Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Budget Work Session - March 10, 2025
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Budget Work Session - March 10, 2025
This was the first work session for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, focusing on general fund revenues, non-departmental transfers, and public safety. No formal action was taken; the session was intended to inform the board ahead of upcoming decision points. Staff presented detailed data on tax rates, revenue growth, and the financial impact of expiring federal grants on public safety.
Discussion Items
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Total Budget Overview: The total budget is nearly flat (increase of $190,000 or less than 0.1%), but the general fund shows a recommended tax increase due to rising costs. The county executive's proposal includes a 4-cent real estate tax increase (from 85.4 to 89.4 cents per $100 of assessed value) and a personal property tax increase from $3.96 to $4.28 per $100 of assessed value.
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General Fund Revenues: Real estate tax revenue is projected to increase $29 million (12%), driven by reassessment growth (5.1%) and the proposed tax rate increase ($12.4 million). The effective tax rate to offset reassessments only would be 81.3 cents. Personal property tax relief is provided by the state on a sliding scale; the county receives a fixed $15 million annually. Other local taxes (sales, meals, transient occupancy) are near their state-imposed maximums. Staff noted limited options for revenue diversification due to the Dillon rule.
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Non-Departmental Transfers: The revenue sharing payment to Charlottesville will exceed $20 million, up $2.4 million (14%). The recommended ongoing transfer to public schools is $14.3 million (7.3% increase), plus $6.2 million one-time from fund balance for the health fund. Capital transfer increases $2.4 million. Staff presented the historical allocation of shared revenues (54% schools, 36% county, 10% capital) and noted that tax rate increases are often dedicated to specific purposes rather than flowing through the formula. For FY26, the 4-cent increase is proposed as: 3.2 cents for public safety, 0.4 cents for schools, and 0.4 cents for affordable housing (to be dedicated and not split). Board members questioned whether the public safety portion should also be dedicated ongoing.
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Public Safety – Police: Chief Sean Reeves requested six additional patrol officers. He presented data showing 158 sworn officers (out of 165 positions), with officers spending 90% of time on reactive calls, leaving only 10% for proactive work. Calls for service increased 17% from 2021 to 2024, with priority one calls up 88% in urban areas. Response time goals (5 min urban, 10 min rural) are not being met (urban 73%, rural below 50%). The six officers would be placed in high-demand sectors to improve coverage and backup. A staffing study is underway, expected fall 2025.
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Public Safety – Fire Rescue: Chief Dan Egliston highlighted a 21% increase in calls since 2019, including more complex incidents and weather-related events. The system relies on career and volunteer staff; volunteer numbers are declining. The FY26 budget includes absorbing 57 positions previously funded through federal SAFER grants, which are expiring. This is a major driver of the tax increase. The department is also adding a new ambulance at Berkmar and a ladder truck at Monticello. A study on standards of cover is being updated.
Key Outcomes
- No formal action was taken; the work session was informational.
- Staff will bring back scenarios for the board's consideration at subsequent work sessions (March 12, 17, and 19). On March 19, the board is expected to propose a budget and set a maximum tax rate for advertisement.
- Board members expressed interest in making the 3.2 cents public safety funding a dedicated ongoing allocation, rather than letting it fall into the general split formula after the first year. Staff agreed to prepare illustrative options.
- The board will consider using $11.1 million in one-time FY25 revenue from the tax rate change and stronger assessments, with staff recommending the traditional 54/36/10 split for that money (directing it to schools, capital, affordable housing, and economic development).
- The public safety staffing study is ongoing; results will inform future resource requests.
- The next work session is scheduled for March 12, 2025, at 3:00 PM in Room 241.
Meeting Transcript
Call in order of this meeting. Recording in progress. This meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on the 10th apart, 3 p.m. on 241 of McIntyre Office Building. At the table, we have Mike Brew of the Scotchville District, the Supervisor Pila Pistol Currently of the Revenue District. Supervisor Anthony McHeal of the Jack Jewett district, Supervisor Ben Calloway and Ryan District, Supervisor Ann Malik of the Whitehall District, myself commanders representing Samuel Miller district forum is present. We're also joined by a number of our uh county executive, Mr. Jeff Richardson. Deputy County Executive, Mr. Trevor Hending. Deputy County Executive and Wall. Chief Operating Officer, Christy Schuffler. Chief Financial Officer, Jacob Sumner. And Assistant Chief Financial Officer Andy Bellman. We're also joined by our clerk. And also please welcome the uh Albemaro County Police Officers present today. Officer Finner and Officer Tyler Wall. Thank you for the service. We also have our county attorney, Mr. Andy Herrick standing by. And I will be here from our fire rescue chief, Mr. Ah, there you are. Chief of Police, Sean Reeves. Welcome all. All right. So with that, um, I believe we can just start it. I'm not sure. Turning over to Mr. Richardson. I'll ask uh our chief finance officer to take a second since this is our first work session, Mr. Chair, and introduce he or Mr. Bowman either one to introduce our team members that are here from budget and finance. Thank you. They really do a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes to get us to where we are today, please. Good afternoon, everyone. Um, I do want to introduce our our uh office management budget staff who's worked diligently over the past several months on not only um you know producing the the document but also working closely with staff in the executive's office uh to get us to this point. Uh we have Thomas Unsworth, T Mitchell, Laura Manzant, and Brian Davidson. And with that, I'll turn it over to Ms. We also have uh assisting us. Thank you. Uh from our Revenue Administration folk, uh Revenue Administration Office, uh Jeffrey Methaney, and um Robert Wilson who are helping us with our revenue uh projections. Now I'll turn it over to Mr. Lots of brains here, guys. Thank you for the introduction. So this is the first work session for the fiscal year 26 budget process. And I always like to start every work session with the entire path ahead for where we are today through the adoption and appropriation of the budget in May. Um there are many meetings to be had, and uh that list is going to start get ticked off very quick in the next couple of weeks. Uh today we have a work session that'll focus mainly on general fund revenues, uh, the non-departmental chatter chapter and public safety. And no action is going to be requested from the board of supervisors today. This is an information of work session.
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