March 19, 2025: Fluvanna Supervisors to hold public hearing on levying meals tax; Amelia Supervisors to consider whether to proceed with meals tax at all
Plus: Possibly the shortest blurb I’ve ever written for an Albemarle County Supervisor meeting
The more I do these, the more ideas come to me. I’ve always been of the mind that I’m able to get more done if I have more to do. I am glad to be back doing this and thinking about what I need. Requiring a deadline of myself forces me to imagine how I could be more efficient and this particular newsletter is one that is opening up other questions. How will it all come together? Keep reading!
The goal is to better understand a Congressional district. The goal is to explore the complexity of American government through a non-partisan lens. The goal is to create awareness of how we’ve all been in this together for a long while.
In any case, I have a meeting with someone at 10 a.m. and so I had better get to the work. Only three meetings today so this one will be quite short. Like me!
Amelia County Supervisors to consider next steps on the meals tax
With a population of 13,265 people, Amelia County is the fourth-smallest locality in Virginia’s Fifth District. It’s one of the easternmost localities as well and in the Greater Richmond Region. The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Services at the University of Virginia estimated the number of people increased 2.7 percent to 13,629 in 2024.
Neighbors to the south such as Halifax and Mecklenburg are both expected to decline in population, but Weldon Cooper projects a 2050 population of 15,292. What sort of approach does the county have to growth? I’m not sure, but one purpose of this newsletter is to find out.
The Amelia County Board of Supervisors will meet at 7 p.m. in the Amelia County Administration Conference Room. (meeting packet)
On the consent agenda is a letter of support for Southside Electric Cooperative’s weatherization program. Electric service in Amelia is powered by the Prince George Electric Cooperative, Community Electric Cooperative, and Southside Electric Cooperative.
“With 4,923 meters in Amelia County served by the electric cooperatives listed above—approximately 90 percent of which serve residences—our community depends on initiatives that improve energy efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen energy resilience in rural Virginia,” reads a staff report for the Board.
There’s also a declaration of surplus property for a vehicle that has been used by the Sheriff’s Office. This will now be conveyed to the School Board for their use in transportation special needs students.
After public comments are a series of presentations including one from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). There’s also information about the FY26 budget. Unfortunately I lack time today to get through that but the chart below indicates a trend similar to other localities.
There are five items of business.
There is a lease agreement for the Russell Grove Association and a transfer of property to the school system. This relates to a project that dates back to 2001 when the county received a $900,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to renovate 16 households as well as the Russell Grove School. As part of that agreement, the Amelia School Board had to agree to eventually turn the property over the county. (learn more)
There is a resolution related to the removal of illegal roadside signs. (learn more)
There will be a discussion of next steps on the meals tax. The Board adopted a resolution in November that delayed implementation from January 1, 2025 to May 1, 2025. There’s an interesting story here! (learn more)
There will be a discussion of tax due dates (learn more)
There will be discussion of the Human Resources and Finance Committee (learn more)
The Amelia County Board of Supervisors will return on April 4, 2025.
Public hearing before Fluvanna Supervisors on potential meals tax
The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. in the Morris Room of the Fluvanna County Administration Building for a budget work session, followed by a regular meeting at 6 p.m. in the Circuit Courtroom of the Fluvanna County Courts Building. (meeting packet)
There are two presentations. The first is an update on the restoration of the courthouse and the other is on the fire training building. Neither has information available in advance.
There are five action items.
The first is an authorization for a future public hearing on an amendment to a previous rezoning to allow for a caretaker residence on Virginia Route 6. That was granted by the Board of Supervisors in 1983, but the mobile home that had been located there has been removed. The property owner needs to have the use reauthorized. (learn more)
The second is an authorization for a future public hearing for a temporary construction easement for the development of the Wawa convenience store. (learn more)
The third is an agreement for a $785,504.50 grant from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for renovations to the courthouse. Fluvanna will contribute a $400,000 match. (learn more)
The fourth is to select a health care company for county employees in FY26. (learn more)
The fifth is to advertise the proposed budget for FY26 for public hearing on April 3, 2025. County Administrator Eric Dahl’s proposal for a real property tax rate was $0.74 per $100 of assessed value but the suggested advertisement is $0.75 per $100. That’s still a decrease over the current year. Learn more about the budget as it was introduced in this story. (learn more)
Then there are five public hearings.
The first is on an amendment to the Thomas Jefferson Solid Waste Management Plan related to coal ash deposits at the former Dominion Energy plant at Bremo Bluff. (learn more)
The second is on an amendment to the zoning code related to the definition of “day homes.” (learn more)
The third is on an amendment to the zoning code related to the definition of “front yard.” (learn more)
The fourth is on an amendment to the zoning code to remove a reference to a kind of outdoor lighting. (learn more)
The fifth is on whether Fluvanna should levy a food and beverage tax of up to six percent of a bill’s total. Supervisors agreed to pursue the idea back in January, as I wrote about at the time. (learn more)
Albemarle County Supervisors to hold fourth budget work session
For a change, I’m going to move very fast on Albemarle County as my time for today is running out. I’ll come back and do the demographic summary another time.
The six-member Board of Supervisors will meet at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. They’ll hold the fourth budget work session. I’m still writing up the first one. Albemarle County has over 117,000 residents but the local newspaper can’t be bothered to write up the budget discussions. But I am determined to explain to people what’s happening. I’m just a little behind.
To give you a sense of where I am in my reporting, here are a few stories I have written this year so far:
Richardson proposes four cent real estate tax increase for Albemarle’s FY26 budget with most of that revenue going to cover fire and EMS personnel, February 27, 2025
Many people weigh in on Albemarle’s recommended budget at first public hearing, March 18, 2025
An account of Albemarle County’s first work session on the FY2026 budget, March 19, 2025
Sticking with the meals tax theme, Albemarle County Supervisors voted to raise it to six percent last year.
If I could, I’d write a detailed account of every single local budget in Virginia. The public deserves that sort of thing. But, there’s only so much time and I’m not yet a fundraiser.
In the evening session there are two public hearings:
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing at their meeting on March 19 to declare a property at 5624 Brownsville Road as a blighted. According to materials in the meeting packet, the house is partially demolished and such a declaration would allow the county to demolish it at a cost of $31,000. Details here and in the staff report.
There’s a request from Charlottesville Community Church for a special use permit to allow a religious assembly use on land zoned Residential-1. (staff report)
Out of time. Rats.
Other articles you might want to read:
Albemarle Supervisors deadlock on proposal to rezone 50 acres for mobile home park, Sean Tubbs, C-Ville Weekly, March 19, 2025
Tax rate hike coming? Farmville town council weighs options, Brian Carlton, Farmville Herald, March 19, 2025