estate tax rate in a meeting that lasted from Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. But they didn’t go quite as far as the county administrator proposed last month.
The supervisors voted 4-3 to raise the tax rate by 3 cents, from $0.8936 per $100 of assessed value to $0.9236 per $100. That, however, was 2 cents less than County Administrator Bill Ashton’s proposal.
The real-estate tax will help fund a budget that is anticipated to total more than $1 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
The supervisors also voted 5-2 for the budget itself after they agreed on trimming $4.2 million from Ashton’s proposed spending plan. Those cuts included reductions in funding for the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance, the county’s Economic Development Authority, the Rappahannock Regional Jail and the locality’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
In addition, the budget includes a 2.75 percent pay raise for all public safety and government employees, raises that won’t go into effect until Jan. 1.
The spending plan includes roughly $175 million for school operating costs, as well, about $5 million more than this year’s level.
That won’t be enough to fully fund the $503.1 million education budget the School Board approved in February, but the supervisors also agreed to hold a public hearing May 20 that could lead to more funding for the schools.
The subject of the hearing is a plan to increase the county meals tax rate from 5 percent to 6 percent and the transient occupancy tax rate from 9 percent to 11 percent. The revenue generated from the 1 percent increase in the meals tax would then be devoted to raises for school employees. The idea is to try to make enough money to introduce pay increases equal to the 2.75 percent hike for county government workers.
The school board will discuss the supervisors’ votes at a meeting Thursday.
The supervisors also voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of a $1.4 billion capital improvement program for fiscal years 2026 to 2035, 52 percent of which is devoted to school projects.
The supervisors’ votes on financial matters followed a public hearing during which 47 people spoke. Twenty-four of them voiced strong support for school funding, and another eight seemed to be at least somewhat supportive of increasing education spending.
So many school backers came to the meeting, in fact, that the board chambers were filled to capacity, requiring some people to watch the proceedings from an overflow room.
The votes also came after lengthy and sometimes tense debate. Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch voted against the tax rate increase along with Supervisors Meg Bohmke of the Falmouth District and Darrell English of the Hartwood District.
Vanuch and English also voted “no” on the budget.
“A lot of people have reached out to me, and they can’t afford this,” English said.
Vanuch was adamant about not increasing the tax rate, and she came to the meeting armed with a package of potential spending cuts in an effort to reduce the budget Ashton proposed.
At one point, when there was a question of whether to make a 5 percent reduction or a 7 percent one, she responded, “I would entertain any reduction.”
Board of Supervisors Vice Chairwoman Tinesha Allen, on the other hand, said that “raising taxes does not equal fiscal irresponsibility.” “Fiscal irresponsibility is not telling the truth and painting a picture,” she said.
Allen also seemed to suggest that Vanuch was a “narcissist.”
And board Chairman Deuntay Diggs railed against a text message Vanuch sent to county residents about the potential for a tax increase.
“It wasn’t meant to inform,” he said. “It was meant to divide and cause chaos and confusion, and it makes me mad as hell because I care about people.”
A short recess before the meeting ended, though, seemed to soothe any ruffled feathers among the supervisors, and Allen apologized to Vanuch.
Diggs said part of the reason Stafford faced an economic crunch is that the supervisors haven’t attracted enough businesses to the county. The taxes companies pay help to lessen the amount homeowners must fork out to fund the government.
“For me, I think the blame should be on us,” Diggs said to the crowd. “And when I say, ‘us,’ it’s the seven of us sitting up here.”
