Good evening. Welcome to the Falkier County Board of Supervisors 2026 proposed budget public hearings. Miss Downs will you please review the public hearing protocol for this evening. Thank you Mr. Chair. The purpose of public hearing is for elected officials of this county to listen carefully to the verbal expressions of position and opinion of the citizens of Falkier County. Public hearings are intended to give citizens an opportunity to influence the public decision process based on prior research and discussions with appropriate officials. Public hearings are not question and answer sessions or debates and all statements should be addressed to the chair. Speakers during the public hearing are respectfully requested to keep comments brief, not to exceed three minutes, and to address only those issues pertinent to tonight's public hearing agenda, which are the revisions of the Department of Community Development's Land Development fee schedule, the Building Inspection's fee schedule, the FY 2026 proposed budget, the 2025 tax rates, and the fiscal 2026 through 2030 proposed capital improvement plan. Written copies of statements made at the public hearings are requested but not required. Thank you, Ms. Downs. The first item on the agenda night is a public hearing to consider revisions to the Department of Community Development's Land Development Fee Schedule and Buildingspection Fees schedule. Ms. Mead. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the Board. This public hearing is for revisions to the community development, land development, and building and inspections fee schedules. A comprehensive review of the Department's fee schedules compared to surrounding jurisdictions showed the need to update some of our fees to keep pace with inflation, personnel, processing and inspection requirements. A 10% technology surcharge is also proposed to be added to each transaction to help facilitate new technology for citizens, developers, and applicants. Additionally, we've added a new fee for our source to consultant review passing this cost onto the applicants. These fee schedules are last updated in fiscal year 2018, but the exception of a minor change to the telecommunication fee in 2019. Prior to that, the last comprehensive updates were done in 2012 to land development fees and 1990s for building and inspection fees. I can answer any questions or go into any more detail. Any questions from Miss Mead? Thank you. We will now open the public hearing on this item. Miss Downs, are there any speakers to this item tonight? We have no speakers signed up at this time. Is there anyone here that is not signed up that would like to speak to this matter this evening? Hearing none, we'll close the public hearing. Move on to our next item. The second item this evening is a public hearing to consider the fiscal 2026 proposed budget. The 2025 tax rates and fiscal year 26 through 2030 proposed capital improvement plan. Miss, Miss, dribbling. Yeah, thank you. Good evening. The fiscal year, 2026 proposed budget totals approximately 441.48 million with an overall real estate tax rate of 0.973 per $100 of assessed value. The FY 2026 proposed budget overall real estate tax rate is three cents higher than the FY 2025 adopted budget with an increase of three cents in the general rate. There is no proposed change in the fire rescue levy rate or the conservation easement service district rate. Under this proposal the average homeowners tax bill would increased by $138.13 annually or $11.51 per month in tax year 2025. Additionally, the FY2026 proposed budget includes no change in the personal property tax rates from the FY2025 adopted budget. The proposed capital improvement program totals approximately $151.1 million through FY 2030 with approximately $153 million planned in future years. The proposed budget includes a total cash funding commitment of approximately $15.9 million, which equates to approximately 10.54% of the total appropriations over the course of the five year planning period. Overall, the proposed CIP is in compliance with the board's debt policies. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you, Ms. Downs. And we will now open the public hearing on this matter. Do we have any speakers tonight? The first speaker we have signed up tonight is Kenneth Neem from the Cedar Run District, who will be followed by Bobby Jenkins from the Lee District. Good evening. I'm Steve members of the board and serve as the county minister of Downs. I distinguish guests. My name is Kenneth Neem and tonight I'm speaking for the members of the International Association for Firefighters, Local 3762. First and foremost, we'd like to publicly thank all of you and your continued support. The actions you took last year to provide additional fire and rescue staffing greatly improve the safety of our citizens, visitors and our system members, both career and volunteer. Our members know that making these decisions is not easy. Leadership requires both courage and vision, and once again, this body displays both of these qualities as you approved the additional staffing we've said desperately needed. There are many very important services that you, as carrying leadership must prioritize and fund. Whenever these is a potential to increase taxation, it will be difficult and relevant discussion about how the best balances and needs of the citizens while still remaining physically responsible responsible. These services that you are funding for FIEN Rescue are literally life and death in nature. As a group, you are risen to the challenge in funding a service that will meet the needs of the citizens and those visiting the county. You have ensured that appropriate response will be available to all areas of the county and at a reasonable cost. We know there are challenges ahead. Many of our surrounding jurisdictions are accommodating their foreign rescue professionals at a higher rate of pay and we must remain competitive in order to retain those whom we have invested so much. We have foreign rescue infrastructure that is an aging and chief Smith budget request addresses some of these key elements that are concerned. He has included very necessary replacement items such as self-contained breathing apparatus, breathing air compressors, and reliable and effective portable radios. Some of the fire trucks in the county have recently been replaced, and there is enormous benefit to our citizens. We have several ambulance and fire trucks that are still required to meet at replacement. The membership of the local 3762 has every confidence that Chief Smith and the board will We those challenges and ensure that the citizens and visitors that we value above all else will continue to receive the first class fire and rescue and EMS services that they expect and deserve. Once again, thank you for the support that you have shown our citizens, visitors and system members. Our citizens will look back at this budget process and know that you, our county leaders, did the right thing in difficult times. I cannot state strong enough that the membership of the local 3762 appreciates your leadership, the funding you provide and most importantly, the dedication to public safety. Thank you. Thank you. And next speaker? Thank you. Our next speaker is Bobby Jenkins from the Lee District and the next speaker will be Ann Burton's from the Scott District. Good evening board. My name is Bobby Jenkins. My position in Walker County Public Schools is I am a bed bus driver and a proud member of FBA NEA and VEA, past president of VEA, or FBA serving two terms in that position. I am here tonight along with some of my colleagues to stay in with our superintendent, Dr. Warner, with his fiscal year $1.4 million school year budget for 26. And I thank you again for your great expertise and another great year in education. Thanks a lot. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Our next speaker is Ann Burton's from the Scott District, and the next speaker after that will be Kelly Petit from the Cedar Run District. My name is Ann Burhans, I live in Broadrun. I've been a Faulkier citizen for 63 years and I've been a Faulkier tax payer for 52 years. And I'm sick and tired of our schools and teachers always getting the short end of the stick. You cannot keep teacher salaries capped, especially those that are partly paid for by the state, and then expect to retain our best, most experienced teachers. The school budget last year, and again, this year was paired down to the bone by the superintendent and the financial officer. They did not give you inflated numbers, either to you or to the school board. Still, school board cut down the teacher raises. They did your bidding, seeking to maintain a harmonious relationship with you. That they and you have worked hard to reinstate, and which harmony I applaud. But at what cost? How about maintaining a harmonious relationship with teachers who want to stay but financially can't? What about a good relationship with students who watch their best teachers walk out the doors? What about a good relationship with taxpayers who see half their taxes going to schools, but cuts to teacher raises that local government only pays a part of with the state picking up the majority? And while this huge capital improvement plan gets millions in the green light, how about maintaining some sort of support for teachers? I'm old enough to remember when huge sums were spent on a state of the Art Judicial County Center not that many years ago. That's turned out to be practically worthless today because of the Moot Court design flaw and a total lack of security. Now you want to spend $1.8 million just for a design for a new judicial center without even getting into building costs. Is anybody on the board a responsible steward of public money? I understand you're caught like everyone between rising costs and stagnant income. I get it. So how about looking at a partial solution that has the bonus of getting a larger state contribution to our school budget? Amen the land use tax so that only actual farmers who get more than half their income from farming get the tax break and let the big landowners with some grazing cows pay their fair share of funding county government. All you're at it restrict conservation easements to actual conservation zones designed by actual conservationists rather than tax advantage buffer zones for the wealthy. Cut your budget elsewhere or raise the tax rate, but fully fund the 4% teacher raise. Thank you. The next speaker is Kelly Petit of the Cedar Run District followed by Kenneth Johnson Jr. of the Cedar Vine District. All right, the next speaker will be Kenneth Johnson Jr. of the Cedar Vine District, followed by Erica Cursey of the Scott District. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, members of the board. Kenny Johnson, I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce as a board of director. I am a member of the Economic Development Legislative Committee, so I see a lot and talk a lot to a number of people. One of the things, and also a branch manager, so businessmen in the county, we need to expand our business community. We need to look at what we have for economic development. Because as a former firefighter, it retired firefighter for 43 years. Public safety is a big piece. Schools are a big piece. I heard somebody talked about schools. I will say this teachers need their raises. They need to be competitive all around. No different than public safety. Public safety radios, communications, I can go back to many years. I started in 76, so 83 Air Florida. Communication was a big issue. Pentagon, 2000 and 9-11, 2001 was another big communication issue. The radios they're carrying right now in public safety, both sheriffs, police, fire, or not very good. We described them as needing two tin cans with strengths. So they need to upgrade those. Everything within this budget from what I can see and have red looks great. But there's still a lot more to do We need the business community. We need to be able to develop the service districts I don't want to see businesses where they don't belong, but where they do belong. That's going to help all our tax base Obviously that is a big key Economic development is a key. There's a word been thrown around and nobody really wants to hear it. I mentioned it early and not a lot of people know Alice. Sure everybody on the board has heard of Alice. Nobody wants to talk about it. Asset limitations, income limited, can't afford to live here. Most of the firefighters here, they're not gonna be able to speak because they can't live in the county. They make a decent salary, but not enough to live with InfoCare County and start off with a home. That's kind of embarrassing in a way, should be able to buy and live where you work. I think it's important and if something for us the board needs to look both. Again, take care of the teachers. Take care of the landfills one. I mean, I love going to landfill. I went to Marshall. Been about three weeks going a Saturday. I thought I was in a demolition derby, trying to go to the dumpsters. Think about that when you're looking at different things, when you have your markups. That site really needs some improvement expansion. So take care of everybody out here. Appreciate it again. Thanks guys. Thank you. The next speaker is Erica Cursey of the Scott District, followed by Christy Thorpe of the Cedar Run District. Good evening members of the board, Chairperson Carter and esteemed community members. Our names are Chris D'Thpe, Principal of C. Hunter Richie Elementary and I'm Erica Curzy, Principal of Greenville Elementary. I live and work in the Scott District and Mrs. Thorpe lives in the Cedar Run District. We are honored to stand before you tonight on behalf of the 11 elementary school principals of Falkier County Public Schools. We are here tonight with one urgent message. We are in a hiring crisis and we need your support. Across our elementary schools, we are struggling to fill critical positions that directly impact student learning. This is not just a challenge, it is a crisis. As we look ahead to the next school year, our vacancy list is long and growing. Special education teachers, reading specialists, instructional assistants, classroom teachers, and even essential support roles such as cafeteria and play monitors remain unfilled. At this moment in our elementary schools we have 14 general education classroom teacher vacancies and 31 specialists and classified vacancies, affecting hundreds of students. We are not just preparing for yet another difficult hiring season, but one where we have few and in some cases no current applicants. What we are experiencing is not unique to Falkyer County, but it is exacerbated by the fact that we are falling behind our neighboring school divisions and compensation and support for educators. Coalpepper County Public Schools has approved a 5% increase for teachers next year, along with step increases ranging from 0.8 to 1.6%. Stafford, Spots of Anya and Warren counties are offering a 3% increase, but in addition, Warren is offering a step increase for teachers and instructional assistance. Stafford is offering additional salary increase for new teachers. And, the sponsor is also giving approximately 7 million dedicated to fully implementing their teacher salary scale adjustments. Spots of A&M already states an additional 3% for the 2627 school year. Principalium, Loudon and Fairfax counties are moving forward with 6.5% to 7% increases, with additional retention bonuses to secure their staff. Meanwhile, Vockier County has requested only 4% and had to reduce to 3% to cover critical compensation areas. Let us be clear, even with the efforts of our human resource department and additional efforts as principals. Without competitive salaries, we cannot attract or retain the high quality educators and staff our students deserve. Our candidate pool is dwindling. We can no longer count on teachers who are new to the profession or moving to the area. We are more often seeing teachers shifting from one school to another within our division, leaving gaps in one place to fill another. This is not sustainable. This is not fair to our students, and this is not what we should accept as a standard for Falkier County public schools. Thank you. Our next speaker is Christy Thorpe of the Cedar Run District, followed by Katie Lang of the Marshall District. Thank you. Part two. Tonight we implore you to improve the full budget request, including the original proposed 4% salary increase. This is about keeping great teachers in our classrooms and making Falkier County a place where educators choose to build their careers, not just stop along the way. We understand the heavy weight each of you carry in these budget decisions for our county. Our county is growing with families living here but communing to New Northern Virginia for a levelable salary. Our first responders, our law enforcement teachers teachers, and public servants all deserve a levelable wage to live in Falkier County where they serve our community. Our county would not be the amazing place to live without these amazing people. Many of us work here because we love Falkier County. However, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to live your independently on a soul salary with current wages. We are not asking for anything excessive. We know we can't always compete with some of our neighboring counties. We are asking for what is necessary, what is right. Our students deserve teachers who are prepared, supported, and committed to their success. Our teachers deserve compensation that reflects the amazing and incredibly hard work they do every day and our community deserves schools that are fully staffed with highly qualified educators. Tonight we ask you to make a decision that will ensure the future success of our students and carries the message that our students, our staff, and our school community is valued. We ask you to fully fund the original budget request that allows us and our staff to have that salary increase. Invest in our educators, invest in our students, and invest in the future of Falkier County. Lastly, thank you. This is my 24th year in Falkier County. I've been through the ups and downs between the boards and we are very thankful for the hard work you do with the collaboration and the support you show. So thank you very much. Thank you. Our next speaker is Katie Lang from the Marshall District followed by Julia Lang, also the Marshall District. Good evening. I'm here to talk about dedication, the dedicated faculty of FCPS1. Mrs. Graham, Ms. Beach, and the other art teachers who are spending hours preparing for and will spend all next weekend at the Arts Festival, so the community can enjoy and celebrate the amazing work of Falkier students. Mrs. Hollis, a school counselor at Taylor, who is directing the school musical with the cast of 42, and on the non-rehearsal days, is making sure that the school has a yearbook this year. The beloved elementary and middle school science and math teacher who composed songs to teach his students then posted them on YouTube, so we parents got to learn too. He left the district, by the way. The legendary social studies teacher, Mr. Fyfer, who doesn't just moderate AE every day, he helps the students with subjects they're struggling with. Let's be honest, how many of us adults could just jump in and pitch hit as an algebra or a biology tutor? Mr. Fyfer-Can and he does. The second grade team at Brumfield, including the amazing Mrs. Martin that you'll hear about in a minute, who were crazy and wonderful enough to pull together a field trip for the entire second grade so they could go to the national zoo and see lions and tigers and bears, oh my in real life. These are just a few of the many examples of the good that our teachers do every day. They work hard, they care, and they're very dedicated. I don't want to lose these people. Right now, we're asking for a level of dedication that I don't think is right or fair. Many of our teachers have to live counties away or in West Virginia to afford rent or a mortgage. They have to use their own money to pay for school supplies like copy paper. They create Amazon wish lists for science materials, class library books, and snacks so students who wouldn't otherwise be too hungry to learn. And they have to be willing to work for less than they would in adjacent counties. Compared to Albumal, Colpepper, Madison, Manassee Park City, Orange, Rapahannock, Spots Slovenia, Stafford, Loudon and Prince William Counties with Falkier. We rank number 10 of 11 in starting salaries. And 9 of 11 at both the mid and top salaries. And many of these counties are increasing pay at far higher than what we've been proposing. Certainly higher than the 3%, even higher than the 4% I'd like to see at least. Our teachers deserve a raise. I know this means that we'll pay more in taxes. I know this means that I'll pay more in taxes. But I'd rather pay more in taxes than continue to lose good teachers. They continue to ask more of our faculty than is reasonable and fair. Let's honor their work, fully fund our schools, and give the staff the compensation increases they need and deserve. Thank you. Sorry, didn't need to steal any piece of paper. Thank you. Our next speaker is Julia Lang of the Marshall District, followed by Don Patrick of the Center District. My name is Julia Lang from the Marshall District. I may be young, but I can still try to get the teachers better salaries. My teacher, Miss Martin, works so hard, is very smart kind and caring. She could have gotten a much higher paying job, but she, out of the kindness of her heart, decided to be a teacher. She worked hard to become a teacher, and you pay her so little. Actually, you pay them all so little. And I know the schools don't have much money to spend, maybe even none. But I also know the world would be nothing without the teachers so you should at least try to praise their pay or raise their pay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Our next speaker is Don Patrick of the Center District followed by Paula Patrick also of the Center District. That's a hard act to follow. I'm Chairman Carter, members of the board. My name is Don Patrick, and I live in center district. I'm here to ask you fully support the submitted 226 Falkier County Public School budget. The 3% teacher raised included it in the proposed budget is barely adequate. A raise of 3% barely covers inflation that has been running about 2.8%. Nearby counties have substantially higher offerings for salaries than Falkir, which makes attracting and retaining the best teachers more difficult for us. The starting salary for a new teacher in Falkir Public Schools is $50,000. In nearby Calpepper County, the starting salary is 54,000, it's 8% higher. I would point out that FACURE County is about the ninth wealthiest county in Virginia based on median income. Calpepper is about 30th. There's something wrong with this picture. The cost of living in FACURE County is clearly high. Added to that about 45% of new Virginia teachers graduate with an average of $40,000 in college loans. I think our public school teachers need a full 4% raise to improve our competitiveness with nearby communities and counties. At a minimum, I ask you to please fully support the currently submitted Focular County Public School budget. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Paula Patrick of the Center District, followed by Susan Hartford of the Center District. Hi. I am. I am Paula Patrick from the Center District, but I am reading a statement for a friend of mine, Jess Wheeler, and she's in the Marshall district. She is a teacher in Falkirk County, and she has a class tonight, so she could not be here herself. So this is her statement. The 3% raise had better come to teachers, as that is what the state allocated the for teachers' salaries. If it doesn't, there's a whole other issue at hand. As an educator in the county, it is a struggle. I love my school and my students, but it is getting difficult to afford to live. Prince William County Schools are getting a 7% raise this year and another 6.5% next. Culpepper is getting a 4% raise. It is frustrating to have to consider teaching outside of the county in which I live and love teaching in, simply to afford the cost of living. We haven't vacationed in years, we budget every single expense, with two incomes we're still paycheck to paycheck with zero savings and zero hope to buy a home in the future. Thank you our next speaker is Susan Harford of the Center District followed by Donna Wilkers of the Scott District. Yes I'm Susan Harford from the Center District and first I really want to thank all of you. I know you have enormous responsibilities to meet immediate needs but I'm here tonight because I view you as our long-term investment managers and I believe retaining and attracting quality teachers is one of the most, if not the most, important long-term investments you can make. My understanding, and it's been confirmed tonight from what I'm hearing, is the county has still not reached competitive, teacher salary ranges, and maybe at risk of falling further behind our neighboring counties. This has me very concerned. In the early fall I hope to begin hiring young people to help me in my new business and I hope to grow this force in years to come. These jobs will require good reading, writing, and and analytical skills. I want critical thinkers. I believe good teachers, even more than great school facilities, will be key to me being able to hire fuckier young people. Great teachers made a difference in my life, and I know the good ones are making the difference to my future hires. Please properly reward and incentivize the teachers that we have in Focker County, especially the good ones, like we do in every successful business. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Donna Wilkers of the Scott District, followed by Darcy Croats of the Scott District. Good evening to the board and thank you for your hard work. My name is Donna Wilkers. I'm from the Scott District. My husband and I raised four children through the Bocca Republic schools and we are deeply concerned about the future of education faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the faculty of the given a response but I understand that's not the protocol but I'll go ahead and throw my question out. Recent statistics comparing Faulkyrie teacher salaries to our neighboring counties, excluding Fairfax, showed that we ranked number 10 out of 11 for starting salaries. So my question is, why would a potential teacher have any incentive to even come here? Or why would an existing teacher be motivated to stay here based on statistically higher midrange salaries and comparable surrounding counties? Can someone offer an explanation of why we are in such a low ranking? So I ask that you please fully fund the 2026 budget as offered from our school board. We need to attract and keep our hardworking teachers by providing appropriate compensation. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Darcy Kruths of the Scott district, followed by Susan Pauling of the Center District. I don't think I've ever had to move a microphone up before. Good evening. My name is Darcy Kruths. I'm a member of the Falker County Education Association and I'm here to speak this evening on the budget. I'm here to speak specifically about the schools. The school board proposed a budget that is entirely need-based. They asked for no frills, no fancy swimming pools, no giant technology purchases. The budget included a 4% raise for teachers. This is in a year that Prince William County is proposing 7% followed by 6.3 the following year. And Co-Peper is offering five. That budget, which was incredibly modest, is not fully funded in your proposed budget. The newly proposed 3% is also included in the state budget. So with SOQ positions being roughly 66%, that leaves only 33% of the 3% raise that needs to come from the county. So really when we're saying that this includes a 3% raise for teachers, that money isn't coming from the county. Most of it is coming from the state. And I hear over and over that we can't compete. We will never be able to do what Prince William County does. They have so much money. Well, they also have so many schools. They also have so many employees. They have decided that this is where their money belongs. Okay, if we only do 3% when the state is doing 3%, we are not going to close the gap. The gap will widen. Alright, if Culpepper does five, the gap widens on both sides. We will not keep teachers. I'm a parent and I am incredibly fortunate that my daughters attend Greenville Elementary with Erica Kursy. And that school is right over the line from Prince William County. Okay? The district where I live, the Scott district is right over the line from Prince William County. Though I am here today as an individual, I am the president of the PTO at Greenville. And how will we keep those wonderful teachers that teach my daughters when they could go to T. Claywood and make so much more money. Okay? I am all you can say that we can't compete but we are competing. I'm also a teacher. I teach at LHS in Beilton. I've been back from raising those daughters for two years. I'm happy at Liberty High School. I love my school. I love my students. I love my team. I love my school leadership. I deliberately did not apply to Prince William County because I wanted to teach in Falkier. I deliberately did not look at the pay scale because I did not want to know. When I saw the new proposed budget, when the article came out in the Falkier Times, while still sitting at my desk at 5.30 I was mad enough to look. It was worse than I thought it was going to be. For me in two years assuming the 7% that they get the 7% and then the 6.3 I'm also moving myself up on your pay scale two steps and giving myself a 3% raise for the next two years in my computations. In that second year, the difference will be $20,000. $20,000. I live in the Scott district. I think I'm a good teacher. The Dr. Warner's been known to say I talk too much. I joked at work that I couldn't even tell my husband this because if I did, he's going to start forging my name on documents. I also mapped it out in my driveway on my way to work the next morning and Patriot High School is two miles closer to my house than Liberty High School. So how will you keep teachers on my end of the county with that sort of pay discrepancy? But it's not the pay discrepancy that made me so angry. What made me angry is knowing that that money would come from the state. And the board is not willing to do the things necessary to try to keep us. You know, 1% for me is like $500 and I want it, okay? But it's, I felt disrespected and unvalued and that more than the money is why you'll lose the teachers. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Susan Pauling of the Center District, followed by Maggie Lang of the Marshall District. Good evening. I am Susan Pauling and I am the Chair of the Falkier County School Board. Thank you so much for being here. I know that these hearings are not easy and I appreciate your engagement. As I stand before you tonight, I find myself pleading with you to understand the delicate partnership between the school division and the county. I know that I don't sit under the weight of navigating the county budget or the pressure of whether or not to raise county taxes for county taxes. The need for teachers should never outweigh the need for fire and rescue or law enforcement. As I said to our community and I believe it bears repeating if not data centers then what? We cannot continue to build homes without attracting businesses. The original school board budget included a request for $2.8 million increase. When Miss Downes presented her budget proposal, she allocated $1.4 million to the general operating fund. We then amended our budget to align with the proposed county administrators budget. After the initial budget presentation, we learned that the board of supervisors were not in favor of increasing the transfer to the schools. I understand that it is not appropriate to say flat funding because the county's proposed budget included 2 million designated for the health fund, 500,000 for infrastructure improvements, and 500,000 airmarked for the renovation of Taylor Middle School. Unfortunately, these funds are restricted and cannot be allocated towards salary increases. If we do not increase salaries by 3%, we will be forced to surrender a million dollars back to the state. One could say that if we don't increase the school budget, then maybe they'll scrub the unnecessary line items from their budget to give raises. And we've done that in 2021, 22, 23, and 24. Most of those years, the headlines read taxes increase because of our schools, but I do not believe that that was an accurate statement. In 2023 we started a new partnership, trust grew and the narrative changed, but for some reason over the past month it seems that old habits and narratives have been reborn again fueling them versus us. I stand before you here today to ask if the county is still committed to this partnership in supporting our staff and students. We've been fiscally responsible with our funding, our budget, and our carryover funds. We have had more meetings in the past 18 months to discuss the budget than my entire first term on the board, which I believe strengthened the trust and our partnership. In 2024, conversations occurred around the need to develop a formula so that we can get out of the negative budget conversations. I'm asking you to consider creating some kind of formula that would designate a reoccurring percentage of funding from revenue to support schools. By creating a formula, there are no motions or personal feelings, just numbers. I'm asking you tonight to consider that strong schools are the foundation of a thriving community. And our budget reflects the needs required ensure quality education Retain great teachers and provide students with the resources they deserve and I'd like to add That I appreciate the partnership that we have had and the conversations that I know that all of my fellow board members have had with you Regarding the budget regarding turf fields regarding all of the of our school division. And I appreciate and value the partnership that we've had. And I know some of the comments have been negative, but I'd like to say publicly that I believe that you, as a board, have been the most supportive board with the school division that I've had opportunity to work with. And I'd like to, it's a tricky situation for me as the school board chair, because I don't want to do anything in any way that would burn down any of the relationship that we've worked so hard to develop and to grow. But at the same time, I want to ensure that I advocate for our staff and for our school division. Understanding that our budget is, there's not fluff in our school board budget. We scrubbed our budget first before we presented anything to the board of supervisors. And also understanding that in years past, when we asked for an initial 2.8, most likely that number would have remained 2.8 and we would have pushed forward with the 2.8 and it's understanding that once Miss Downs proposed her budget we went back and we modified our budget to be evident of the partnership that we've developed understanding that we don't bear the weight that you do financially. So I would just appreciate you understanding that moving forward, that we're in a dire situation in a teacher shortage and that we need to move forward with a plan to increase salaries not just this year but next year and years to come. So I'd like to see conversations happen throughout the year of how we can develop a formula so that we can get out of this negative cycle in our county. Thank you so much. Our next speaker is Maggie Lang of the Marshall District, followed by April Hines of the Cedar Run District. Good evening. My name is Maggie Lang. I live in the Marshall District and I'm a junior here at Falk Your High School. I'm here today to ask you to fully fund the school board's proposed budget including higher razors for teachers. Teachers are the backbone of our schools. They do so much more than just teach. They mentor, support and push students to do their best. I've had so many teachers who made learning exciting, who took the time to connect with our students, who genuinely cared about us and our futures. Now let's be honest. Right now we're not paying them what they deserve. They're putting in long hours, buying their own classroom supplies, and all the while struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. If we want great schools, we need to keep great teachers. But if we don't offer competitive pay, they'll leave for better paying jobs in other counties, or better career altogether. And when great teachers leave, students lose out. Not just on lessons, but on mentorship, encouragement, and the kinds of support that makes all the difference. That hurts students, families, and the entire community. This isn't just about numbers on a budget. It's about valuing the people who make our schools work. I urge you to fully fund the school board's budget and make sure our teachers get the raises they deserve. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is April Hines of the Cedar Run district, followed by Bob Claimert of the Marshall District. Good evening. My name is April Hines and I'm the high school cafeteria manager at Liberty High School. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to speak on behalf of Falker County School Nutrition Department. Each school day we serve an average of 7,600 students meals from kindergarten through the 12th grade in addition to providing meals for the Head Start program and FCC programs. Tonight I want to share a few words with you from a colleague that truly reflect the sentiments of many of us in the School Nutrition Department. As an employee of FCPS cafeteria staff I fully support the proposed wage increase from my position. This increase would bring our pay more in line with comparable jobs at local businesses, excuse me, such as stores and gas stations, as well as cafeteria positions in neighboring counties. I truly enjoy and appreciate my job, which is why I continue to work, even though my entire paycheck currently goes, to daycare from my youngest child. A wage increase would be greatly appreciated and beneficial for all employees helping us manage the rising cost of daily living remain competitive with other job opportunities and employee and improve employee retention. Thank you for your time and considering this important matter. Thank you again for listening and for your support of the Falker County Public School Nutrition Program. Thank you. Our next speaker is Bob Claimert of the Marshall District, followed by Raid Ibrahim of the Center District. Well, thank you. I first came to Falkier County in 1963 and I spent the next several decades on overseas assignments but always coming back to Falkier as my personal residence. During that time I've owned three residences in Falkier and I started two businesses in my retirement years. I'd like to have a little more macro discussion on some of the things that I've heard here tonight. The first business that I started was a horse industry, which seemed to be supported by a lot. I loved what I did and I loved my horses, but I can tell you from personal experience that the horse industry in Virginia is changing and the same thing, and can ask any better failure for the same thing. The same challenges are being met by things like dairy farms and tobacco farms and that sort of thing. So like it or not, the face of Falkier County is changing. The question is whether we're going to meet those challenges and And from my perspective, we're not really doing that. The second business that I started was a winery and pardon me, but the victiveness that was said to many of us in the winery business was pretty despicable quite frankly. Part of it was the fuckier winery ordinance that was put on. And quite frankly, if I had known that that ordinance was going to be sent, I probably wouldn't have started the winery business. Fortunately, I think this board and the majority of the residents in Virginia and Falkier County have accepted that wine reels are an asset to the county. A, we're retaining that agricultural land that I said was a challenge and B, we're bringing in visitors that help go to restaurants and that sort of thing. But we've got to understand those challenges as well. When I first bought my property in 1996, I thought my taxes were reasonable for what I bought. That was then this is now. Over the course of that time, this board and others have increased my taxes four times. Now what has not increased quite frankly is my retirement income. And we're not really addressing that. Falkier County's budget is primarily 71% coming from homeowners like myself. A dirty little secret that I'm sure the board knows is that we're something like 216th most expensive county to live in as far as property taxes to live in in America. Now 216 doesn't sound very bad except that there are 3,144 counties in America and we're the 216th most expensive county. Governor DeSantis, I understand, is proposing to his constituents to completely eliminate property taxes. Obviously, that expense will have to come from someplace else and they're looking at things like, say, sales tax. obviously not something apparently this board has has ever looked at. I'll simply I'll simply say that that we should be preparing for the future and I don't think you can continue to do it on the backs of of homeowners. We've got to look at we've got to look at other other methods of of support. I have here a book called Virginia Business. I read this book very carefully. I'm not sure that I missed it, but there's many counties in here discussing on how they are preparing for the future. Many of them are accepting data centers, which I'm not here to promote. Others are bringing in things like, it's called small modular reaction to begin to meet the energy needs of future energy needs. But I read this book very carefully and I didn't see a single mention of Falkier County in it. And quite frankly, I believe that what we are doing in Falker County is unsustainable. And we've got to take a hard look at that. I'm only going to say one other small thing. And that is that I've heard many things here tonight on education. I used to have a daughter who was a teacher. So I know full well the challenge is both financial and hard work that teachers put in. But I have a personal concern about the education system in America because while those numbers change a little bit, quite frankly if you look worldwide we are 10th, 13th and 30th in reading science and math and that's not the of the teachers, but we have got to address that issue as well. I think before I paid the education superintendent to $135,000 a year, I'd maybe be holding him accountable for what that is. I really respect what you all board members do in support of Falky County and I can imagine the responsibilities that you have so thank you very much but we are not preparing for the future thank you very much thank you our next speaker is Raid Ibrahim of the Center District followed by Daniela Dean of the Marshall District. Sorry about that. Good evening everyone. My name is Raid Ibrahim. I live in the center district and I'm a resident at the town of Warranton and I'm here today to urge the Falker County Board of Supervisors to fully fund the school board's budget quest, which includes crucial items such as a free percent raise for teachers and staff, as well as critical investments and transportation in facilities. Now, I'm not going to mince any words here. The state of public education in Falker County is nothing sort of a crisis. We are facing a massive staff shortage that has had catastrophic impacts on our schools and a big reason why it's so hard for Falkier to fill vacancies and retain teachers is because our salaries are very low compared to neighboring counties. Despite the fact that the cost of living and housing is cheaper and co-pepper than Falkier, co-pepper actually pays for starting teachers more than we do. I'm not exaggerating when I say this,, but a first year teacher with a master's degree can quite literally maybe drive 10 to 15 minutes to Prince William and then get paid $11,000 more a year than they could here in Falkyre. And if they have 10 years of experience that becomes $18,000, for 20 years that gap becomes more than $37,000. And look at these numbers, it's not hard to see why we have such a big teacher shortage. And it's also important to point out that this 3% race proposal is actually, originally, was going to be 4%, but they already cut it down to 3%. And as I'm sure everyone's aware, costs of living have continued to rise. Housing prices and Falkier have skyrocketed, groceries are still expensive, eggs are very expensive, and if we don't even give a free percent raise to our Falkier teachers, then this teacher shortage problem is going to get much worse. And it's not just teachers, we also have a shortage of bus drivers and other staff as well, which this budget also seeks to address. And a big reason why I care so much about public education here in Falkier is because from fifth grade all the way through high school, I was a student here in Falkier County Public Schools myself. I went to see him Bradley Elementary and the school formally known as Warranton Middle. And after that I graduated from Falker High School back in 2023 a couple years ago and then after that I the same year 2023 I got an associate's degree at Lowell Ritz and right now I'm currently finishing my last semester down at UVA and I actually had classes there before coming here today after that I plan to go to go to law school in the fall. And the reason why I'm bringing up all my personal successes is because had it not been for the hard work of my teachers, bus drivers and after school public staff, I would not be as successful as I am today. I saw them working hard every single day, serving kids like me in data service salary that reflects a contribution to society. Public education is absolutely essential to uplifting working class families like mine. I want to make sure my four younger siblings and all the children in Faulkier will be able to have the same opportunities I have had. I'm out of time, but before I finish, I also want to very quickly say that I also urge y'all to prove fire departments budget requests includes important investments and equipment that are a crucial for their life saving work. Thank you for your time and I urge you to do what is right for the working families of Hawkeye County. Thank you. Our next speaker is Danielle Dean of the Marshall District followed by Kelly Petit of the Cedar Vun District. Good evening Board of Supervisors and County Administration. My name is Daniel Dean and I am a member of the Falkirk County School Board Marshall District. Thank you to the County Administrator for including an increase with the Health Fund in your proposed budget. And while I understand the importance of continuing to invest in fixing the whole that was created by those that served before us, I am kindly asking the Board of Supervisors and the County Administrator to consider changing the current budgetary strategy for the health fund to a more appropriately balanced fund. Currently, there is $40 million fund. It is budgeted 50-50 between the school division and the county. When in reality, the school division has approximately 1,800 employees. The county roughly 500. Logically, it would make sense to balance the fund 7525. The school division holds the negotiating power with the health care provider based merely on the number of employees we have. So when you go to get the insurance for our county employees and for us, you use the 1800 people to to your benefit but when you split that fund you split it 50-50 and I did teach math for that time period and I'm not sure that those numbers add up. It would inflate the cost of the benefits to the county employees if we did pull out. And I believe that it's our in our best interest to resolve the health fund issue once and for all. And that begins with fixing the disproportionate health fund budget. If we did not go into the negotiations, if you didn't go into them using us, then you wouldn't have as much buying power and your health benefits would be increased greatly. So you use us for buying power, but we don't get our share, person for person. When I divided 2,400 people divided by 40 million dollars, that was a pretty good chunk. We wouldn't have a fund crisis if we did. The schools are often blamed for creating the issue and I feel like it's unfair and unwarranted. I've spent a lot of time looking into the budget, looking into the healthcare and what I've found is we've worked really hard to create and continue to build a stronger fuckier. And I would ask you that we find common ground and find a way to move forward. That when you look at that $40 million health care fund, that you appropriate those funds in an equitable manner. We are physically responsible. And I and I feel the board are conservative in what we're asking you to fund the schools this year. It's fair and it's appropriate. I do firmly believe you can fund the schools without increasing taxes in our county. I love Falkier. I love the rural vibe. I love and want to protect that. I don't want to raise taxes. I don't want to be like Prince William. I've heard a lot of people talk about Prince William. I'm not looking to be like Prince William. I don't want to be filled with data centers. But I do believe you guys can navigate our budget. And I'm asking that the Board of Supervisors specifically look inward at your own budget. See how you can modify things so that we FCPS can keep and attract employees for the school division, giving them what is necessary to live in Falkirk County. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Kelly Petit of the Cedar Run District and there are no no other speakers currently signed up to speak. Thank you very much. Kelly Pettit, nothing petite going on here right now. I hate taxes. I hate them, but know that they are a necessity to fund our local government and its essential programs. I am the mother of two Faulkier County graduates. One went on to graduate from Mary Washington University of Mary Washington now, physics and computer science major. He's looking for a job by the way. So, my buddy. Also, a graduate of Cattle Run. She's down at VCU right now. A freshman at Falkyre County's best kept secret, South Eastern, cats out of the bag. But two more in the pipeline for Cattle Run in a few years. A quality education is such an important gift to our children. I want the children in our county to continue learning from the best teachers and know that by recognizing their hard work with a well-learned raise, will not only make them feel valued, but also help them manage our ever tightening economy. At a minimum, I ask that you vote to fully fund the 2026 Falkier County Public School budget as submitted by the school board. Those requested funds will allow for an increase in staff compensation and funding for essential infrastructure, including facilities and transportation. The 3% pay increase for staff funding, which is only slightly higher than inflation, as we've heard, 2.5 to 2.8%. As consistent with the Commonwealth's recommendation, and we'll allow the county to take full advantage of state funding. To leave that money on the table would not be ideal. Again, while I hate taxes as much as the next person, I would be much happier if the school staff could receive the 4% raise originally discussed at the February 24th school board meeting. adjacent counties pay their teachers and staff much more by comparison has been discussed. Potentially losing value teachers to counties that are not that far away from neighboring counties and missing out on future well-qualified hires would be a disservice to our kids and the community as a whole. In a blink those kids will be out our future workforce and hopefully they will want to return and share their skills with the county that raised them. To close, a sales tax to solve our revenue issue would be unfair to the lower paid folks in our county like our teachers and staff. I hate taxes, but I'm willing to adjust the property tax I pay for the good of our community. Thank you very much for your service and your time today. Thank you. There are no other speakers signed up at this time. Are there any other speakers that would like to come forward? Hearing none, we will close the public hearing. And I'd like to thank you on behalf of the Board, the supervisors for coming out tonight. Your input, your comments, your passion for these issues are essential to our decision making. So thank you very much. I hope you all have a safe evening, and this meeting is adjourned.