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Prince Edward officials won’t try to push a sales tax increase through the General Assembly in 2025. After six years of attempts, based on how things ended in the last session, county staff say they’re not inclined to try again right now. 

“Given where we were last year with the 1% sales tax, I am not proposing to our legislators to carry a bill,” said Prince Edward Administrator Doug Stanley. “At this time, I don’t think it would be successful.” 

Originally proposed by previous administrator Wade Bartlett, the idea has been to help fund the renovations at Prince Edward Elementary through a 1% sales tax increase in Prince Edward County. Money from the increase would have helped pay the yearly debt service on the project. A county can’t just do this automatically. In Virginia, a city or county has to first get permission from the General Assembly, then citizens have to vote on the concept before it can happen. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, supervisors pushed to get a bill filed and approved in the Assembly, but each time it died. This year, supervisors hired a lobbying firm to help push the bill forward. It made it all the way through the Assembly and to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk to be signed. However, Youngkin vetoed it, saying he had promised not to approve any new tax increases. A two-thirds majority is required to overturn a veto in Virginia and the following vote in the Assembly fell far short of that. Prince Edward officials feel it’s less likely a similar bill would make it through the Assembly in this coming session. The Democrats hold just a slight 51-49 majority in the House. In the State Senate, Democrats currently hold 20 seats and Republicans 18, with two vacancies being filled in special elections on Jan. 7. 

‘We’re not making the request’ 

Speaking to the board of supervisors during their Tuesday, Dec. 10 meeting, Stanley told the group he wouldn’t be recommending hiring any lobbying firms or pushing lawmakers to move the salary tax idea forward. However, if someone else, if another county or state lawmaker pushed for it, that’s a different story. 

“If (a bill) pops up, then we’d support it if it benefits Prince Edward County, but we’re not making the request,” Stanley said. 

Meanwhile, work continues on the actual school renovations. The Prince Edward School Board received an update from Moseley Architects during their Wednesday, Dec. 4 meeting. The notice to proceed with construction was issued on Nov. 12 and work has been moving forward first on the abatement of Buildings E and F and now their demolition. Those two, the oldest structures on the site, are the only part of the project that will be completely replaced. When everything is finished, they’ll be replaced with new construction connecting the remaining buildings, making it much easier to travel between classrooms. In that Dec. 4 meeting, school board member Susan Kimbrough asked how long it would take for both to be demolished. The answer, Moseley officials said, wasn’t long. 

“(The buildings) should be gone, if not by the end of the year, sometime into January. It will not take long to knock those buildings down,” said Stephen Halsey. He’s the head of Moseley Architects’ K-12 group, which handles school projects. The company had been hired last year to develop construction plans and coordinate work for the renovation. 

Demolition will be going on from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, until it’s complete. Some of the louder activities in the demolition, Moseley officials say, will likely take place during the Christmas break, when students and staff are away from the property.

No more sales tax increase 

So if the sales tax increase is out, how will the work be paid for? The winning bid for the construction, from Lynchburg-based English Construction, came in at $38,097,500. That’s going to be paid for using three pots of money. First, Prince Edward County received a $8.655 million grant from the Virginia Capital Projects Fund. Second, the county applied for and got a loan through the Virginia Literary Loan Fund. That was $25 million, to be paid back over a 20-year period at a rate of 3% interest. The remaining portion will be paid through bonds issued by the Virginia Public School Authority (VPSA). That’ll be paid back over a 25-year period, at a 4% interest rate. So when all is said and done, including interest, Prince Edward will pay $61.358 million to cover the cost of the project. 

As for what changes? For the remainder of this school year, most everything will remain the same this school year for parents and students. Parents will be dropping off and picking up students in the same place as they do now. Parents also won’t be losing any parking spaces to construction right now. Halsey said in that Dec. 4 meeting that English Construction has been setting up things “to not make it worse” as far as available space goes. 

Current plans have all of that set to start changing this coming summer, coinciding with the completion of the new main front door and library. The school’s front entrance should be relocated by July 2025, getting traffic off Eagle Drive and creating a loop that makes both drop-off and pick-up easier for parents, students and staff. By the time the whole project is finished, there will be space for an additional 25-30 vehicles on campus at any given time.