Inside A6 Cumberland goes wild for reading
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Indians win in tribute to coach Conner
Vol. XXXV No.. 40
April 6, 2022
Supervisors take step back on tax rate adoption Board to extend first tax bill due date to June 15 By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors had to take a step back from its vote to keep the county’s real estate tax rate unchanged at 79 cents after it came to light that there had been a miscalculation in how the county’s assessment growth was calculated and a public hearing would now be required. The board voted in a 3-2 split on Monday, March 28 to set the calendar year 2022 real estate tax rate at 79 cents per $100 of assessed value. The vote on an official resolution for that decision came about a week after the board decided in the same split to keep the tax
rate unchanged at 79 cents in a March 22 workshop, not realizing they needed a formal resolution to do so. Chair Mike Byerly, who represents District 3; Steve McClung, District 2, and Karin Carmack, District 5, voted in favor of the 79-cent tax rate. David Williams, District 1, and Bill Cox, District 4, voted against. But one of the few steps in the fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget process the board thought it had accomplished was actually not valid based on new information the county received the day after the March 28 vote from the Virginia Department of Taxation. The new information came after inquiries Williams made about concerns over this year’s tax rate calculations. According to that information, the county was not using the correct calculations to determine the equalized tax rate that resulted from the 10.4% increase in the county’s total assessed value of real property, county administrator Ned Smither told the board in a complicated budget workshop held Friday, April 1.
Instead of 79 cents, the new calculations show the equalized tax rate – the tax rate that would levy the same amount of real estate as last tax year when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate – would be 75 cents. That means if the board decides to stick with its decision to keep the tax rate the same at 79 cents, the difference between the lower equalized tax rate and the proposed rate three board members have been favoring would represent a 4-cent increase for taxpayers, or about a 5.3% increase. But the possible increase itself – or the discussion about whether to lower the tax rate after all – were not the main focus of Friday’s workshop. Instead, supervisors were more focused on making sure the timeline was set that would both give the public the opportunity to have input on the rate and get it adopted with enough time to mail out the first half of the calendar year 2022 see TAX RATE, pg. 9
Young chefs stir up tasty delights
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Kendall Ickes is congratulated by Kathy Budner after he accepted an award of excellence named in her honor that is given each year by the Powhatan Chamber of Commerce.
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
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Powhatan Elementary fifth grader Tiago Erazo tastes his dish in the 2022 Sodexo Future Chefs Contest – Pollo Susado or ‘Sweaty Chicken’ – while his mom, Diana Erazo, and chef helper, Ava Kahn, watch.
Powhatan Chamber honors Ickes for business excellence By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
POWHATAN – Tiago Erazo looked every bit a professional chef in his domain as he paused in stirring his Pollo Susado – aka Sweaty Chicken – to taste the dish to determine if something was missing. “It needs lemon,” he said after a pensive pause and then went to make his adjustment. He apparently got the recipe right, because the four volunteer judges of the Sodexo Future Chefs Contest chose Tiago as the winner for the 2022 competition held March 25.
The Powhatan Elementary fifth grader competed against five other young chefs, all of whom impressed the judges with their takes on dishes inspired by a movie or book. Tiago was competing against fellow young chefs Lanie Jastram, a third grader at Powhatan Elementary; Chase Jones, a fifth grader at Flat Rock Elementary; Jeremiah da Silva, a fifth grader at Pocahontas Elementary; Rylee McNutt, fifth grader at Pocahontas Elementary, and Wyatt Stallworth, a fifth grader at Flat Rock Elementary.
POWHATAN – When Kendall Ickes accepted the 2022 Kathy Budner Award of Excellence, he didn’t see it as an honor for a single individual. Ickes said he has made some decisions in his life that might make some people question if he really knew what he was doing, such as opening DRP Collision Repair LLC with his wife, Margo in 2010 in Powhatan despite not knowing a single person from the county. Many of those steps came at the encouragement of others – people who saw a potential in him he couldn’t always see. So when he accepted the award at the Powhatan Chamber of
see CHEFS, pg. 5
see BUDNER, pg. 8
Three earn Eagle Scout rank
‘Slimy but fun’
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Vincent Torrijos, Colin Weinhardt and Nicholas Solzbach are joined in their Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony by their parents as troop leader Drew Quinn talks about the role they have played in their sons’ lives and development.
By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
POWHATAN – Three local young men were recently celebrat-
ed by their families and community when they shared the experience of reaching the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Boy see EAGLE, pg. 8
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Flat Rock Elementary principal Tanja AtkinsNelson and assistant principal Meghan Ellis got slimed Friday morning to fulfill a promise to their students. The administrators said it was ‘slimy but fun.’ More photos Page 10A.