April 2, 2025: Public hearing in Hanover County tonight for $781.87M budget for FY2026
Plus: Meeting as well in Albemarle County and Fluvanna County
Today’s edition is made possible by the fact that I already wrote the Albemarle and Fluvanna pieces for the Sunday edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. All I had to do was write up the Hanover County meeting and add stories from other outlets.
Then it’s on to asking some questions for a story I’m doing for C-Ville Weekly and I have a question. Do you have any at-grade railway crossings in your community that you feel are unsafe? Do you know of one that has been eliminated or otherwise mitigated?
There are 400 people or so reading this on a regular basis. Maybe you all have ideas!
In any case, here’s today’s edition. I’ll be back tomorrow with one for Amelia County’s next Board of Supervisors meeting scheduled for Friday.
Hanover County Supervisors to hold budget public hearing
The seven members of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors will meet at 6 p.m. this evening for public hearings on the budget for fiscal year 2026, the capital improvement program, the five-year financial plan, tax rates for 2025, and other related ordinance changes. They gather at the Board Room in the Hanover Administration Building at 7516 County Complex Road. (meeting overview)
First, let’s look at Hanover County. This is one of two localities in Virginia’s Fifth District that also has another Congressional District. In this case, the western half of Hanover County is represented by John McGuire and the eastern half is represented by Rob Wittman of the First District.
This newsletter covers the entire county just as with Bedford County which shares space with the Sixth District.
Hanover’s population in the 2020 Census was recorded at 109,979 and the Weldon Cooper Center’s most recent estimate shows an increase to 114,420 as of July 1, 2024. They project that will increase to 140,113 by 2050.
The proposed budget for FY2026 totals $781,869,071 and is based on no increases to tax rates. There is an increases in the tipping fees from $80 a ton to $90 a ton. There are also various fee increases for community development applications as well as increases to water and sewer fees.
The Supervisors will next meet on April 9 to receive nominations for two School Board seats.
Fluvanna County Supervisors to get update on tourism plan, approve funding for middle school track
Fluvanna County is just to the southeast of Charlottesville and the population has grown at 4.2 percent since the 2020 Census. The July 1, 2024 estimate from the Weldon Cooper Center for Fluvanna is 28,382. That isn’t too far off from their projection that the county would have a 2030 population of 28,394. The 2050 projection is 35,124.
What will come to pass? Decisions along the way through time are made by a five member Board of Supervisors in Fluvanna County. They meet today at the Circuit Courtroom in Fluvanna Courts Building at 5 p.m. for a regular meeting. A budget work session will be held at 7 p.m. in the Morris Room in the Fluvanna County Administration Building. (agenda packet)
There are two presentations at the beginning of the regular meeting. One is a quarterly report from the Virginia Department of Transportation and the written report begins on page 53 of the packet.
The second is an update on the Tourism Strategic Plan. Supervisors approved an update to the on December 6, 2023.
“This presentation will provide an overview of key accomplishments to date, including the successful launch of the Find Fluvanna brand, progress on infrastructure projects, and the implementation of business support initiatives,” reads the agenda packet.
There are two action matters. The first is on a reappropriation of $149,661.25 Capital Improvement Plan funds from FY2025 for specific projects at the Fluvanna Middle School. Look at page 75 for details.
The second is on how to proceed with the next reassessment. Do Supervisors wish to make changes?
“The County at minimum needs to issue a [Request for Proposals] RFP for General Reassessment Services of Real Property for 2027 and 2029,” reads the staff report.
The company Pearson’s Appraisal Service recently completed a full reassessment for 2025 and under the current policy 2027 would be a year when the assessment would be conducted via an administrative review with another full assessment in 2029.
“Any increase in doing a General (Full) Reassessment on a more frequent basis would add additional costs beyond what has been occurring previously,” the report continues. “As a completely different option, the Board could determine it no longer wants to utilize a third-party general reassessment firm and bring those services inhouse with an Assessors office.”
County Administrator Eric Dahl recommends proceeding with the current policy and schedule but a new firm will need to be hired as Pearson’s got out of the business.
There are no public hearings at this meeting.
Then the budget work session.
Albemarle County Supervisors to get several transportation updates
With a 2020 Census count of 112,395, Albemarle is the locality in the Fifth District with the largest population. The Weldon Cooper Center estimates Albemarle added another 5,000 people through July 1, 2024. The UVA center’s projections forecast a population of 155,102 in 2050.
How they get there is up to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. They generally meet on the first and third Wednesday of each month with extra meetings around budget time. April 2 is the first Wednesday of the month. The six Supervisors gather in Lane Auditorium at 1 p.m. for the afternoon meeting and come back again at 6 p.m for public hearings.
There are two proclamations. The first is for Dark Sky Week which seeks to raise awareness of light pollution. The second is for Financial Literacy Awareness Month.
There are two work sessions at this meeting. The first is another chance for the elected officials to weigh in on aspects of the county’s Comprehensive Plan update. This time around the subject is “Development Areas Land Use Chapter Revisions and Community Design Guidelines.” One of the items in the packet is a list of revisions that have been made to this section since the Planning Commission had their turn.
The next work session is on Albemarle County’s Secondary Six-Year Improvement Program with the Virginia Department of Transportation. VDOT allocates funds each year to localities for the purpose of paving gravel roads. Albemarle’s expected amount for FY2026 is $1.2 million. There will be a public hearing in May. The materials for this section are listed here.
After that, there will be a report from Carrie Shepherd, resident engineer for VDOT’s Charlottesville residency. This will provide an update on all sorts of transportation projects.
On the consent agenda for this meeting is a 13-page report from Albemarle’s transportation planner.
I wrote a preview story that you can see on Information Charlottesville.
In the 6 p.m. hour, Supervisors will take up an emergency resolution to change one of the voting precincts in the Rio District.
“The Hillsdale Conference Center has recently declined further service as a polling place,” reads the resolution. “The Harvest Church of God, 1025 Rio Road East has very recently agreed to make its buildings available as a polling place.”
This change is being conducted within 90 days of the June 17, 2025 primary and this emergency change is needed.
“The Board of Supervisors finds that an emergency exists requiring the adoption of this Ordinance without prior public notice pursuant to Virginia Code § 15.2-1427,” reads the resolution.
The Electoral Board knew of this matter in February. Why did it take so long for the public to find out? And why did CAAR withdraw from providing a place?
There are two public hearings. The first is on a periodic review of amendments to several agricultural and forestal districts. (materials)
The second is on a change to the county’s zoning code related to how data centers are regulated in Albemarle County. (materials)
“The current ordinance allows Data Centers of any size by right within all industrial zoning districts (Light Industry, Heavy Industry and Planned Development Industrial Park),” reads the staff report. “It also allows them by right up to 4,000 square feet and by special exception over that size, in Highway Commercial, Planned Development Shopping Center and Planned Development Mixed Commercial districts.”
There are several other regulations to be added such as a requirement that they only be built in areas with access to public water and sewer.
Reading material for F201:
Danville-Pittsylvania authority invests in history, Beth Jojack and Emily Dings, Virginia Business (paywall), March 31, 2025
We’re Two Decades Old Today! – Happy Anniversary BRL!, Tommy Stafford, Blue Ridge Life, April 1, 2025
Hanover County breaks ground on replacements for 2 aging elementary schools, Lyndon German, VPM News, April 1, 2025
School construction sales tax proposal vetoed by governor, Brian Carlton, Kenbridge Victoria Dispatch, April 1, 2025
Dominion Energy proposes hefty rate hikes, Josh Janney, Virginia Business (paywall), April 1, 2025
Political theater takes center stage as legislature returns for veto session, Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury, April 2, 2025
Planning commission passes kennel permit request, Amelia Bulletin-Monitor, April 3, 2025