Rappahannock school budget faces state, county wrangling

Rappahannock planners face more wrangling over the school budget in 2024, with continued suspense over levels of state and county support. 

Background

The schools claim over 60% of county expenditures. In the fiscal year that began last July, the county provided $9.4 million for schools, up from $8.9 million the previous year. The state also contributes, but in 2023, the allocation got snarled up in a larger budget impasse, resulting in a $1 million shortfall that sent Rappahannock’s budgeteers scrambling. In the end, the state provided $3.8 million to the schools, the federal government $1.1 million, with $900,000 coming from foundations and other grants. 

Why it matters

When the state steps back, the county steps up, and the choices are unwelcome. Residents begrudge higher property taxes; restaurants and inns battle hikes in meals and lodging taxes; smokers and roadside shops hate tobacco taxes. 

What to expect

There will be more suspense surrounding the state’s school contribution, and more pushback from county supervisors when it comes to making up for missing millions from the state.  

In setting the budget last July, the schools assumed the Virginia Assembly would reengineer a long-time formula that hurts small counties like Rappahannock. Though the hoped-for change appeared likely, it died in the larger budget logjam.

Bonnie Jewell, who manages the budget from the county administrator’s office, says that in 2024, she’ll work with the governor’s proposed budget, not assumptions about what the General Assembly might enact. The Board of Supervisors may push a tougher line. “I don’t want speculative conversations about what the state will or won’t be able to do,” Hampton Supervisor Keir Whitson said. “I want a  direct discussion about what the school needs and what the county can afford.” He added that he favors a return to the previous year’s funding of $8.9 million.  

This past year, inflation and higher interest rates helped the county sidestep taxes that had seemed inevitable. (The county must balance its budget, so deficit-spending isn’t an option.)  

Here’s how the county lucked out of the financial bind it was facing eight months ago: Whitson fought off a proposed increase in property taxes. Supervisors Ron Frazier and Christine Smith (neither a smoker) led a successful charge on proposed cigarette taxes. Reluctantly, the supervisors agreed to a delayed hike in meals and lodging taxes, a move restaurant owners opposed. 

However, when the time came to impose the higher hospitality taxes, two unrelated revenue streams were trending up. With rising home prices, property taxes were bringing in about $100,000 more than projected. Meanwhile, the Fed’s higher interest rates raised the county’s projected interest income by $70 million. The dreaded tax increases were buried – at least for the current fiscal year.  

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