This week in county government; Supervisors advertise $237.7 million budget for FY25; Board green-lights JRWA debt issuance, hears VDOT project updates; News roundup: wildfire ravages part of Louisa
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, March 25 through March 30
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, March 25
Finance Committee, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 9:30 am.
Thursday, March 28
Lake Anna Advisory Committee, Public Meeting Room, Louisa County Office Building, 1 Woolfolk Ave., Louisa, 6:30 pm.
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 advertise $237.7 million budget for FY25
Louisa County’s budget could jump about 26 percent in the coming fiscal year, an increase mostly driven by two significant school construction projects.
According to a public notice released by the county last Tuesday, supervisors have proposed a $237.7 million budget for Fiscal Year 2025 including about $156.6 million for daily operations and $81.1 million for capital projects. (proposed budget)
To fund its spending, the board advertised a slate of level tax rates including a 72-cent per $100 of assessed value rate for real estate and a $2.43 rate for personal property.
The $81.1 million in capital spending is nearly double what the board included in this year’s budget with most of that money—some $62 million—earmarked for Louisa County Public Schools. The division plans to tap $29.4 million to pay for a 500-seat addition to Louisa County Middle School and an accompanying alternative education center, and $31.6 million for a 54,500-square foot career and technical education center adjacent to Louisa County High School. Another $1.15 million would be used for architectural construction services for both projects.
The school division has been pushing for the facilities for several years as it grapples with growing enrollment. School officials have argued that the middle school addition is needed to alleviate crowded conditions at the facility where some classrooms are housed in trailers outside the school building. According to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), the division enrolled 1,168 students in grades 6 through 8 during the 2023-24 academic year. The middle school currently has a 1200-student capacity.
The career and technical education center (CTE) would allow the division to expand its thriving CTE program while also freeing up space at the high school, according to school officials. Completed in 2015, the high school has a 1700-student capacity and enrolled 1617 students last year, per VDOE.
Beyond school construction, the capital budget includes a notable investment in economic development: $7.5 million to revamp the Lake Anna Wastewater Treatment Plant just west of the Route 208 bridge. The county purchased the facility from a private owner last year with plans to rebuild and expand it to serve future growth along the 208 corridor. The plant currently serves Lake Anna Plaza and adjacent townhomes.
The expenditure is part of a larger effort to bring public utilities to the county’s designated growth areas or shore up existing systems. Supervisors allocated some $17 million to extend wet utility infrastructure to the Shannon Hill Growth Area in the FY24 capital budget. The growth area is home to the Shannon Hill Regional Business Park, a 700-acre industrial site that the county is developing just north of interstate 64. The utility project, which includes a water tower, water line and wastewater infrastructure, is expected to top $28 million with the county relying on a combination of state grant funding and debt to cover the cost.
Though it’s not included in the county’s spending plan, supervisors are also poised to invest more than $21 million to complete the James River Water Project, a joint effort with Fluvanna County to draw raw water from the river to meet both localities long-term needs. The board authorized the James River Water Authority, the entity overseeing the project, to borrow up to $49 million to build the infrastructure at Monday night’s meeting. (The authority is expected to borrow $42.6 million). When the project’s complete—potentially by September 2026—the infrastructure will supply millions of gallons of water to developments at Zion Crossroads, Shannon Hill and Ferncliff. (See article below).
The capital budget also includes roughly $3 million to support Firefly Fiber Broadband’s initiative to bring universal high-speed internet access to the county by 2025. Supervisors committed $9 million to the effort in 2021, agreeing to pay the money in three installments between FY23 and the coming fiscal year.
While spending on big-ticket items is the primary driver in the county’s expanding budget, supervisors also expect to spend roughly 6 percent more on daily operations. The operating component of the budget is expected to top $156.5 million, over $9 million more than last year.
Driving some of that increase is a three percent pay for hike for staff and a roughly 14 percent increase in spending on public safety including new staffers 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.
The cost to run Louisa County Public Schools—which typically comprises nearly 60 percent of the county’s operating expenses—is also expected to tick upward albeit only about 3 percent. The board proposes to spend $91.5 million on education, about $2.7 million more than the current fiscal year.
As approved by the school board, the school division’s budget includes a 4 percent pay hike for faculty and staff, and two new positions—a special education teacher and an instructionale assistant—for Jouett Elementary School.
To fund its spending, the county is expected to draw in some $234 million in revenue, including debt issuance, and tap $3.4 million in cash on hand to cover the rest of its costs.
As part of the budget, the board has proposed a slate of level tax rates including a 72-cent per $100 of assessed value rate for real estate—the same rate the county has had since 2015—and a $2.43 rate for personal property. General property taxes are expected to fund more than half of the county’s operating budget, and revenue from real estate and personal property taxes is projected to jump about 11.9 percent over FY24.
That increase is mostly driven by two factors: a 7.83 percent rise in the assessed value of real estate and the absence of a five percent rebate on real estate taxes that the board gave taxpayers last year. Supervisors agreed to offer the rebate after assessments jumped some 14 percent instead of lowering the tax rate to help offset the increase.
The county will also rely on about $53 million in funding from state and federal sources, a figure that could fluctuate depending on what’s included in the final state budget; $14.9 million from other local tax levies including sales, meals and transient occupancy taxes; and $7.5 million from charges for county services. The latter two categories are expected to generate about 25 and 28 percent more for county coffers than they did in the current fiscal year.
The county expects to bring in $171.9 million in operating revenue, about $15.4 million more than its operating expenses. The board proposes to apply the operating surplus to its $81 million in capital spending.
The county intends to issue some $62 million in debt to cover the cost of school construction, to be paid off over the next 30 years. Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams, a member of the board’s finance committee, said at a budget work session in February that the committee could potentially recommend that supervisors place a referendum on the ballot this November, asking voters if they support raising the county’s sales tax by one percent to help pay off the debt. But moving forward with that plan requires action from Governor Glenn Youngkin.
The General Assembly passed legislation earlier this year allowing localities to raise the local sales tax by up to one percent solely for the purpose of funding school construction if voters approve the tax increase at the ballot box. It’s unclear if Youngkin will sign the legislation.
If the county wins the power to place the referendum on the ballot and the board elects to do so, Williams said “the people” could decide if they want to hike the sales tax to pay for schools.
Based on current revenue projections, raising the sales tax by one percent would generate $6.8 million a year for school construction, according to Williams. Currently, Virginia levies a 5.3 percent sales tax statewide with one percent going to localities’ general fund.
Community concerns
The proposed spending plan and real estate tax rate has sparked concern from some community members who’ve argued that taxes on their homes are rising at an unsustainable rate and the board should finds ways to rein in spending.
Supervisors held the first public hearing of the FY25 budget process during Monday’s meeting, which was statutorily required because the assessed value of the county’s real estate rose one percent or more over last year and the board hasn’t proposed a lowered tax rate to offset the increase. Real estate taxes are calculated by multiplying a property’s assessed value by the tax rate.
Seven community members weighed in during the public hearing to express concerns about their rising tax bills. Most encouraged the board to lower the tax rate to offset the jump in assessments. A few contended that the county’s assessment process is flawed.
Louisa District resident David Sexton said that many residents are already struggling with the rising costs and need tax relief. Sexton pointed to the board’s decision last fall to green-light tax breaks for Amazon Web Services, which plans to develop two data center campuses in the county by 2040. He said supervisors should also give residents a tax break.
“The citizens of Louisa County are asking you to please consider them more than Amazon and, when you look at the tax rate, we’re asking that you please actually lower it and take some of the burden away from us. You did that for Amazon and the residents of Louisa County are just asking that you do the same for them,” Sexton said.
Two speakers called out the hefty capital spending proposed for Louisa County Public Schools, arguing that the board needs to take a close look at some of the big-ticket items that are causing the budget to balloon. Doing that, they argued, would open the door for lower taxes.
Mineral District resident Chris Liles said that the board should differentiate between “wants and needs” and prioritize spending accordingly. Liles called the proposed middle school addition “a need,” but characterized the CTE center as “a want.” He also suggested the board shouldn’t have funded two turf fields included in this year’s budget, which will serve the Parks and Rec Department and the schools. The board allocated $3.4 million for the fields.
“All of [these projects] are good ideas. But just because the schools’ bring it, that doesn’t mean you have to do it this year. You can balance these things out and not hit us all at one time,” Liles said.
Green Springs District resident Michael Yeatts agreed. He said that raising assessments and not offsetting the increase by lowering the tax rate is a poor way to raise revenue, arguing that the board needs to center “fiscal responsibility” and not say yes to every big-ticket item requested by the schools.
“The schools do a great job. It’s their job to come out and say ‘hey, we need this, we need that.’ That’s their job. But, sometimes, our job here is to say no,” Yeatts said.
Some residents criticized the county’s assessment process, arguing that their property is overvalued and noting the significant rise in assessments in the last few years. The assessed value of the county’s real estate, which is based on market values, jumped 13.9 percent last year and 12 percent in 2022.
Mountain Road District resident Kevin Long said that he and his family moved to Louisa in 2017 and enjoy living here. But he noted that his property’s assessed value has jumped substantially over the last two years for no reason.
“We like everything about this county, but these taxes are killing us. Our house value for just the structure went up $64,000 since 2022. Nothing has been done to that house. Nothing has been changed at that house,” he said.
Louisa District resident Patrick Longerbeam expressed a similar view. Longerbeam, who described himself as a partially disabled veteran and single father of two, said that he purchased two pieces of property in the county for far below their assessed value and, every year, he dreads receiving his reassessment notice because he knows it means his taxes will likely rise.
“I’m worried about what next year is going to bring,” he said.
How are real estate assessments determined?
To explain how annual real estate assessments are determined, the county released a Property Assessment FAQ in mid-March and Deputy Assessor Cindy Draves detailed the process prior to Monday’s public hearing.
The assessed value of real estate is calculated on an annual basis by the county assessor’s office, which is a function of the commissioner of the revenue’s office and separate from and independent of the Board of Supervisors. While the board sets the real estate tax rate as part of the annual budget process and appropriates revenue derived from local taxes to fund county services, it plays no role in the assessment process.
As required by state code, the assessor’s office bases its assessment on a property’s market value, drawing on sales data from surrounding and similar properties. Draves said that the county uses a “mass appraisal” process, dividing the county into “neighborhood markets” and further analyzing sales data based on a range of property characteristics including the number of stories a home has, its square footage, age, condition and number of bathrooms. She added that her office first values vacant land then calculates the value of any improvements.
Draves noted that the county encompasses various neighborhood markets and homes in these areas are only compared to their neighbors. For example, she said, each property sold in Spring Creek last year was separately analyzed from homes in the county’s rural areas. Similarly, water access homes on Lake Anna and waterfront homes each constitute separate neighborhood markets.
In determining an annual assessment for existing homes, the assessor doesn’t factor in the sales price of newly constructed homes. A representative of the assessor’s office strives to visit each property in the county at least once every five years to evaluate its characteristics, according to the county’s FAQ.
The Virginia Department of Taxation checks the assessor’s work via its sales ratio validation process. The ratio compares the sales prices of property to assessed values. In 2022, Louisa County’s assessments were 3.9 percent lower than actual sales based on a review of 363 transactions, per the FAQ. In 2023, assessments were 5.9 percent below sales prices based on a review of 265 transactions.
Draves said that the assessor’s office hasn’t received its validation ratio for this year. But an internal analysis of recent sales data shows that properties are valued at about 97 percent of actual sales prices.
Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow expressed concerns about the assessment process, arguing that relying on sales data could skew the assessed value of homes that have fallen into disrepair.
“If you’ve based it on sales, they’ve fixed the house up to prime condition, so that they can sell it. But, the average person, their house may be falling behind in repairs and they’re the ones that are really getting hit hard because their houses are not reflective of what the market is indicating,” Barlow said.
He encouraged the assessor’s office to take a closer look at homes of elderly residents that may not be “up to par” with houses that have recently sold.
Draves said that residents are free to appeal their assessments and a representative from her office will visit the property and check out its condition firsthand.
“If you feel like your property is over-assessed because of condition or quality or age or we don’t have the factual information, we encourage you to please call. We will come out and see it,” she said.
She added that few residents utilize the appeals process. Of the 29,402 properties the county assessed last year, there were only 146 appeals.
Residents will have another chance to weigh in on the budget and tax rates when the board holds a public hearing on the proposed spending plan at its April 8 meeting. Budget adoption is currently slated for April 29 and the new fiscal year starts July 1.
More on assessments and real estate taxes:
To learn more about how to appeal your assessment and the appeals process, click here. The deadline to appeal is March 29.
The county offers a real estate tax relief program for income-eligible elderly and disabled residents. To learn more about the program, click here.
Supes green-light JRWA debt issuance; VDOT provides project updates
Beyond holding a public hearing on a potential increase in real estate taxes, the Louisa County Board of Supervisors handled other public businesses on Monday night, authorizing the James River Water Authority to borrow money to complete the James River Water Project and okaying a budget supplement to Louisa County Schools for a handful of capital projects. The board also heard a presentation from the Virginia Department of Transportation on several road improvement projects.
Six of seven supervisors attended the meeting. Jackson District Supervisor Toni Williams was absent. (meeting materials, video)
Board green-lights JRWA debt issuance
With limited discussion, supervisors voted 6-0 to authorize the James River Water Authority to issue a maximum of $49 million in debt to complete the James River Water Project, a joint effort with Fluvanna County to draw raw water from the river to meet both localities long-term needs.
The project, which has been more than a decade in the making, is expected to cost $45.6 million, split evenly between Louisa and Fluvanna.
Fluvanna County Administrator Eric Dahl told his county’s Board of Supervisors at its March 6 meeting that JRWA intends to float $42.5 million worth of bonds via the Virginia Resources Authority (VRA) to fund the bulk of the project, which includes construction of a water intake and pump station on the banks of the James, a four-mile stretch of pipeline to connect it to an existing water main just north of Route 6 in southern Fluvanna, design and engineering, easement acquisition and related due diligence. The authority plans to draw on money left over from $7.6 million worth of bonds it issued through VRA in 2016 to cover the rest of the cost.
Dahl said that, based on preliminary projections, the authority could contract the debt at a four percent interest rate over 30 years, putting both localities on the hook for $1.225 million in debt service payments annually.
JRWA intends to issue the bonds through VRA’s spring bond pool assuming it has a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers (COE) to construct the project before VRA’s April 15 deadline. If it doesn’t, the authority plans to secure the funding through a bond pool later this year and rely on interim financing to keep the project afloat in the meantime, Dahl said.
Both Dahl and Louisa County Administrator Christian Goodwin said the authority is, as Goodwin put it, “very close” to obtaining the COE permit, which has been a significant hurdle in completing the project for the last six years.
JRWA’s struggle to move through the federal permitting process largely stems from its initial decision to place the intake and pump station at the confluence of the James and Rivanna rivers—a site that’s believed to be Rassawek, the ancestral capital of the Monacan Indian Nation.
JRWA applied for a COE permit for the site in 2018 but met stiff resistance from the federally recognized tribe, stalling the permitting process. Four years later, the authority agreed to move the infrastructure to a new location about two miles upstream and reroute the water line to connect to it. The group filed a new permit application in August 2022 with the support of the Monacan.
JRWA faces one remaining obstacle to secure the permit: clearing the National Historic Preservation Act’s Section 106 process, which is required to mitigate the project’s impact on cultural and historic resources. Those resources include archeological sites connected to the Monacan, who inhabited land along the James for centuries prior to English settlement.
As part of the process, JRWA submitted to COE Phase I and Phase II archeological studies and a draft Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for how it plans to limit the project’s impact. JRWA has been meeting with stakeholders, including the Monacan, the Fluvanna County Historical Society, Preservation Virginia, the Department of Historic Resources and the National Parks Service, to review the documents with the ultimate goal of signing the MOA.
“The permitting process is going very well,” Goodwin said, noting that Monday marked the end of a mandatory public comment period for the application. “The consulting parties appear to be very supportive of the current project location.”
While the controversy over where to site the infrastructure caused significant delays, it also led to mounting costs. Dahl told Fluvanna’s board that, in 2017, JRWA expected to pay roughly $9.7 million to build the infrastructure at the original location, noting that the pipeline would’ve only been about a mile long versus the four-mile stretch required at the new site.
Louisa has already invested more than $40 million in the project outside of JRWA. The county built a 13-mile pipeline from Route 6 across Fluvanna and a water treatment plant at Ferncliff, both of which will be operated by the Louisa County Water Authority. When the final pieces of infrastructure are complete, the county will channel millions of gallons of water from the river to development along Interstate 64 including at Zion Crossroads and the Shannon Hill Regional Business Park.
Louisa District Supervisor Manning Woodward said that he initially had concerns about authorizing the debt issuance, but decided to support it since the authority couldn’t float the bonds without the COE permit.
Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow, who was recently appointed to JRWA’s Board of Directors, acknowledged that he’s been critical of the authority in the past—Barlow was the only supervisor to vote against increasing financial support for the authority’s work last September—but he said he’s now optimistic that the project is poised to move forward.
“I’ve been pretty hard on the JRWA. Being the new liaison on there, I found that the people that are members of the JRWA want this thing finished and done as quickly as we do,” Barlow said. “We’ve spent a huge amount of money…we’re very close to getting this thing done.”
Assuming JRWA secures the COE permit this spring, work could begin on the project in June. The infrastructure is expected to be complete by September 2026.
VDOT settles on plan to replace Hamilton Road Bridge
The Virginia Department of Transportation has decided to replace a historic bridge in western Louisa County.
During his quarterly update, VDOT Residency Administrator Scott Thornton told the Board of Supervisors that the agency intends to replace the Hamilton Road Bridge (Route 695), which has carried traffic over the South Anna River in the Green Springs National Historic Landmark District since the early 20th century.
The steel Pratt truss bridge has fallen into disrepair in recent years. It was shuttered for about three months last summer due to deterioration on one of its beams, reopening with a three-ton weight limit, down from its previous five-ton limit. Both limits prevent the structure from accommodating large emergency vehicles. The three-ton limit only makes it passable for passenger vehicles.
Thornton said that VDOT plans to replace the bridge with a single lane truss bridge, which is similar to the current structure. He pointed to a truss bridge replacement that the department recently completed in Albemarle County as a template for the project. Thornton said the new bridge wouldn’t be posted with a weight limit and would be able to accommodate a full range of emergency vehicles.
The plan is expected to cost $669,000, Thornton said, with the agency relying on state funding and using state crews to install the structure, potentially by the fall of 2025.
Before settling on the replacement plan, Thornton said that VDOT contracted the University of Virginia’s Institute for Engagement and Negotiation (EIN) to interview stakeholders and help the agency determine the future of the bridge, which is designated as a contributing structure in a federally protected historic district.
EIN interviewed Hamilton Road residents, Louisa County officials and representatives of Historic Green Springs, Inc., a land preservation group, determining that community members had several shared goals for the bridge including ensuring a safe structure for residents, visitors and government vehicles; preserving the historic dimensions of the bridge, to the extent possible; and providing a transparent and understandable process for those involved.
Based on that information, Thornton said that VDOT considered three options, two of which were significantly more expensive and would’ve taken far longer than the replacement plan it ultimately chose. Thornton said that the rejected options would’ve required the project to clear the National Historic Preservation Act’s Section 106 process, which allows the public to weigh in on federally assisted projects that could impact historic properties.
The option that VDOT chose would likely bypass the Section 106 process, Thornton said, but would still require an environmental review by the state and include stakeholder involvement under an agreement with the Department of Historic Resources. He said replacing any VDOT-maintained bridge requires a design public hearing.
VDOT attempted to address concerns about the bridge about a decade ago, but walked away from the project, amid the Section 106 process, because stakeholders, including Green Springs residents and the National Park Service, couldn’t agree on how to move forward.
Neighbors and county officials began raising concerns about the bridge again in the last couple years, pointing out that it couldn’t accommodate large emergency vehicles and posed a significant public safety concern. Supervisors passed a resolution last March formally requesting that VDOT develop a plan to repair or replace the bridge.
Wares Crossroads roundabout and Route 15 project updates
Thornton updated the board on two other projects: ongoing construction of a roundabout at Wares Crossroad—the intersection of Routes 208 and 522 near Lake Anna—and an extensive road maintenance project scheduled to begin later this year on Route 15 between Zion Crossroads and Gordonsville.
Construction began on the Wares Crossroads roundabout—one of the county’s most dangerous sections of roadway—in January and it’s expected to be complete by early December. The intersection was selected for state-funded improvements in 2017, largely due to its accident history. Between January 2022 and January 2023, 16 motor vehicles crashes occurred at or near the intersection resulting in 16 injuries, according to VDOT data.
While the project won’t be done until late this year, Thornton told the board that he expects traffic will switch to a roundabout configuration by Memorial Day before the height of tourism season at the lake.
“A large portion of the work [within] that roundabout will be done by the time summer hits,” Thornton said. “And then [work] will be happening in the periphery on side streets.”
VDOT currently expects the project to cost $7.6 million, up from an initial $5.4 million estimate. It awarded J.L Kent and Sons, a Spotsylvania firm, a $2.8 million construction contract last fall.
Thornton said the Route 15 project, which he referred to as a “maintenance bundle” will include resurfacing; improvements to shoulders; tree trimming and roadside clearing; replacement, rehabilitation and flushing of pipes; sign replacement; and ditching, among other improvements. The project is expected to begin this spring and be done by the fall of 2025.
Board oks $1.034 million appropriation to LCPS for six capital projects
Supervisors voted 6-0 to appropriate $1.034 million to Louisa County Public Schools for six items included in the FY25 Capital Improvement Plan.
According to Finance Director Wanda Colvin, the school division asked the board to move the appropriation from FY25, the fiscal year that starts July 1, to FY24, the current fiscal year, to ensure it can procure the items or complete the projects prior to the start of the 2024-25 academic year.
The supplemental appropriation includes $855,000 for new school buses; $75,000 to resurface the high school’s track; $40,000 for locks at Trevilians Elementary School; $30,000 to upgrade the fuel tank at the bus garage; $17,500 for “elementary school refurbish;” and $16,500 to refinish the high school’s stage.
The money will be drawn from the school division’s long-term capital reserves.
News roundup: wildfire ravages part of Louisa
Engage Louisa focuses on Louisa County government. But we recognize that we can’t cover everything and there’s plenty of other news in our neck of the woods. With that in mind, we occasionally include a roundup of links to the work of other journalists covering noteworthy events and issues that impact our community.
Wildfire ravages part of Louisa, damages Twin Oaks Community: A wildfire burned hundreds of acres and numerous structures in the Yanceyville area last Wednesday (March 20). The blaze, which was contained by firefighters Wednesday night, destroyed a warehouse, outdoor conference center and other structures at the Twin Oaks Community, a long-standing intentional community renowned for its production of hammocks and tofu.
Read a firsthand account of the fire from a Twin Oaks Community member here.
Read coverage of the fire from WRIC News here. Read coverage from CBS 19 here.
Charlie Paullin, writing for Virginia Mercury, detailed firefighters’ efforts to combat blazes across Virginia last week. Read his story here.
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.