May 27, 2025: Lynchburg City Council to vote on lodging tax increase from 6.5% to 12.5%

Plus: Bedford Supervisors to hold public hearing on bonuses for county employees

May 27, 2025

I decided to become a reporter out of a deep love and curiosity for the place where I grew up. My family moved to Campbell County when I was six and I’ve been in Virginia more or less since then. My family has all left now, leaving just me here. I’m fascinated with how the world around us is put together, and journalism has provided me an opportunity to write stories that seek to explain.

My career has unfolded while the workforce in local journalism has been drastically reduced. I know those doing the work are trying their best and there are some amazing people out there writing about their communities.

I’ve not been south of North Garden for over a year and a half now. I keep wanting to plan a trip through the Fifth District but I work best when I’m at home in Charlottesville. There’s so much to write about, and I lack the experience at building a business beyond freelance. It’s possible that neither this newsletter nor Charlottesville Community Engagement ever go beyond what’s happening right now.

At the heart of this work is a love for a place where I’ve grown up in a time where conflict and division seem to be everywhere. That’s not what I want to do, and I continue to do this work. If you’re interested in seeing it continue, please take a look here.

I do also think it’s neat that I met someone in the wild that reads this newsletter! So that’s kind of cool.

One way to ensure this newsletter keeps going is to tell others about it. Town Crier Productions has no money for marketing, so you’re my only hope!

Bedford County Supervisors to consider state-funded bonus for employees

The seven members of the Bedford County Board of Supervisors will meet for a work session at 5 p.m. followed by a regular meeting at 7 p.m. The information for all meetings can be found at this portal.

The work session has a single public item and a single closed door item.

The former is a discussion regarding employee bonuses. The Commonwealth of Virginia budget contains a 1.5 percent bonus for full-time employees supported by the state. Do Supervisors want to also pay part-time employees a bonus? Staff recommends the bonus to all.

“The cost to the General Fund is $347,000 (inclusive of Solid Waste and the Library) and Nursing Home Fund is $68,000,” reads the staff report. “Staff recommends reappropriating funds from FY 25 to FY 26 cover the cost of the bonus.”

A public hearing on the bonuses will be taken in the regular meeting followed by action.

The latter is to discuss the acquisition or disposition of property for a public purpose. In this case, “current and future park properties, and special event location.”

*Here’s what the resolution looks like for the closed session (Credit: Bedford County)*

Lynchburg City Council Finance Committee to get several reports

If I was covering the City of Lynchburg, the agenda packet for the Finance Committee would provide me with so many potential stories. There are several quarterly reports worth digging into to catch up with how different departments are doing. This takes place at 3 p.m. in the 2nd Floor Training Room in City Hall at 900 Church Street. (meeting overview)

*Can Charlottesville Area Transit produce a report like this? (Credit: City of Lynchburg)*

Lynchburg City Council to review employee survey in work session

All seven members of the Lynchburg City Council will meet at 4 p.m. for a work session in the 2nd Floor Training Room in City Hall at 900 Church Street. (meeting overview)

The first item is a review of a recent employee survey. A summary of the results can be reviewed here.

There are five briefing items where Councilmembers get to learn about something before a vote at a later meeting.

The first is for the draft Five-Year Consolidated Plan and Fiscal Year 2026 Annual Action Plan for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME program. A public hearing will be on the June 10, 2025 agenda. (learn more)
The second is for the Derelict Buildings Ordinance. A vote will be taken at the June 10, 2025 meeting. Under legislation that passed the General Assembly this session, there will no longer be an exemption for commercial and industrial buildings from civil penalties for being derelict. (learn more)
The third is a review of the nomination process for the School Board. There are two options for potential changes. (learn more)
The fourth is for quarterly reporting for Boards and Commissions to see if there are any vacancies to fill. (learn more)
The fifth is for an increase in the rates for ambulances and related services. (learn more)

There will be a closed session with two items. I’ll print out the full descriptions:

“Consideration of a closed meeting to discuss the investment of public funds where competition or bargaining is involved, where, if made public initially, the financial interest of the governmental unit would be adversely affected, pursuant to Sections 2.2-3711(A)(6) of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended; the subject of the closed meeting being specific to negotiations regarding the Campbell County Utilities and Service Authority (CCUSA) Water Purchase Contract.”
“Consideration of a closed meeting to discuss appointments for vacancies to the
following Boards and Commissions: Lyn-CAG, pursuant to Section 2.2- 3711(A.)(1) of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended.”

*An overview of the city employee survey (Credit: City of Lynchburg)*

Lynchburg City Council to hold public hearings on Leesville Road townhomes, increasing lodging tax to 12.5 percent

The regular meeting of the Lynchburg City Council will be held at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers. (meeting overview)

To get to know Lynchburg a little more, take a look at the minutes from the April 22 and April 29 meetings. The April 22 meeting was the public hearing on the tax rate and there’s a diversity of opinion. The April 29 meeting was a joint meeting with the School Board.

The first public hearing is for the rezoning of three parcels in the 600 block of Leesville Road from Residential-1 to Residential 4-C to allow for the construction of 54 townhomes. In yet another sign that Lynchburg is very different from Charlottesville, the developer has offered a proffer to require more parking than required by the code. (staff report)

The Planning Commission voted 5-1 to recommend denial.

*Learn more about the proposal in the presentation (Credit: City of Lynchburg)*

The second public hearing is to take comments on nominations for School Board appointments to Districts I, II, and III. There are ten applicants for District I, thirteen for District II, and six for District III. (learn more)

The third public hearing will be on a proposed increase in the transient lodging tax from 6.5 percent to 12.5 percent. They’re also increasing the room rate from $1 to $10 per night. That’ll raise an additional $7 million in revenue. (learn more)

Then there are about a dozen people who have signed up for public comment. Here are the subjects:

Hear from a group representative regarding "[how] to identify trouble entities, identify probable solutions, and target corrective actions before they manifest
into critical mass for the youth in our city"
Hear from a citizen regarding "appreciation of two specific city departments".
Hear from a group representative regarding "the embarrassment of our city council along with our parking authority making it difficult and not following the rules and making or deciding on when or what to enforce."
Hear from a citizen regarding "citizen expectations of council"
Hear from a citizen regarding "Florida Avenue sidewalk issue"
Hear from a citizen regarding "budget and taxes"
Hear from a citizen regarding "current council behavior, small business and development concerns"
Hear from a citizen regarding "the future of Lynchburg, part 1"
Hear from a group representative regarding "lighten our burden"
Hear from a group representative regarding "[the] tax rate”
Hear from a group representative regarding "tax rates and implications for city services".
Hear from a citizen regarding "the increased tax rate proposed for Lynchburg City".
Hear from a citizen regarding "taxes". (Bill Hawkins)

After that there are three items under general business.

The first is a vote on the real estate tax rate
The second is second reading on FY2025 third quarter budget amendments
The third is a second reading on a $5.25 million upfront payment to the Lynchburg Hillcats related to investments the team’s company will make to City Stadium to “create a fan experience” project.

Fifth District Community Engagement

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