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The Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the proposed Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) county budget, FY21 school budget and 2020 tax levies Tuesday, April 28, at 7 p.m.

“The Board of Supervisors is committed to keeping tax rates as low as possible, while ensuring that citizens are provided all the services they need,” Prince Edward County Administrator Wade Bartlett said about the budget in the release. “The FY21 county budget does not include any tax increases. The real estate tax has remained the same at 51 cents per $100 assessed value for the last four years, and the upcoming fiscal year is no change.”

The release noted that while the hearing will be held in the Board of Supervisors Room at the Prince Edward County Courthouse, at this time the public is not permitted to be physically present at the meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“However, there are other ways in which the public may participate,” officials stated in the release.

The public may participate by calling 1 (425) 436-6394, the release stated. Members of the public will then be prompted to provide an access code, which is 867576 followed by the # sign. If a busy signal is received when calling the phone number, simply try calling again shortly thereafter.

The release highlighted that public participation and public hearing comments for Board of Supervisors meetings will be received by Karin Everhart, deputy clerk to the board, using one of the following methods:

• Written comments may be mailed to the following — Board of Supervisors, P.O. Box 382, Farmville, VA 23901. Limit word count to no more than 500 words, and comments must be received by 2 p.m. the day of the meeting.

• Written comments may be placed in the county “payment dropbox” located in the courthouse parking lot. Limit word count to no more than 500 words, comments must be received in the dropbox by 2 p.m. the day of the meeting.

• Emailed comments may be sent to board@co.prince-edward.va.us. Limit word count to no more than 500 words, and comments must be received by 2 p.m. the day of the meeting.

• Using the meeting call-in information provided, citizens may phone in during the public participation and/or public hearing portion of a board meeting agenda. However, citizen speakers must pre-register with the county administrator’s office at (434) 392-8837 by 2 p.m. the day of the board meeting. Callers must be on the line and ready to speak when called upon by the board chair, first stating their name and district of residence. Based upon the number of pre-registered speakers, the board chair will determine the time allotted to each speaker.

For more information about the proposed FY21 budgets, the public can visit the county’s website at www.co.prince-edward.va.us. The link to the budget is in the column on the right side of the homepage.