Inside A3 Assembly challenges students to look deeper
Powhatan, Virginia B2 Home runs power Powhatan
Vol. XXIX No. 13
March 30, 2016
Board advertises 90-cent tax rate By Laura McFarland
improvement program needs. The board voted toward the end of its workshop on Monday, March 21 to advertise the proposed rate at 90 cents in time for a public hearing to be held during a 6 p.m. meeting on Monday, May 2 in the Village Building. This is the same night the board will approve the final rate. By advertising for 90 cents, the board is not committing to this rate. The board has to advertise the maximum rate that it
News Editor
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OWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors last week voted three-two in favor of advertising a proposed 2016-2017 real estate tax rate at 90 cents, giving the five board members room to decide on a course of action as they discuss and gather more information about the proposed county’s budget and capital
might approve. It may choose to approve a lower rate, but it cannot go over the advertised rate. Chairman Bill Melton, who represents District 4; Angie Cabell, District 3, and Carson Tucker, District 5, voted to approve 90 cents as the advertised tax rate. David Williams, District 1, and Larry Nordvig, District 2. Voted against it. The current tax rate is 90 cents, but given the increase in the county’s overall assessed value as of Jan. 1, 2016, a real
estate tax rate of 85 cents would be needed to see no effective increase or decrease in the average taxpayer bill. This effective tax rate sees a change in the rate itself, but the taxpayer still ends up paying the same bill. Cabell made the motion to advertise the real estate tax rate at 90 cents and Tucker seconded the motion. Neither spoke again on the subject. see BOARD page 9A
School board presents $45.8 million budget By Laura McFarland News Editor
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PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Pocahontas Middle School will see major change during the construction of a new middle school as it goes from housing fifth- and sixth-graders to part of six and all of seventh and eighth grades.
OWHATAN – The Powhatan County School Board presented its almost $45.8 million proposed budget for the 2016-2017 school year to the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors last week a day after the members passed it unanimously with minimal dissension. The two boards met in a joint meeting
on Wednesday, March 23, with the bulk of the meeting focused on laying out the school district’s achievements, laying out the figures for the new school year and talking about where the extra money would be spent in the proposed budget. Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent, presented the budget and talked about the details of what school staff are proposing and the school board agreed to support at see BUDGET page 4A
Educators prepare to adjust By Laura McFarland News Editor
Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19
POWHATAN – Behind all of the jubilation within Powhatan County Public Schools at getting the green light to move ahead with plans to renovate and rebuild the outdated Powhatan Junior High School, a great deal of hard work and some tough decisions have gone into making the change a reality. School district staff members have been working hard to balance the tasks involved in closing a school, redistribut-
ing teachers and students from being situated in six locations down to five, and undertaking the actual building project, Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent, said. The county is in for an unusual time ahead, and there will be some real challenges that come with such a big change, he said. “There is going to be some uneasiness and discomfort, but it is going to be worth it. We are going to have a beautiful, state-of-the-art school for generasee CLOSING page 6A
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors and School Board hold a joint meeting where the school board’s proposed budget is presented.
Departments provide updates and make requests related to county budget
DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139
By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors has spent the past month learning the ins and outs that make up the proposed fiscal year 2017 operating budget that will soon be on the table for a vote. Since Feb. 29, the board has sat through a series of workshops outlining the budget requests by the county’s various departments and recommendations made by county administrator Pat Weiler on how and if they should be funded. The county administrator’s proposed budget totaled $56.7 million before the Powhatan County School Board presented its proposed $45.8 million budget on Wednesday, March 23. Department requests ranged from no addition funds to limited changes with price tags varyin from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to significant requests of multiple thousands of dollars for items, services or salaries and benefits. The board had to consider which, if any, of those to fund as it moves closer to the date it is scheduled to vote on the adoption of the budget on Monday, May 2. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. The board was scheduled to vote on the budget amount it wished to advertise on Monday, March 28. The vote occurred after deadline for this story. The entire budget can be found on the county’s website at www.powhatanva. gov/424/Budget-CIP. To listen to and watch the budget meet-
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Sheriff Brad Nunnally spoke to the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors on several issues, including pay raises for his staff.
ings, go to www.powhatanva.gov/agendacenter. Some of the more notable budget requests included: Chief Steven Singer pointed out that the county is looking at purchasing a new public safety radio system and computer aided dispatch system as well as moving emergency communications into a space or new facility that can house those expansions. Those projects are on the county’s capital improvements program (CIP) but what is not is a staff member who would be dedicated to dealing with those systems. He proposed that if the county is planning to go ahead with those projects, it needs to hire a director of emergency communications soon who can oversee the building and implementation of the
systems and then run them once they are finished in about 18 to 24 months. He said the director would need to be there to understand the systems the county is looking at purchasing and towers that might be built. The director is the project manager for the radio, CAD and relocation projects, plus maintaining the current radio system. The salary and benefits of the emergency communications direction position is proposed at $82,000. This is part of a recommended plan to move the emergency dispatch system from underneath the sheriff’s office, which Weiler said the board requested she do. She asked Singer how he would organize emergency management if it was under him, and that is the organizational syssee REQUESTS page 2A