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Vol. XXXII No.. 38
March 13, 2019
Supervisors take first look at FY 2020 budget By Laura McFarland News Editor
P
OWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors recently got its first look at the county’s fiscal year 2020 operating budget. During a workshop on Monday, March 4, county administrator Ted Voorhees laid out how the fiscal year (FY) 2020 operating budget fits in with the current economic outlook at the local, state and federal levels. The proposed FY 2020 budget is $62.3 million, which is an increase of $1.17 million from the FY 2019 adopted
budget of $61.1 million. These numbers do not yet include the full proposed budget from Powhatan County Public Schools, which the supervisors will not see until Monday, March 18. The county administrator is proposing an 88 cent real estate tax rate, which the board had previously adopted for FY 2019. Based on an 88 cent tax rate, the FY 2020 budget calls for $29,973,228 in total local support for the school district, which is 59.10 percent of net total taxes for the county. The total support figure includes a transfer of $23,346,750 and $6,626,478 in debt service. The board had another budget workshop on March 11 and is scheduled to
have a joint meeting with the school board to hear its budget presentation at 6 p.m. on March 18. All meetings are held at the Village Building. At the regular meeting at 6 p.m. on March 25, the board is scheduled to adopt its personal property tax rates and decide what budget to advertise. After that, the board can decide on lower tax rates or to reduce the budget but can’t increase either of them without re-advertising. The board has a workshop to discuss the capital improvement program (CIP) at 6 p.m. on April 11 and public hearings on the budget and CIP at its meeting at 6 p.m. on April 22. The board is supposed to adopt the
budget, real estate tax rates, CIP and fee schedule at its meeting at 6 p.m. on May 9. Documents pertaining to the FY 2020 budget can be downloaded at http://www. powhatanva.gov/424/Budget-CIP.
Revenue and expenditures At the overall level, the county is expecting a General Fund increase of $1,399,530, or 2.6 percent, Voorhees said. Within that, there are expected increases in real estate taxes at the 88 cent rate, $264,130 (0.8 percent); personal property taxes, $802,622, (9.5 percent), see BOARD, pg. 3
County implements new performance management system for accountability By Laura McFarland News Editor
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Shown is the expansion added onto the back of the Powhatan County Courthouse. After months of delays, it should be finished soon.
End may be in sight for courthouse expansion By Laura McFarland News Editor
see COURTHOUSE, pg. 5
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
County administrator Ted Voorhees, left, talks about the county’s new performance management system.
All of the departments worked over the past six months to really think about how their work is broken down by program and then to develop appropriate measures by those programs so the county can track workload, efficiency and effectiveness and begin to use that as both a management tool and a reporting tool to the public, Voorhees said.
Voorhees pointed out in the meeting and in a separate interview afterward that the new system is not perfect and some things about it may change as the departments begin work with it. “We will learn by doing. We will see as departments move forward how they use those measures. They may learn that a different measure is better or
a different way of collecting the information is better and they will adjust as they go,” he said. “But if you wait until everything is perfect before you deploy it takes too long. It is better to prototype it, launch it, and roll with it. We did a pretty good job of getting that going.” Documents pertaining see COUNTY, pg. 4
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POWHATAN – The end finally seems to be in sight on the construction of a courthouse expansion that is several months past its original projected completion. In September 2018, when construction workers broke through the
walls of the Powhatan County Courthouse building to begin connecting it to the $3.6 million expansion being added onto its back, the outlook wasn’t good that Richmond-based contractor Daniel & Co. Inc. could meet its already extended substantial com-
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors recently got to cross an item off its wish list with the implementation of a new performance management system launched alongside the fiscal year 2020 budget. During the board’s meeting on Monday, March 5, their budget book for fiscal year (FY) 2020 included a section that showed where each department had set up a metric system to measure its success. Voorhees said creating a performance management system was a goal for the board before he was hired and he is excited to begin some serious implementation.
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Dr. Sam Fuller, second from left, and his wife Carol Ann, second from right, stand with members of the Woman’s Club of Powhatan holding hospital gowns to be donated to Operation Smile. The women shown are Antoinette Ashburn, left, Sandy Hartley, Carolyn Eagle, and Kathy Tornatore. They either sewed or contributed to the project.
Local group supports efforts to bring smiles to kids worldwide By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The power of a child’s smile is immeasurable. Today, there are children all over the world who may be smiling in part because of help from a group of local Powhatan County women. The Woman's Club of Powhatan was recently visited by Dr. Sam Fuller, a retired plastic surgeon who does surgeries with Operation Smile. The international medical charity has provided hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children and young adults in developing
countries who are born with cleft lip, cleft palate or other dental and facial conditions. The Woman's Club of Powhatan has supported Operation Smile’s mission for more than 30 years, said Janet Hamrick, club vice president. The Woman's Club manages the Powhatan Clothes Closet, which is the main source of money for their many philanthropic projects. She introduced Sam Fuller and his wife, Carol Ann Fuller, who came to speak about Operation Smile at the club’s Feb. 27 meeting at Passion Community Church. After a presentation from the Fullers
on Operation Smile, club members showed them 74 hospital gowns made by club members for the children Operation Smile helps. The volunteers donated the funds, materials and sewing skills needed to make the gowns, which is a first-time project for them. Club members will deliver them to the headquarters in Virginia Beach in April. Operation Smile was founded in 1982 by Dr. Bill Magee Jr., a plastic and craniofacial surgeon, and his wife, Kathy Magee, a former nurse and clinical social worker. They traveled to the Philippines with a group of medical volsee SMILE pg. 6