APPOMATTOX — The real estate tax rate in Appomattox County will increase by four cents, a much lower increase than the Board of Supervisors advertised for its budget public hearing held last week.
The increase, which puts the tax rate at 48 cents per $100 of assessed value, will give the county little wiggle room and only a small amount to put in savings toward anticipated capital improvement expenses related to $73 million in work for renovating the county’s school buildings.
Supervisors also voted to restructure $11.4 million in existing debt and add $3.5 million in new debt to help pay for the water line. The total restructuring actually saves the county $891,000 every year in debt payments, and financial planners advised the county to put most of that into savings for future schools projects, County Administrator Aileen Ferguson said.
As part of the debate to hammer out the county’s fiscal year 2010 budget, supervisors spent a significant amount of time debating whether to include about $60,000 to go toward an economic development director position.
Board chairman Tom Conrad argued that this was not the time to implement the position because in addition to increasing taxes too much, the county needed to be in better economic shape before the person in the job would be effective in bringing new business to the county.
Courthouse District Supervisor Sam Carter argued that right now is the most important time for such a position because the person would be solely dedicated to bringing business into the county. Supervisors shot the move down 2-3.
Also up for debate was whether the county should take some of the savings from the restructuring and put it toward the $367,000 supervisors cut from the proposed schools budget.
The school board requested that money be put toward closing the gap, but Conrad was against that move, saying he felt the schools were wasting money on equipment rather than putting it toward building repairs. Supervisors approved 4-1 to give some money to the county schools budget.
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