03/19/2014

Page 1

DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Mechanicsville, VA 23111

Vol. 30, No. 46 | Richmond Suburban News | March 19, 2014

STOPS AT EVERY HOME IN TOWN

Hazzard proposes 2-cent tax cut to add $2.4 million annual boost

Ruritans, Habitat join again for ShukNPul By Melody Kinser mkinser@mechlocal.com

A

partnership made in charitable heaven continues this year with the Mechanicsville Ruritan Club and Hanover Habitat for Humanity again joining forces to present the 34th Annual Oyster Roast and Tractor Pull, more commonly known as ShukNPul. On Saturday, March 29, the two organizations will partner for the second year at Courthouse Ruritan Park in Hanover. Gates open at 11 a.m. (rain or shine), with meals being served from 1 to 3 p.m. The event runs from noon to 5 p.m. Ruritan Chester Sienko, who has chaired the

PRSRT. STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Mechanicsville, VA Permit No.141

By Jim Ridolphi for The Mechanicsville Local

Tom Haynie/The Local

Andy Andrews of Mechanicsville said he likes his oysters raw while partaking of one during the 2013 Mechanicsville Ruritan Club’s ShukNPul. He said “cookin’ ’em ruins the taste.”

ShukNPul for several years, said the benefit to having a partner like Habitat is because “it’s always nice to have someone you can rely on. They have a wider diversity of volunteers.” The need for volunteers has increased, he added, as the club’s “member base has dropped.” Last year’s partnership proved so successful that Sienko said they “were able to eliminate the debt we’d had from the prior year and see SHUKNPUL, pg. 4

After budget director Kathleen Seay completed her update to the Hanover County Board of Supervisors regarding the county’s contingency fund balance, Wayne Hazzard, vice chairman and South Anna representative, had a suggestion as to where some of those funds might be best used. “I am concerned that this year’s budget is growing by $18 million over last year’s budget,” Hazzard said. “We can easily get back in a situation where we just spend

the extra revenue. I would like to consider a 2-cent tax rate cut and the way I would pay for it without touching the spending side is in this unassigned $3.1 million. I think by doing that, it controls some of the revenue.” He said real estate tax revenues for this year HAZZARD accounted for $124

million and are projected to rise to $153 million in five years. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that we could give the citizens back $2.4 million a year in taxes,” Hazzard said. The county’s current real estate tax is assessed at 81 cents per $100 of assessed value, and Hazzard’s proposal would reduce that to 79 cents per $100 of assessed value. Angela Kelly-Wiecek, who represents the Chickahominy District, said she could not support the decrease and described the

HCBOS meeting Jim Ridolphi for The Local

Ann Blanks, William Powell and Gwen Townsend, photo at left, all spoke in favor of a ban on neighborhood explosions caused by Tannerite during the March 12 meeting of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors. Mike Flagg, right, Public Works director, addressed the board as budget talks continue. Story on Page 8.

see HAZZARD, pg. 5


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.