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With little discussion Monday, the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors approved a general fund budget for fiscal year 2024 that includes equalized real estate and personal property car tax rates.
The real estate tax rate was set at 61 cents per $100 value, which is 13 cents below the previous rate of 74 cents. The new rate is considered equalized to account for reassessments that pushed property values up by 21 cents.
The personal property car tax rate was set at $4.25 per $100 value – an increase of 45 cents over the prior rate of $3.80. This equalized rate accounts for declining values of used vehicles – a reversal of last year’s trend of sharply rising used auto values. A year ago, the rate was reduced by 70 cents – from $4.50 to $3.80.
The state reimbursement rate for a portion of the personal property car taxes collected locally was set at 35 percent.
The adopted budget for the next fiscal year sets planned expenditures and projected revenues at $56,753,561 – an increase of $3,546,189, or 6.66 percent, over the current year. The budget includes a local appropriation to the schools of $16,719,567 – an increase of $739,784, or 4.63 percent, over the current year.
All county employees are to be given 5 percent pay raises in the new year.
At a public hearing on the budget last Monday, April 24, the only comments that were made came from Steve Reese of the regional fire-rescue commission. Reese raised objections to using rescue recovery funds to pay for a second fire-EMS instructor.
The supervisors voted 4-0 Monday to adopt the budget and set tax rates for next year. Supervisor Jay Lewis was absent.
Adoption of the budget is the culmination of a monthslong process in which the supervisors closed a gap of $2.4 million between planned expenditures and anticipated revenues for next year
