MINUTES OF THE SHENANDOAH COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS BUDGET WORK SESSION MBETING: APRIL 10, 2025, 1:00 PM A Budget Work Session of the Board of Supervisors was held beginning at 1:00 p.m. in the Board Conference Room of the Government Center at 600 N. Main Street, Woodstock, Virginia on April 10, 2025. The following Board Members and staff were in attendance: Chairman Josh Stephens, Vice Chairman Dennis Morris, Supervisor Tim Taylor, Supervisor David Ferguson, Supervisor Steve Baker, County Administrator, Evan Vass, Deputy County Administrator Mandy Belyea, and Director of Finance, Amy Dill. Supervisor Roulston attended the meeting virtually from out of the country for personal reasons associated with traveling. Chairman Stephens called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. TOPIC OF DISCUSSION: Budget Discussion and Tax Rate Supervisor Taylor stated that he was an employee of Shenandoah County Public Schools. Mr. Vass reviewed changes since March 18th that reduced the budget by approximately $200,000. He said a bulk of this came from the RSW Board finalizing their budget and the County has adjusted their contribution. He stated that the Electoral Board change was related to cyber security which was in the General Registrar's budget already sO it was taken out, and a minor change to the Commissioner of Revenue's budget. Supervisor Roulston asked how much was agreed to be sent to the volunteers and Mr. Vass said right now there is a proposed $30,000 increase per service. Supervisor Roulston said he would like to talk at some point about the Commonwealth Attorney's Part Time Investigator position and that he would suggest putting it back into the budget. Chairman Stephens commented that he does not want to treat New Market differently than other fire and rescue stations because they do not have a joint service like others. He said wants to see the donation to be uniform to the departments. Supervisor Baker agreed that he could support this and said that the volunteers are doing a lot to maintain their infrastructure. Chairman Stephens asked for comments on the Part Time Investigator for the Commonwealth Attorney and Supervisor Roulston said that after further discussion he thinks that this should be put back into the budget because it is needed. Supervisor Ferguson questioned the use of this position and Mr. Vass explained that this position would help bridge a gap between the Commonwealth Attorney and law enforcement. Supervisor Roulston stated that he believes this will help with efficiency and timeliness with cases. The consensus was to add this position to the budget. Mr. Vass said the budget is balanced with an assumed $.03 real estate tax increase. Supervisor Roulston asked if this included staffing for the Fort Valley Fire and Rescue station and Mr. Vass said no, the idea was to cover that need through grant request that was previously discussed. Supervisor Roulston said if the grant does not come through they will need to come up with a secondary plan to make this happen for Fort Valley and Edinburg. Mr. Vass said that grant announcements are awarded in batches between July and September. Supervisor Baker clarified that they will not be addressing this until they hear from the grant and Chairman Stephens said yes but they will be getting some additional staffing with this budget and that there can be some creative solutions to help. Supervisor Taylor agreed that Fort Valley needs to be addressed and hopes that the approved fire and rescue positions will help in some manner. Supervisor Ferguson said that cutting anything else from the budget would be detrimental to services for the community and they cannot take anymore. He added that he would like to take $1.8 million out of the unassigned fund balance to not have a tax increase. He said that it is substantially higher than they need in a reserve and while it is not great to take from savings, he would like to eliminate a tax increase to the citizens. Supervisor Roulston asked where they were going to apply the $1.8 million because he did not agree with putting it towards operations. He stated that they have been working to grow this for the last six years and if it is used, they will have to come up with it again next year. Supervisor Baker said his take from the public hearing was to not increase taxes and to support fire and rescue and he concurs with Supervisor Ferguson. Chairman Stephens said he does not mind using the unassigned fund balance but growing it to where it is took years and they will need to come up with the money next year. Supervisor Taylor said that they need to set the target and policy on the unassigned fund balance policy as quickly as possible. He added that they need to think about these increases and budget all year, not just in budget season. Supervisor Ferguson suggested raising the real estate tax $.01 and taking $.02 worth out of the unassigned fund balance. Chairman Stephens asked what everyone's final thoughts were on the suggestions made. Supervisor Roulston stated he did not agree with taking money from the unassigned fund balance. Vice Chairman Morris said he would stick with his original thought. Supervisor Baker said he wants a zero increase and take from the unassigned fund balance. Supervisor Taylor said his head and his heart are conflicting, but he would like to go with the zero increase. Supervisor Ferguson agreed with a zero increase and taking from the unassigned fund balance. Chairman Stephens said he liked splitting the increase with the unassigned fund balance. Chairman Stephens indicated the majority opinion was to utilize the unassigned fund balance and make no further reductions from the Board's budget proposal. That plan, therefore, would be presented for adoption at the special meeting April 15, 2025 at 4:00 pm. With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 2:33 pm. Josh Stephens, Chairman ATTEST: Evan Vass, Clerk of the Board