The Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing Tuesday evening on the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) county budget, FY20 school budget and 2019 tax levies, and while no one from the public attended, Farmville 701 District Supervisor and Board Chair Jim Wilck provided a synopsis of the proposed county budget, focusing on major items.

“First, I’m pleased to announce there are no tax or fee increases included in the proposed budget,” he stated. “Additionally, the recommended budget is balanced with no use of county fund balances or reserves.”

He noted that the proposed budget contains an increase of $596,687 for Prince Edward County Public Schools, bringing the total amount of local funding for the schools to $9,037,671.

“This is the exact amount requested by the school board and shows the commitment of the board of supervisors to educating our children,” he said. “It is slightly more than 39 percent of the total general fund budget and is more than three-and-a-half times the amount the county provides to fund all of the constitutional officers combined. The additional funding allows the school to provide a 5 percent pay increase to all school employees, hire four additional teachers, a technology assistant and an assistant principal for the middle school.”

Wilck cited that the board did not forget the county’s workforce as the proposed budget includes a 3 percent pay increase for all county employees and constitutional offices.

He said there are six capital expenditure items in the proposed general fund budget.

“First is $157,000 for the purchase of three new vehicles and radar units for the sheriff’s department,” he said. “Second is $34,000 for a new pickup truck for Public Works and $12,000 for a commercial-grade zero-turn mower. Third is $82,750 to purchase computers, printers, etc. — $40,000 will be used to upgrade the county’s operating system for the IBM AS 400.

“The fourth is $45,000 to repave the parking lot at the Natural Resources building,” he continued. “There are also four capital items in the solid waste fund costing $205,000. These are, one, a used bulldozer; two, maintenance shop; three, three buildings at convenience sites; and four, repairs to the scale house.”

Also contained in the proposed budget is $220,000 to conduct the mandated reassessment of all real property in the county, the board chairman said, adding that this is a one-time expense the county incurs every six years.

Next, Wilck posed the question of how the county could pay for all of the items he had mentioned without a tax increase.

“The answer is good management by the board of supervisors and a growing local economy,” he said.

He highlighted how five years ago, the board conducted an in-depth review of the entire county budget, and this led to the elimination of approximately half a million dollars in expenses.

“But more importantly that action set a tone and direction for the boards that have followed and the county staff to be ever diligent in minimizing the use of your tax dollars,” Wilck said.

Additionally, the county has seen an increase in revenues from various sources, but mainly from real estate and personal property, he noted.

“The county is growing, and this growth has allowed the county to absorb spending increases,” Wilck said. “Some of the new and expanded businesses that we have seen over the last few years include Adams Construction, the new W.C. Newman concrete plant, the continued expansion of J.R. Tharpe Trucking, in Rice; Power Secure; Tri-Boro Shelving & (Partition Corp.); Luck Stone quarry and the new hotels located in Farmville and the newest addition — YakAttack.”

He cited that economic growth is continuing and may well be accelerating.

“These new businesses are expanding our tax base and creating new jobs for our citizens,” he said.

Wilck concluded by thanking all of the locality’s constitutional officers and county department directors for working with the board of supervisors and County Administrator Wade Bartlett to hold down costs while maintaining a high level of service for the citizens.