The Augusta County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing for the fiscal year 2024-2025 advertised budget at a special meeting on Wednesday, April 17, at 7 p.m. at the Augusta County Government Center in Verona.
For general budget information, you can go to www.augustacountyva.gov/budget and find links to current and past budget documents, including the FY25 Budget engagement page.
Budget overview
The big-ticket items among the $12.4 million in increased spending in the recommended budget include:
- Courthouse debt service: $4.1 million
- Middle River Regional Jail operational funding: $2.5 million
- Capital funding: $1.6 million
- 16 new positions for fire-rescue: $1.0 million
- Allocation for new school buses: $615,000
From the 2024 reassessment of real estate, the total assessed value of real estate property increased over last year’s values by 51.3 percent.
The lowered, or equalized, tax rate, which would levy the same amount of real estate tax revenue as last year, is 42 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The proposed tax rate for FY25 is a rate of 52 cents per $100 of assessed value, which represents a 10 cents per $100, or 23.8 percent, increase over the real property revenue calculated at the equalized rate.
A 52-cent real property tax rate would increase general fund revenues by $12 million.
The other $400,000 in extra revenues in the advertised budget would come from an increase in the cigarette tax to 30 cents per pack.
How to give them hell
There are several ways to weigh in on the budget:
- Submit an e-comment on the Meetings and Agendapage or at AugustaCountyVA.gov/speak.
- Email the Board of Supervisors at [email protected].
- Leave a voice message at 540-245-5600.
- Watch the Board of Supervisors meeting livestream: RegionalWebTV
- Attend a meeting in person (find the schedule here).
You can also sign up for e-notices for the budget and county finance at www.AugustaCountyVA.gov/e-notices – check the topic for ‘Administration, Policy, Finance.
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Chris Graham
