Fluvanna Supervisors Talk Roads

By. Bryan Rothamel, Field Officer

PALMYRA — The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Virginia Department of Transportation’s six-plan for Fluvanna County and was briefed on the Fork Union project during the May 15 meeting.

VDOT’s plan includes paving several unpaved country roads through the ‘rural rustic road’ program and widening heavily traveled county roads.

The rural rustic roads to get paved are Hells Bend Road (Route 606), Stag Road (Route 715), Lantre Road (Route 621), Canal Street (Route 687) and Radicel Circle (Route 687).

Garden Lane (Route 636) qualifies for Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) funds because it has high enough usage and is unpaved. This is different than the rural rustic program that has maximums of road usage to qualify. CTB formula has a minimum to be included and Garden Lane is the only unpaved Fluvanna road to qualify.

The major road projects are widening two county routes, both named North Boston Road (Route 600 and Route 633). North Boston connects the Lake Monticello area to Troy. It is often used by Lake Monticello area traffic to get to Zion Crossroad. This two lane road does not have side white lines and has many pavement patches.

Joe Chesser (Rivanna District) asked for its inclusion during an April VDOT work session. The two projects for the one road were included in previous six-year plans so it could be included in this year’s version without issue. The entire road has a budget of over $3 million to complete. It will require funds in each of the six years to complete the ‘minor widening.’

VDOT also includes in the six-year plan rural additions, countywide engineering and surveying, countywide traffic services and countywide right of way studies for general usage. This helps with speed studies, incidental work that comes up and other issues that arise throughout the budget cycle.

The entire six-year plan has an estimated allocation of $1.2 million from the state government.

Since 2004 the Fork Union community has prepared for a streetscape project. The project is to help improve Route 15 at or near the Route 6 intersection. The project has been slow-moving but county staff hope to submit plans to improve the west side of Route 15 from the Post Office to the second entrance of Fork Union Military Academy soon.

The request for bid will include curb and gutter work, crosswalks, concrete sidewalks with grass utility strip, vehicle entrances, street lights and metering equipment for the business side of Route 15.

Also included in the request will be the first alternate plan to include installation of site furnishings and dry-laid brick pavers in lieu of the grass utility strip. The second alternate is to extend the project from the Post Office to Academy Road (the ‘new’ road around the academy). The third alternate is installing site furnishings and dry-laid brick pavers to that second entrance and the final alternate is street trees installed in the brick paver sections.

The entire project, including all alternates is estimated at $475,300. The early estimates of the construction of just the base bid and first section of brick pavers is $395,900. The project estimates grant money available will be $400,000 for construction costs.

The hope is to get a request for bid out in the next month but the plan has hit snags along the way since 2004. Originally the plan included from the Post Office to the Dollar Store but it was discovered landowners owned from the middle of the road. In order to do such a project, landowners would have to give permanent right of way which not all were willing to do.

Pat Groot, grans administrator for the county, believes as long as the plan moves to bid soon, the county won’t lose any grant money. However, if the plan is delayed longer the transportation enhancement grants have been under heavy scrutiny because many localities have been stretching the project timeframes out.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Fluvanna Passes Budget and CIP

By. Bryan Rothamel

PALMYRA – The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors passed the 2014 fiscal year budget and associated tax rates unanimously during the April 17 meeting.

The budget had minimal changes from the advertised budget. The tax rates did not change from advertised amounts, with the real property tax rate at $0.795 per $100 assessed and personal property tax at $4.15 per $100 assessed.

“I love this budget,” said Mozell Booker (Fork Union District) after the meeting. “We put in some things that we took out last year and the schools are in a better position. I loved the whole budget process, the way it was organized, the way it was presented. And we got a 5-0 on the tax rate.”

The minor changes to the budget were increased funding for the Fluvanna-Louisa Foundation and Jefferson Area Board of Aging. These two changes came from other budget lines but totaled $17,000 of changes.

Notable budget items include $13.75 million for the school district, educational supplements for deputies and structured pay increases for county employees who are currently paid less than market value.

“It was a win-win situation for everybody involved: for schools, for deputies, for staff. Those are the best sorts of budgets. I think that’s why we had such smooth sailing this time around,” said chairman Shaun Kenney (Columbia District).

The FY2014 budget is for $65,312,998. The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), included in the total budget figure, has $3,834,662 worth of projects for FY2014.

The CIP caused more discussion than the budget. Don Weaver (Cunningham District) did not like the inclusion of a $20 million new elementary school for FY2018. The supervisors only commit to fund items in the FY14 column unless an item stretches from FY14 into following years. The other years were described as ‘hopeful’, ‘dreams’ and ‘planned for’.

Bob Ullenbruch agreed with Weaver’s dissension on the elementary school.

Weaver said he would prefer the School Board raise the issue instead of the Board of Supervisors just including an item from very basic discussions. Weaver hoped in the next nine months the School Board would have a better idea of student enrollment, projections and usage of current facilities including the pending closures of Columbia and Cunningham elementary schools.

The CIP for FY14 includes $575,000 for construction of a Zion Crossroad water and sewer system with another $3.1 million in FY15 and $975,000 in FY16. All three years are slated to be paid for by cash, with the first year coming from the Fund Balance instead of operating expenses.

Also in the plan are a groundwater study and adding a water source to the Fork Union Sanitary Department system. The plan also includes replacing an emergency services apparatus.

The CIP has $1.26 million of spending on school projects including new buses, implementation of a new financial system the county finance department uses, renovations to Carysbrook Elementary School and information technology like server virtualization and internet equipment upgrades.

The CIP was adjusted to take school flooring replacement and playground equipment upgrades out of the FY14 year. The supervisors will vote at the next meeting to pay for those items, totaling $150,000, from the FY13 budget. This will allow the school district to award a contract and begin work sooner in order to give proper time before school resumes this August.

The CIP passed 3-2 with Weaver and Ullenbruch voting against it. Weaver announced before the vote his vote against was a protest vote of the FY18 elementary school line.

The first tax bill to include the new tax rates will be due June 5. The FY14 calendar year begins July 1, 2013.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Fluvanna Supervisor Advocates “Tax” Donations to County

By. Bryan Rothamel

PALMYRA – A Fluvanna County supervisor has a plan to allow easier and unrestricted access to donate to specific line items in the budget through overpaying a tax bill.

“Folks are saying they want to be taxed higher, this is an opportunity to tax yourself higher and point that extra tax to what you feel most important about,” said Bob Ullenbruch (Palmyra District).

“There’s many different departments that people have a passion for and this gives them the opportunity to put their money where they’re passionate.”

Ullenbruch was alerted by a constituent of an option to give residents a section on tax bills to overpay on purpose. The constituent asked House of Delegate Rob Bell (R-Charlottesville) if an option of unrestricted overpayment for a specific department was allowed. Bell responded that state statute does allow such an option and Prince Edward is the only county to utilize the practice.

On April 8, Ullenbruch met with Commissioner of Revenue Mel Sheridan, Treasurer Linda Lenherr and finance director  Barbara Horlacher to discuss the implementation of such an option. Discussions with Prince Edward about carry out will have to occur but the option could begin as early as the second tax cycle in 2013 (the December tax bill).

The option to overpay would be on both real property and personal property tax bills. There would be the amount to pay based on assessed taxes then a second line asking if the taxpayer would like to contribute extra to any budgeted department the Board of Supervisors funds.

This includes school funding, Sheriff Department, parks and recreation, any non-profit, information technology, finance, etc. The donation is unrestricted for the department.

Ullenbruch said the process after each tax collection would include the Treasurer presenting the Board of Supervisors with the excess tax collection earmarked for each department. The supervisors would then vote to release the funds to the departments. The personnel in charge of the department, or School Board in the case of the school system, then decides how to spend the money, without restriction.

“There’s a difference between [the proposal] and say, I show up to the School Board meeting with a check for $100. They can’t use that money for [much] — they’d have to come in with school supplies or this or that. You can’t donate money into the school budget. In this case, you can,” said Ullenbruch.

Most real property tax bills are never seen by the homeowners. Ullenbruch said a majority of tax bills are paid through mortgage bills. The county could choose to mail a separate ‘bill’ to the homeowner for this excess contribution. Tenants could also decide to contribute excess of whatever the owner pays.

All personal property owners would also see the line for additional tax payment on bills. The line, however, is not directing spending of the taxed amount. In order to utilize the option, the taxpayer has to pay the tax in full.

“On the back of the tax bill it’ll be very clear that it is not a portion of your taxes. It is actual overpayment of your taxes. That one of those things we have to be very clear about that,” said Ullenbruch.

Ullenbruch will propose the option on April 10. He is confident it will pass but expects discussion on how the process will be fully carried out.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Photo Credit: Fluvanna County

Fluvanna Supervisors Discuss Economic Development in Zion Crossroads

By. Bryan Rothamel

The talk of Fluvanna County since the 1990s has been economic development. Finally, Fluvanna is starting to make concrete steps towards actually seeing the long discussed economic development.

During the April 3 work session, the Fluvanna Board of Supervisors heard staff updates on many topics including economic development and a Zion Crossroad update.

“We need economic development because we have to find another way to pay for the services we do need in this county — including schools, education, employees, rescue squad — all those things have to be provided. To put all that burden on the property owners is a pretty heavy burden,” said Joe Chesser (Rivanna District) after the work session.

The director of community planning and development, Bobby Popowicz, told the board of economic projects in the works.

Currently Popowicz is trying to secure and locate a training facility on 750 total acres with 100 usable acres (building footprint, etc.) of the facility. The building would be buffered and hidden by trees.

Also, he is working with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Fluvanna County Cooperative Extension to find Fluvanna grape growers and land suitable for the regional demand of wine grapes.

Part of this work is including Fluvanna in the Monticello American Viticultural Area for local wineries to buy Fluvanna grapes.

Popowicz biggest focus is bringing an employment center or ‘legacy project’ to Fluvanna. A legacy project is the centerpiece of a major development. It provides a development with a strong nucleus for retail and residential to surround.

Popowicz is targeting a medical facility and a federal research company. One federal contractor he has talked with isn’t looking to expand but did offer to recommend Fluvanna for other companies entering the Central Virginia market.

Finally, Popowicz was approached by his Albemarle counterpart about the possibility of a megasite in the Route 250 Corridor. Such a site would involve a revenue sharing program but would allow both counties to add jobs with easy access to Interstate 64.

This past year Popowicz has worked on getting Fluvanna’s recognition amongst state and local economic development leaders. It has started to pay off with such officials. Popowicz hopes to encourage business expanding in the region to move to Zion Crossroad.

“Water to Zion Crossroads, probably the most important thing we can do,” said Popowicz to the board.

Fluvanna BOS Chair Shaun Kenney

Chairman Shaun Kenney (Columbia District) said after the meeting, “There are still a lot of hurdles we have to clear: we have to get water to Zion Crossroads, we have to get broadband to Zion Crossroads, we have to get sewer to Zion Crossroads. Even when you get all that there, what comes after and in what way?”

The planning department is working on that. Allyson Finchum, director of planning, briefed the board on a Zion Crossroad plan following Popowicz’s presentation.

The Zion Crossroad area has had 10 studies or plans mentioning the area in the last 15 years. Now the county needs one plan for the area and the area only. It could be used in conjunction with the Fluvanna Comprehensive Plan, but one dedicated to the area will help Popowicz match businesses to the county’s plans.

The Virginia Employment Commission, the gold standard in population projection in Virginia, projected Fluvanna’s population will increase to 37,433 by 2020 and 47,010 by 2030. In 2010, Fluvanna had 25,691 residents.

The Zion Crossroad urban development area could have 11,000 to 21,000 new residents over the next 10 to 20 years. The amount of acreage using the rural and suburban density method would require 11,041 to 25,186 acres to accommodate. The traditional neighborhood development method would only require 711 to 1,708 acres.

“[Economic development] means a lot of things. You are going to have to bring in more people but you want to bring in the right businesses to have a sustainable economy,” said Chesser.

By planning to use a traditional neighborhood development, Fluvanna would have to plan for village like developments where employment, retail and residential are in walking distance. It requires legacy projects that Popowicz is actively recruiting.

“There is a quick temptation to building out very quickly which is box stores and townhomes. If you end up doing it that way, sure there is a great short-term benefit, it feels good in the short term.

“But in 15 years, when those box stores go empty and the townhomes degrade, then at what type of condition are you at? This is making sure we do it properly, we do it smart, we do it according to a plan. It is absolutely critical. If we go for the sugar high, we are going to kill ourselves long term. We only have one chance to build out Zion Crossroads right,” said Kenney.

Zion Crossroad actually could set up quite nicely for a traditional neighborhood development. Of the 6,016 total acres in the Route 250 corridor, 3,196 acres are developed. That leaves 2,820 acres undeveloped. There are also pretty well connected areas of undeveloped land.

What comes of it is now for a master plan.

A lot of the discussion around Zion Crossroad is similar to how Short Pump was discussed years ago. That isn’t something Chesser sees as a perfect solution because of the congestion that plagues the area.

He does like elements and basic design of Stonefield in Charlottesville. Stonefield incorporates retail and residential while surrounding Sperry Marine – Northrop Grumman.

“If you can put shopping center behind trees but still have viable businesses like, some of these larger consulting companies. You can even have a manufacturing company out there because manufacturing is so much more aggressive and high tech,” said Chesser.

While the idea of making a master plan seems like another study in the process, Kenney insists this is different. During the work session he credited Crozet having a master plan that helped spark development.

“It is not another study to a study. What this is, at this point in time we’ve collected the data, we know we have an opportunity there, how are we going to seize that opportunity? That’s the difference between now and then,” said Kenney.

The supervisors hope to make decisions on water infrastructure and start a master plan in the coming months.

“We can talk about what we want up there and put a picture for people to see. Hopefully, by showing [a plan], by us invest in that area, someone will come and do the right job. There are some great developers out there that have done things across the country,” said Chesser.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Fluvanna BOS To Lower Tax Burden

PALMYRA — The Fluvanna Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to advertise a budget that includes a tax decrease.

The advertised budget will be for $65,312,998 which includes a real property tax rate of $0.795 per $100 assessed and a personal property tax rate of $4.15 per $100 assessed.

The school funding was raised from the baseline of $12.2 million to $13.75 million but still short of the School Board requested amount of $14.1 million.

“As we incrementally improve, we need to incrementally put back the things that we had taken away. I think everyone recognizes that,” said chairman Shaun Kenney (Columbia District) before the motion was made. “That just doesn’t involve the school system. It involves deputies, it involves county staff, it involves the tax payer. …. Those are things that need to be addressed.”

Mozell Booker (Fork Union District) made the motion and it was seconded by Joe Chesser (Rivanna District).

Booker said before the motion, “Everyone in this room knows I am a strong advocate for education. I would love to be able to say and desire that we were at an equalized rate, that we could fund the schools beyond what they are asking for.

“The only thing I can do is get you a little bit past $0.79 and move it to $0.795. And that would help and bring you to $13.7 [million].”

The vote went quickly without discussion.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Chesser made a motion to reconsider the tax rate motion. It is a Roberts Rule of Order procedure that a motion during a meeting can be ‘called to reconsider’ later in the same meeting. It last was used during a budget advertisement meeting in 2010. It was successful and the board voted to increase the tax rate to help with school funding at the time.

This year the reconsider motion by Chesser and seconded by Booker failed 3-2. Don Weaver (Cunningham District), Bob Ullenbruch (Palmyra District) and Kenney voted against it.

The advertised budget means the supervisors will hold a public hearing on the advertised budget and tax rates. The board can only decrease from the advertised amount. If the board wants to increase from the advertised budget and tax rates, it requires holding another public hearing and advertising in the local newspaper for two consecutive weeks.

The public hearing on this budget and tax rates will be on April 10 at 7 p.m. at the Fluvanna Circuit Courtroom.

Increasing the budget and tax rates is unlikely because it puts a strain on county operations. The first tax bill that reflects the accepted tax rate has a payment deadline of June 5. If the supervisors try to change the timeline, the county treasurer has a limited window to prepare tax bills, send them out and then give time for residents to pay.

Many residents pay the real estate tax through their mortgages. The mortgage companies are not as easy to change the rates on so late in the process. Reportedly, moving the timeline back could cause many delayed payments and other collection issues.

The process of increasing the budget and rates after advertising can be done but it is just unlikely.

The Board of Supervisors next meets on April 3 at 2 p.m. in the Fluvanna Circuit Courtroom. There will be a work session that evening to discuss the budget. A finalized budget is scheduled to pass after the public hearing on April 10.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Fluvanna and Louisa Supervisors Discuss JRWA and Pipeline

By. Bryan Rothamel

PALMYRA — The Fluvanna and Louisa Board of Supervisors might finally have a way to get water out of the James River.

It has been discussed for over 20 years and in 24 minutes the two boards were able to move the discussion closer to reality than ever before.

Louisa supervisors called the March 6th meeting to discuss four tennets to having the jointly owned James River Water Authority (JRWA)  pull water from the James River and bring it across Fluvanna to the Louisa border.

The points Louisa wanted to discuss were:

1) Is Fluvanna County still interested in a longer term water solution benefiting both counties using the James River Water Authority?

2) Louisa County proposes to run a raw water line from Columbia, directly along the Colonial gas pipeline into Louisa where Louisa would construct and operate a water treatment facility. The facility then could produce usable water along Route 250 for Louisa growth areas.

3) Louisa County proposes to fund the entire project to begin as soon as possible.

4) Louisa County requests to have one additional vote on the JRWA until such time Fluvanna funds their share of the project.

The Fluvanna supervisors found no issues with the first three points. The fourth point fell flat.

“Conceptually we are in agreement. We think it is a project that can move forward, we are very confident it can move forward,” said Louisa chairman Willie Harper (Mineral District) after the meeting.

During the meeting, Fluvanna chairman Shaun Kenney said, “If Louisa is willing to pay for the pipeline, there isn’t much more to discuss.”

The issues the JRWA has had is the board is split evenly by Fluvanna and Louisa representatives. Neither county owns the permit to withdraw water from the James River, it is jointly shared though the authority. Finally, the permit allows withdrawing from the river in the Bremo Bluff area.

To accomplish what Louisa proposes, the JRWA would have to request Department of Environment Quality to have the ‘straw’ placed at Columbia instead of Bremo Bluff. Then Louisa would run the water line along side the Colonial gas line to Ferncliff where it would reach the Louisa border.

That project would be owned by the JRWA. Louisa would then own, all to itself, any pipes or treatment facilities in Louisa County. There is no discussion of what Fluvanna would have to do to become a ‘fully funded parter’ to tap into this raw water line.

“It has always been a joint effort, continues to be a joint effort. We are just going to be the sole participant, payer and benefactor until such time they’ll find the need. It will come,” said Harper.

Louisa estimates the entire project, including the treatment facility to be over $50 million. The project to just get the water from the river to the Louisa border is estimated at $15 million.

This agreement is nothing new to what the JRWA has always been. The only change is Louisa willing to fully fund it to get water quicker than when both parties are ready.

The JRWA’s plan has been to provide raw water across Fluvanna. The intent of the JRWA has been to take raw water out of the James River and then either county can treat it where they wish.

Also, the JRWA still has the agreement that the counties split the intake evenly. In order to change that, both counties would have to agree in contract. If Louisa would want to use more than 50 percent of the intake, then Fluvanna could sell the water wholesale without amending the original agreement.

The Louisa timeline is to request a change of the permit and get approval in about 60 days. Louisa will also work on engineering and design work.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Fluvanna Administrator Proposes Examining Groundwater

By. Bryan Rothamel

Included in the Fluvanna County administrator’s proposed budget capital improvements plan is a hydrogeologic study.

Hydrogeologic study is examining the distribution, occurrence and effect of groundwater. Steve Nichols, county administrator, included this study because of how important he feels groundwater can be.

The CIP has not been approved, and up until the last Board of Supervisors meeting it wasn’t publicly discussed by the board. However, the hydrogeologic study was brought up.

The study is proposed for $50,000 to pay for the study. County administration suggests studying the Zion Crossroad, Palmyra and Fork Union planning areas for water.

Nichols told the board he didn’t believe groundwater was useful until he heard a presentation from a groundwater expert.

Nichols said if the board wasn’t a believer in usefulness of groundwater, just look across the county line in Louisa. The Zion Crossroad area is supported with groundwater, he said.

He mentioned the advantages to groundwater is once the the source is tapped, it is much more cost effective than surface water. It is cleaner, requiring less, if not no, treatment to serve.

There could be massive amounts of water in the ground that the county just needs to, literally, tap into. It could be the most cost effective way to start a water system at Zion Crossroad before larger sources are used.

The county also will need to add a new well to the Fork Union Sanitary District. FUSD is supported by wells that are aging. If a catastrophic failure happens to one of the operating wells, the county does not have a contingency plan currently.

A well could operate a Palmyra water system. Reportedly, Palmyra already has pipes in the ground. The system could serve the various government entities.

Nichols told the board he would like to have a water engineer present at an upcoming meeting reasons why using groundwater is sometimes a better option. He said it could turn them into a ‘believer’ also.

The supervisors are scheduled to approve the FY14 budget and capital improvement plan on April 17. Anything in the plan for Fiscal Year 2014 is approved for funding. Anything in the plan past FY14 is planned for but not approved for funding, unless it is in connection with an FY14 item.

The next Board of Supervisor meeting is Feb. 27. It is a work session to hear presentations from nonprofit and regional agencies. The meeting will start at 6 p.m.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Image Credit: State of California

Fluvanna County Draft Budget Released

By. Bryan Rothamel

Steve Nichols, Fluvanna County Administrator

The budget cycle starts in November but the true discussion amongst the supervisors starts in February with the County Administrator presenting a budget. This staff drafted budget can help shape the conversation.

This budget could fall flat and the supervisors start drafting individual budgets to lead the conversation, as in recent years.

“I think [the budget presentation] was a nice, comfortable, clean process for a starting point. The real work now begins. At least they have a starting point and they were receptive to it,” said Nichols.

Nichols presented a budget that includes a slight tax decrease for real property owners in the county.

Fiscal year 2013′s real property (also known as simply the real estate tax) was $0.5981 per $100 assessed. Because of the reassessment period, that rate is now equalized to $0.81 per $100 assessed.

Nichols’ budget has a real property rate of $0.79 per $100 assessed and keeping the personal property tax rate at $4.15 per $100 assessed.

The budget presented Wednesday decreases revenues by $2.6 million. The majority of the ‘revenue’ lost by using $2.8 million less funds from the county savings, known as the ‘fund balance.’

There would however be a slight increase in property tax revenue, because of things like public utilities now being taxed at a higher rate. The public utilities are not subject to the county’s reassessment period. They are reassessed every year by the state and then just taxed at the local rate.

The yearly assessment does not change much but the county will now tax that property at an additional $0.20 per $100 assessed.

The expenditures of the county have also decreased in Nichols’ budget. Savings in this budget include $571,000 less in debt service, mainly because of the bond refinancing.

The Nichols Budget also has schools getting $13.2 million. Last year the schools were budgeted for $12.5 million but received $13.5 million after additional stopgap appropriations were made over the course of the year.

The largest savings of expenditures Nichols has is a reduction in capital projects. The county has completed costly projects like narrowbanding and has set aside money for replacement of the emergency services radio equipment, a project that had been waiting years to be completed. That project alone was budgeted for $4 million in FY13′s capital improvements plan.

Nichols’ budget also contains changes to the staff health plan and salary adjustments for staff including cost of living increases.

“It is time. We need to take care of our staff. They haven’t been well enough take care of. It’s not that everybody deserves 50 percent pay raises, I don’t mean that at all. We just need to have an iterative process that runs over multiple years and this year is the time to start that,” said Nichols.

The capital improvements plan includes funding for an amphitheater, public safety projects like replacement of phone equipment at the 911 center and water projects including the first state of a water system in the Zion Crossroad area. School projects in the CIP are a new electronic financial system to be inline with the county financial system, renovations at Carysbrook Elementary School and money for school busses.

Now the supervisors get their crack at the budget in earnest. Feb. 13 is a scheduled work session for revenue and expenditures plus hearing agency presentations. Nichols thinks he at least has given them something that can easily be implemented.

“I much prefer giving them something that is doable. If they want to go up from that or down from that, it is certainly their choice. But I wanted to give them something that is doable,” said Nichols.

The Feb. 13 work session is slated to start at 7 p.m. in the Fluvanna Circuit Courtroom.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Image Credit: Fluvanna County

Fluvanna Budget Proposal To Reduce Taxes

By. Bryan Rothamel

PALMYRA – The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors will be presented with a budget on Wednesday that decreases taxes, according to several sources close to the budget process.

The budget proposal will increase school funding, by comparison to last year’s budget. It will not increase it higher than what was additionally given over the course of the past year.

The sources were anonymous because they were not authorized to release budget information before the presentation scheduled for the 2 p.m. Feb. 6 meeting.

The real estate tax rate for fiscal year 2013 is $0.5981 per $100 assessed value. The equalized rate after reassessment is $0.81 per $100 assessed.

Reportedly, the budget proposed by Steve Nichols, county administrator, will call for a $0.79 tax rate. This would be a slight decrease in taxes.

The proposed budget also includes roughly $13.2 million for the school system. Last year the school district received $12.5 million in the budget. In May the schools were appropriated $600,000 for one time use. Then in November the supervisors voted to appropriate $300,000 to be taken out of fiscal year 2014.

The total funding for FY13, including all appropriations, roughly came to $13.4 million. However, the November deal created a baseline budget of $12.2 for FY14. The FY14 baseline budget does not include any appropriations and takes out the November compromise.

Using the information from the sources, the proposed FY14 funding would increase from the baseline by $1 million.

The proposed budget, reportedly, also includes funding for county employee raises and some funding for non-profit groups, although the sources wouldn’t fully describe how much.

Fork Union supervisor Mozell Booker wouldn’t comment directly on the administrator’s budget until it is presented on Feb. 6 but said, “I’m going to be advocating for more than $12 million (FY13 school funding level).”

Booker also said she wants to see raises for employees, career tech courses at Fluvanna County High School and funding for non-profits and core services (fire, rescue and Sheriff’s Office).

Bob Ullenbrunch (Palmyra District) also would not comment on the administrator’s budget proposal until Wednesday but said, “I am looking closely at funding for the senior center and parks and rec [sic], along with proper pay increases for the Sheriff Department employees. We need to get them up to levels for employment longevity.”

He also commented he wanted to see what the School Board needed and wanted for FY14.

Chairman Shaun Kenney (Columbia District) declined to comment on the budget process at this time.

Nichols could not comment on the budget until it is presented to the board during the Feb. 6 meeting. The 2 p.m. meeting will have a full presentation plus handouts available. At that time, the proposed budget will also be publicly available on the county’s website.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Fluvanna BOS discusses Water Options & Amphitheater

By. Bryan Rothamel

PALMYRA — Fluvanna Board of Supervisors were briefed during the Jan. 16 meeting on upcoming meetings over water options regarding the Zion Crossroad area and options for the Fork Union Sanitary District system.

The updates were extremely brief during the meeting and more aimed to keep supervisors abreast of the process.

The county has been discussing two routes to provide water to the Zion Crossroad planning district. The first option being a private-public partnership with Aqua using the Rivanna River station. The second route is to team with the Department of Corrections to use the women’s correctional facility water system.

County officials will meet with the Department of Corrections on Jan. 22. One issue discovered early in the process is the water system is rated for 250,000 gallons per day usage but the permit for the system is 400,000 gallons per day.  The correctional officials will host county administration at the correctional facility for the meeting.

Officials will meet with Aqua on Jan. 24. There was brief discussion concerning Aqua thinking a system would only be viable with 90,000 gallons per day used. The county would have to find potential customers to make the system viable.

 

An ongoing water issue that costs the county money each year is the Fork Union Sanitary District (FUSD). FUSD, often pronounced Fuzz-dee during meetings, has old wells that have been worked and reworked to maximize production.

There are well options at the old Thomasville plant that haven’t been used and showed better production than currently used wells. The county does not have use of the wells currently and are discussing the process of obtaining use.

County officials are recommending the county perform two separate hydro studies. One would be on FUSD for an additional well and another on ground water availability for use at Zion Crossroad and Palmyra.

“Fork Union is a critical issue,” said Joe Chesser (Rivanna District). “It is costing us money and the wells aren’t in that good of shape.”

It was discussed if Aqua has been asked again about purchasing FUSD from the county. The general feeling from county staff was they are different issues. It is something supervisor Mozell Booker (Fork Union) is not interested in.

“I just hate to see that on the table now,” said Booker as it was brought up.

Also during the Jan. 16 meeting the supervisors approved submitting a proposal to Bama Works for construction of phase one of the Pleasant Grove Amphitheater. The proposal cannot exceed $60,000. Patricia Groot, grants administrator for the county, noted Bama Works typically does not grant more than $10,000 at a time but exceptions sometimes happen.

Groot also noted Charlottesville Area Community Foundation administers Bama Works. Even if Bama Works only grants $10,000, another benefactor from CACF might contribute to the program.

“We’ve received Bama grants in the past that have been administered properly. They have been satisfied,” said Groot.

The amphitheater would be constructed in two phases. The first phase would construct a stage about the same size as the Carysbrook Performing Arts Center. Phase one would also include enough bench seating for 140 people and additional grass seating.

The second phase would add a shelter area for possible changing rooms and storage, covering over the stage and additional 450 seats seats with less grass seating.

The first phase is expected to cost $59,925. The county has budgeted $5,000 with plans for the remaining funding from grants.

The deadline for the Bama Works grant is Feb. 1. The next Bama Works deadline is Aug. 1.

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The Free Enterprise Forum’s coverage of Fluvanna County is provided by a grant from the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® and by the support of readers like you.

Bryan Rothamel covers Fluvanna County for the Free Enterprise Forum.  He is the founder of the Fluco Blog.  Additional writings can be found at www.Flucoblog.com

Image credits: Fluvanna County