Supes to adopt FY25 budget, hold public hearing on storage facility; Early voting starts May 3 for House, Senate primaries; Three candidates vie for Dem nomination in VA05
Engage Louisa is a nonpartisan newsletter that keeps folks informed about Louisa County government. We believe our community is stronger and our government serves us better when we increase transparency, accessibility, and engagement.
This week in county government: public meetings, April 29 through May 4
For the latest information on county meetings including public meetings of boards, commissions, authorities, work groups, and internal county committees, click here. (Note: Louisa County occasionally schedules internal committee/work group meetings after publication time. Check the county’s website for the most updated information).
Monday, April 29
Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6 pm. (agenda packet, livestream) The board will convene in closed session at 5 pm.
Other important dates
Friday, May 3
First day of early voting for U.S. House, Senate primary elections, Louisa County Office of Elections, 103 McDonald St., Louisa, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. See below for more information.
Additional information about Louisa County’s upcoming public meetings is available here.
Interested in taking your talents to one of the county’s numerous boards and commissions? Find out more here including which boards have vacancies and how to apply.
Supervisors to adopt FY25 budget, hold public hearing on storage facility and more
The Louisa County Board of Supervisors on Monday night is set to adopt the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, hold a public hearing on a proposed storage facility, discuss potential changes to the Lake Anna Shoreline Ordinance and more. Check out a meeting preview below.
Supes poised to adopt FY25 budget, slate of level tax rates
Supervisors are poised to adopt a $237.3 million budget for Fiscal Year 2025 including $156.2 million for operations and maintenance and $81.1 million for capital projects. (budget info)
The operating budget funds the day-to-day cost of running county government, paying for everything from employees’ salaries to fuel for fire trucks, while the capital budget covers big-ticket items like new school buildings, school buses and emergency service equipment.
The board is also set to adopt a slate of level tax rates including a 72-cent per $100 of assessed value rate for real estate, a $2.43 rate for personal property and a $1.90 rate for business personal property excluding data center equipment, which is taxed at $1.25 rate. The board hasn’t changed the real estate tax rate since 2015 when it hiked it four cents.
The budget is about 26 percent larger than the spending plan for the current fiscal year, an increase mostly driven by capital spending. Spending on big-ticket items will nearly double from FY24 to FY25.
Of the $81.1 million in the capital budget, $62 million is earmarked for two sizable school construction projects: a 500-seat addition to Louisa County Middle School and a 54,400-square foot career and technical education center adjacent to Louisa County High School.
The capital budget also allots $7.5 million to expand and upgrade the New Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant just west of the Route 208 bridge on Lake Anna, nearly $3 million for Firefly Fiber Broadband’s effort to bring universal high-speed internet access to the county by 2025 and about $2 million for fire trucks and fire and EMS equipment.
Like the capital budget, the county’s operating budget is slated to exceed spending in FY24, albeit by a more modest 6.2 percent. Driving some of that increase is a two percent pay hike for staff and a roughly 14 percent jump in spending on public safety including six new full-time positions for the Fire and EMS Department and compression adjustments to salaries. Public safety expenditures are expected to top $24 million in FY25, roughly 16 percent of the operating budget.
Spending on education is expected to exceed $91 million, about three percent more than this year. That increase is driven, in part, by a four percent pay hike for faculty and staff and two new faculty positions. School expenditures are expected to comprise about 58 percent of the operating budget.
To fund its spending, the county is expected to bring in $234 million in revenue from local, state and federal sources, including debt issuance, and tap $3.1 million from the school division’s long-term capital reserves to cover the rest of its costs. The board will issue $62 million worth of bonds this fall to cover the cost of school construction, paying them off over the next 30 years.
Though, the board is expected to formally adopt the budget on Monday night, it could require some tweaks post-adoption as the county awaits a final state budget. The Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed a biennial budget in March, but Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin proposed significant changes to the plan. That prompted lawmakers and the governor to agree to hammer out a compromise budget and hold a special session in mid-May to vote on the document.
To learn more about Louisa County’s proposed FY25 budget, check out some of Engage Louisa’s previous coverage.
FY25 Budget: PC reviews millions of dollars in capital spending requests, January 14, 2024
Supes plan to slash support for prominent local nonprofit as funding for outside agencies takes center stage in budget process, February 25, 2024
Supervisors advertise $237.7 million budget for FY25, March 25, 2024
Board prepares to adopt $237.3 million budget, April 15, 2024
Board to hold public hearing on rezoning, CUP for storage facility
Supervisors will hold a public hearing and vote on whether to approve Louisa Heights, LLC’s request to rezone, from General Industrial (I-2) to Industrial Limited (I-1), 3.14 acres on Duke Street in the Louisa District for a mini-warehouse facility (storage) with outdoor parking (part of tmp 41-187). The board will also consider the applicant’s request for a Conditional Use Permit, which is required for the use in I-1 zoning.
The property is located off Davis Highway (Route 22) just east of the Town of Louisa in the Louisa Growth Area and designated for industrial use on the Future Land Use Map in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. It’s part of a 60-acre assemblage that Louisa Heights purchased from the Louisa County Industrial Development Authority for development as an industrial park.
According to its land use application, Louisa Heights plans to build a 31,850-square foot storage facility on the parcel, which will be fenced and gated and use dark-sky compliant lighting.
In proffers attached to the rezoning, the applicant agrees to limit future uses on the property to a contractor’s office and shop, financial institution, funeral home, general office, guidance service, medical office and veterinary clinic. Additionally, with a CUP, the property would be limited in future use to a storage and parking facility—the proposed use—trade school, clinic, communication services, equipment sales and rental, and custom manufacturing, among several other uses.
Louisa Heights also agrees to proffer a 10-foot-wide walking trail across the southeastern portion of the site, which would connect Duke Street to fitness trails adjacent to the Betty Queen Center.
Senior Planner Tom Egeland told the Planning Commission at its March meeting that the trail would be “the first step in creating a pedestrian network in Louisa County.”
While the commission voted 4-2 to recommend approval of the rezoning and CUP, Cuckoo District Commissioner George Goodwin said the applicant’s proffers left too much leeway for the property to be used for something other than a storage facility in the future. He and Green Springs District Commissioner Jim Dickerson voted against Louisa Heights’ requests.
Supes to discuss Lake Anna Shoreline Ordinance
Supervisors will discuss proposed revisions to the Lake Anna Shoreline Ordinance, a section of county code that lays out development and designs standards for overwater structures like docks, boathouses and boardwalks. The ordinance overlaps with Dominion Energy’s guidelines. Dominion owns the lake and its shoreline but allows adjoining property owners to build overwater structures via individual use agreements.
Louisa County’s professional planning staff had recommended that supervisors repeal two components of the ordinance, which address “Safe navigation” and “Neighbor policies,” arguing that they mostly duplicate Dominion’s regulations. Both documents set rules for the orientation of overwater structures including how far they can extend onto the lake and how large and tall they can be.
Staff has said that the overlapping rules cause confusion and eat up staff time even though Dominion, not the county, ultimately controls what’s built on the lake. Of the three localities home to Lake Anna shoreline—Louisa, Spotsylvania and Orange—only Louisa has a shoreline ordinance regulating overwater structures.
Mineral District Supervisor Duane Adams, who represents the upper end of the lake, signaled support for the changes when the board first discussed them in December. Adams said that the shoreline ordinance may have been a good idea when the county adopted it in 2005, but now staff is “duplicating” Dominion’s work.
The Planning Commission unanimously recommended moving forward with the partial repeal. But, at the request of Cuckoo District Supervisor Chris McCotter, the board delayed a public hearing on the draft at its March 4 meeting. McCotter, who represents most of the lake below the Route 208 bridge, told Engage Louisa that he had concerns about gutting the county’s shoreline regulations and wanted more time to work on the ordinance.
The board will discuss a reworked draft Monday night ahead of a public hearing advertised for its May 6 meeting. In a April 5 Facebook post, McCotter described the new proposal as “a compromise that keeps Louisa County involved in the review of commercial and common area structures as well as some aspects of residential boathouse and pier construction.”
Read the draft ordinance here.
Supes to discuss ‘Survey for Parks and Recreation Projects’
The board will discuss gathering feedback from county residents on potential Parks and Recreation Department capital projects.
Patrick Henry District Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes told Engage Louisa last week that he requested the item be placed on the agenda. He said he wants staff to create a survey asking residents what sort of recreational facilities they’d like for the county to develop, be it pickleball courts, an indoor aquatic center, public parks, walking trails or other amenities.
The dearth of parks and rec facilities in the area emerged as a hot topic during the FY25 budget process as dozens of residents spoke at county meetings urging the board to up its investment in the department.
Many of the community members that weighed in asked the board to support Parks and Rec Director James Smith’s request for $6.6 million over the next two years for a multi-purpose recreation complex with space for pickleball, volleyball, basketball, exercise classes and more. Smith requested $600,000 in the coming fiscal year to design the facility and $6 million in FY26 to build it.
Most speakers said the board should fund the facility because the county needs more pickleball courts, citing the game’s burgeoning popularity and health and social benefits.
Other residents spoke in support of a different request submitted by Smith: $375,000 for a new skateboard park. The county previously had a well-used skate park, which was dismantled in 2012 to make way for a temporary home for the health department. County officials said at the time that when the health department found a permanent home, they’d replace the park. The department moved to the Louisa Medical Center in December, prompting skateboard enthusiasts to tell the board it’s time to make good on the promise.
The county’s proposed FY25 capital budget allocates $1 million for the Parks and Rec Department’s long-term capital reserves. Though it doesn’t explicitly state how the department should spend that money, the board has been socking away $400,000 a year for the last three years to save for an indoor aquatic center—potentially set for full funding in FY26—and, earlier this year, its finance committee recommended providing seed money for the rec center.
Board to appropriate $200k budget supplement for county attorney’s office
As part of the board’s consent agenda, a group of resolutions typically passed as a block with no discussion, supervisors will consider a $200,000 supplemental appropriation to the county attorney’s office. The appropriation is necessary because the office exceeded its $411,000 budget for Fiscal Year 2024.
In mid-October, former county attorney Helen Phillips vacated her position and, two weeks later, former assistant county attorney Kyle Eldridge left his post, leaving the county with no attorneys on staff.
To remedy the issue, the board hired Richmond attorney Dale Mullen and his firm, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP, to act as county attorney on an interim basis. Mullen, who was Louisa’s county attorney and county administrator between 2009 and 2013, has served in the role for about five months.
Supervisors continue to search for a permanent county attorney, according to an employment listing on the county’s website.
Assuming the appropriation is approved, supervisors will draw the additional funding from several sources including contingency reserves and the gasoline contingency fund.
Board to formally establish Tourism Advisory Committee, adopt bylaws
Another item included on the board’s consent agenda is a proposed resolution formally establishing a Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC) and adopting its bylaws.
The county currently has a Parks, Recreation and Tourism Committee, but supervisors agreed late last year to establish a separate panel to advise supervisors and county staff on tourism-related issues.
That move came after the board’s November decision to raise the transient occupancy tax (TOT) from two percent to seven percent. Under state law, three percent of the revenue collected from the levy must be used for tourism-related initiatives. The new committee will serve as the county’s official tourism industry organization and advise the board on how the revenue is spent, according to a resolution approved by supervisors in December.
The transient occupancy tax is tacked on to customers’ bills when they spend the night at a local hotel, bed and breakfast or short-term rental. According to the proposed FY25 budget, the TOT is expected to generate $675,000 for tourism-related spending in the coming fiscal year.
According to the proposed bylaws, the purpose of the TAC is “to serve in an advisory capacity” to the Board of Supervisors and county staff; make recommendations related to tourism marketing initiatives, tourism projects, and long-range plans for the tourism industry; and investigate, research and report on ways to promote tourism and increase tourism-related tax revenues.
The group will include at least ten but no more than 13 members representing stakeholders in the tourism industry in Louisa County.
The members will be appointed by the Board of Supervisors to two-year terms. They won’t be paid for their work and the board will have the authority to remove them for any reason.
The panel will select a chair and vice chair at its first meeting of each year and hold subsequent meetings at the chair’s discretion. The director of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department or their designee will serve as secretary, keeping minutes and maintaining TAC records.
Board to consider green-lighting work on middle school addition, okaying issuance of LCPS employment contracts for ’24-25 school year
At the request of the school board, supervisors will consider green-lighting the start of work on a planned 500-seat addition to Louisa County Middle School and an accompanying alternative education center. The proposed FY25 budget, set for adoption on Monday night, includes $29.4 million for the facility.
Though the project isn’t supposed to receive funding until the next fiscal year, which kicks off July 1, the school division says it needs to start work when school lets out for the summer in late May. For that to happen, school officials need permission from the board to start spending money.
The county intends to borrow some $62 million this fall to pay for the middle school addition and a $31.6 million career and technical education center adjacent to Louisa County High School. Since that money won’t arrive until later this year, supervisors will rely on cash on hand to pay for the early stages of the middle school project. They’ll have the option to reimburse themselves from the debt issuance once it arrives.
In response to another request from the school board, supervisors will consider authorizing the division to issue employment contracts for the 2024-25 academic year. The division says that it needs to issue the contracts “as soon as possible to retain valuable employees and provide them with the security needed so that they do not seek out employment elsewhere,” according to the proposed resolution.
Supes to consider budget supplement for Louisa Reentry Council
Supervisors will consider approving a $3,251 supplemental appropriation for the Louisa Reentry Council. The council, which works with previously incarcerated adults and their families to reduce recidivism, received $42,000 from the county in FY24.
In a letter to Finance Director Wanda Colvin, Reentry Council Director Lisa Rengers said that she plans to retire in late June and the organization needs the money to train Jennifer Carroll, the staffer who will take over her position. Carroll currently serves as the council’s administration coordinator.
If approved, the appropriation will be drawn from contingency reserves.
‘24 Primary Elections: Early voting starts May 3
2024 is a big election year as Louisa County residents and voters across the country will head to the polls on or before November 5 to choose a president and vice president, 34 members of the United States Senate and all 435 members of the House of Representatives.
But first the two major political parties must nominate candidates for those positions.
Back in March, some Louisa voters took part in Super Tuesday, casting ballots in the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries. Though they won’t be formally nominated until this summer, President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, are set to square off in a rematch for the White House this fall.
On Friday, Virginia’s 45-day early voting period begins for House and Senate primaries with Primary Election Day set for June 18. Louisa County voters will have a chance to cast ballots in Republican primaries for US Senate and the 5th Congressional District seat or a Democratic primary in the 5th.
Five Republicans are vying for the right to challenge Sen. Tim Kaine (D), a two-term incumbent, for one of Virginia’s two Senate seats. And two Republicans—Rep. Bob Good, a two-term incumbent, and state Senator John McGuire—are competing for their party’s nomination in the 5th Congressional District.
Since Kaine doesn’t have a challenge from within his party for Senate, the 5th District race is the only primary on the ballot on the Democrats’ side. Three candidates are competing for the chance to face off against McGuire or Good.
Virginia has open primaries, so anyone registered to vote in Louisa County can participate in the election. But voters can only cast a ballot in one party’s primary. That means when a voter goes to the polls or requests to vote by mail, they’ll be asked to choose either a Democratic or Republican ballot. Here’s a roundup of who’s on those ballots and other voter information.
Republican primary (sample ballot)
US House of Representatives: 5th Congressional District
Robert G. “Bob” Good (campaign website)
John J. McGuire III (campaign website)
Check out Engage Louisa’s previous coverage of the Republican primary in the 5th Congressional District:
McGuire to challenge Good for Republican nomination in 5th Congressional District, November 19, 2023
Fundraising tight as Good, McGuire battle for Republican nomination in VA05, April 21, 2024
US Senate
Hung Cao (campaign website)
Edward C. “Eddie” Garcia, Jr. (campaign website)
Jonathan W. Emord (campaign website)
C.L. “Chuck” Smith, Jr. (campaign website)
Scott Thomas Parkinson (campaign website)
Democratic primary (sample ballot)
US House of Representatives: 5th Congressional District
Gloria Tinsley Witt (campaign website)
Paul A. Riley (campaign website)
Gary L. Terry (campaign website)
Check out the article below to learn more about the three candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in the 5th Congressional District.
Early voting
The 45-day early voting period begins on Friday, May 3 and runs through Saturday, June 15.
Vote early in-person at the Louisa County Office of Elections, 103 McDonald Street, Louisa.
Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, (excluding Memorial Day, Monday, May 27)
Saturday, June 8 and Saturday, June 15, 9 am to 5 pm
Voting by Mail
Click here to request an absentee ballot (also known as a mail-in ballot) or contact the Louisa County Office of Elections. The deadline to request an absentee ballot for the June 18 primary is Friday, June 7 at 5 pm.
Absentee ballots can be returned by mail or dropped in a secure drop box at the Louisa County Office of Elections, 103 McDonald Street, Louisa.
Primary Election Day
Election Day is Tuesday, June 18.
Vote at your precinct’s polling location from 6 am to 7 pm. Click here to find your polling place.
Click here for Virginia’s voter ID requirements.
Register to vote
The last day to register to vote and cast a regular ballot in this June’s primary is Tuesday, May 28. Voters who register after that deadline can cast a provisional ballot. Learn more here.
Click here to register to vote or check your registration status.
Questions about voting?
Questions about voting? Call the Louisa County Office of Elections at 540-967-3427 or visit the Virginia Department of Elections website here.
Note to readers: The article below was written by University of Richmond sophomore Rosalie Hinke as part of coursework for Professor Tom Mullen’s Community Journalism at Home and Abroad class. Engage Louisa is grateful for Rosalie’s contribution.
Three candidates vie for Dem nomination in 5th Congressional District
By Rosalie Hinke
While the Republican primary in the 5th Congressional District between Rep. Bob Good and state Senator John McGuire is garnering most of the headlines, there’s also a nominating contest on the Democratic side.
Three Democrats, each hailing from different parts of the district, are vying for the right to represent their party in the November 5 general election.
Here’s a quick look at the candidates.
Paul Riley: An Albemarle County resident, Riley is an intelligence solutions lead with a defense contractor who served in the army for more than two decades before retiring in 2010. During his time in the military, Riley was deployed to Panama, England, Germany and Iraq, serving in both enlisted and officer roles.
As a defense contractor, Riley has focused on military intelligence. He served as an intelligence analyst at the National Ground Intelligence Center and as chief operating officer on the Counter Insurgency Targeting Program, providing direct assistance to the Department of Defense.
Beyond his career, Riley has been active in his community, coaching his three children in a variety of youth sports. He’s currently a coach at the Cavalier Wrestling Club in Charlottesville.
Though this is his first run for elected office, Riley’s campaign website calls him a “formidable candidate for Congress,” noting his “innate ability to build consensus and find common ground on complex problem sets.”
On the issues, Riley says he wants to increase transparency across the federal government, preserve small farms, safeguard abortion rights and address the “root causes of gun violence without infringing on the rights of law-abiding citizens.”
Gary Terry: A Danville resident, Terry is also a political newcomer with a military background. A 1982 graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, Terry served in the army for five years including stints in Germany and Texas.
After leaving the military, Terry embarked on a diverse career, spending time in the corporate world, starting two businesses of his own and eventually ending up in the nonprofit sector. Most recently, he served as executive director of the Boys and Girls Club in Danville. Prior to that, he led the YMCA in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio.
According to his campaign website, Terry is focused on several key issues including “confronting price gouging on essential goods” and protecting American consumers; defending women’s right to bodily autonomy; and addressing gun violence by “enshrining safety alongside liberty.” The site describes Terry as a “moderate, pragmatic problem solver who wants government to work more efficiently.”
Terry says he’s on a mission to “reshape the political landscape” and replace politics as usual with “politics from the people.”
Gloria Witt: A lifelong resident of Amherst County, Witt spent 32 years working at Framatome, an international nuclear energy company. During her tenure, she rose from an administrative position in the procurement department to the company’s North American Director of People Development.
After her retirement in 2013, Witt founded Define Success Coaching, a company that develops executives and leaders “known for their ability to produce defined results whether in a commercial, nonprofit or faith-based organization,” according to her campaign website.
Beyond her career, Witt is involved in an array of community organizations, including serving as president of the Amherst branch of the NAACP and the Central Virginia Academy for Nonprofit Excellence.
On her website, Witt describes herself as a “country girl who values family, faith, education, justice and community building.” She says she’s running for Congress because she “want[s] to use [her] voice to energize dissatisfied voters, break down walls and build bridges to advance legislation.”
Her goals include rethinking education to benefit teachers and strengthening pathways for students, restoring reproductive rights, expanding healthcare access, addressing economic inequality, and tackling gun violence by banning assault weapons and implementing mandatory waiting periods for gun purchases.
No matter which Democrat prevails in the June primary, they’ll have an uphill battle in this fall’s general election. Based on results from previous elections, the 5th is friendly terrain for Republicans. Good beat Democratic Josh Throneburg by about 15 points to win his second term in Congress two years ago while Governor Glenn Youngkin won the district by more than 20 points in 2021 en route to becoming the first Republican to occupy Virginia’s Executive Mansion in more than a decade.
Redrawn during the decennial redistricting process three years ago, the 5th stretches from Albemarle, Louisa and the western Hanover to the North Carolina border. The mostly rural district encompasses all or part of 24 localities. Louisa’s roughly 30,000 registered voters make up just over five percent of the electorate.
About the author: Rosalie Hinke is a sophomore at the University of Richmond, planning to major in journalism and minor in environmental studies. In her spare time, she works for the school library and is part of an acapella group and a sorority on campus.
Click here for contact information for the Louisa County Board of Supervisors.
Find agendas and minutes from previous Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission meetings as well as archived recordings here.
Click here for contact information for the Louisa County School Board.
Click here for minutes and agendas for School Board meetings. Click here for archived video.
Click here to access past editions of Engage Louisa.