Monday, June 23, 2025: Lynchburg City Council to hold public hearing for real estate tax
Plus: Meetings in Bedford, Halifax, and Powhatan counties
We’re now into summer, and that means fewer government meetings perhaps.
Perhaps.
I won’t know that until I go through all of the potential meetings that might be had in the 24 localities within Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District. I keep a spreadsheet to try to help me learn the rhythm of a political jurisdiction that didn’t exist until a few years ago. After 2030, it may not exist again!
But until then, I’m very excited to try to understand how all of these various pieces fit together in a district drawn by two people assigned by the Virginia Supreme Court when a bipartisan commission failed to reach consensus.
This newsletter was created to try to draw awareness of the fact that there are 22 localities that fit almost entirely within the new Congressional boundary. As someone who has lived in the Fifth District most of their life, I see so much potential and hope to spend the next five years taking advantage of this situation.
For now, though, it’s time to get into getting this out hopefully with enough time that someone might actually read it.
Lynchburg City Council to hold special meeting for public hearing on tax rate
In Virginia, localities must adopt a budget by the beginning of the fiscal year. That’s fast approaching with Fiscal New Year’s Eve happening on June 30.
The Lynchburg City Council has not yet adopted a budget after an impasse over the real property tax rate and the car tax. Republicans have a majority on Council, but there are internal disagreements about the tax rate and spending.
On June 16, the Communications office in Lynchburg sent out a public notice with all of the information required by Virginia law regarding the publication of real property tax rates. Four things must be stated in the official announcement and I’m going cut and paste from the release:
1. Assessment Increase: Total assessed value of real property, excluding additional assessments due to new construction or improvements to property, exceeds last year's total assessed value of real property by 12.9 percent.
2. Lowered Rate Necessary to Offset Increased Assessment: The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above, would be $0.767 per $100 of assessed value. This rate will be known as the "lowered tax rate."
3. Effective Rate Increase: The City of Lynchburg proposes to adopt a tax rate of $1.025 per $100 of assessed value. The difference between the lowered tax rate and the proposed rate would be $0.258 per $100, or 33.64 percent. This difference will be known as the "effective tax rate increase." Individual property taxes may, however, increase at a percentage greater than or less than the above percentage.
4. Proposed Total Budget Increase: Based on the proposed real property tax rate and changes in other revenues, the total budget of the City of Lynchburg will exceed last year's by 8.2 percent.
The public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers in City Hall at 900 Church Street. (meeting info)
After the public hearing, Council will take a vote on a proposal to reduce the personal property tax and increase the exemption up to $20,000. Lynchburg will be back tomorrow for their regular meeting.
Stories about Lynchburg:
Lynchburg City Council Eyes Historic Car Tax Break for Thousands, Omose Ighodaro, WSLS 10, June 16, 2025
'Shocked': Former Lynchburg councilman on proposed real estate tax hike, Rachel Tillapaugh, WSET, June 17, 2025
Lynchburg City Council debates tax rate changes as budget deadline looms, Rachel Branning, WSET, June 17, 2025
Councilman sounds alarm of 'tyranny by taxation' on proposed real estate tax hike, Mark Hand, Lynchburg News & Advance, June 18, 2025
Bedford County to hold work session on zoning changes, civil penalties
The seven members of the Bedford County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m for a work session followed by a regular meeting at 7 p.m. The meeting portal does not allow me to send a direct link. (meeting info here)
The work session will cover five potential changes to the zoning ordinance and erosion and sediment control ordinances.
The first involves changes to minimum lot sizes for R-1 and R-2 properties, but there are some other items included as well.
The second is on a switch to using civil penalties related to natural resources projects.
The third is for civil penalties related to the division of planning.
The fourth is related to the small municipal separate storm water (MS4) system and a required waiver
The fifth is on cash proffers and road impact fees. There’s no material for this one.
The regular meeting is at 7 p.m.
There are two public hearings.
The first is for a rezoning request for land adjacent to 2541 Morgans Church Rd. The request is to go from C-2 to Agricultural / Rural Preserve for a single family home and farm.
The second is for a special use permit for a “Domestic Horses” use at 1218 Harbor Heights Road in Huddleston. The property owners currently have two horses and would like to acquire more.
There are two action items.
The first is for an application from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and their Next Generation 911 Grant. The amount is up to $150,000.
The second is for consideration of a pay increase for members of the Board of Supervisors. The amount will be $11,000 a year for each board member, $12,200 for the vice chair, and $12,800 for the chair.
Bedford Supervisors will only have one meeting in July and that’s on July 28.
Stories about Bedford County:
Incumbent Charla Bansley wins GOP primary for board seat - Lynchburg News and Advance, Paige Sturek, Lynchburg News and Advance (paywall), June 20, 2025
Number of invasive Spotted Lanternflies on the rise across our hometowns, Colby Johnson, WDBJ-7, June 20, 2025
Halifax County have a very quiet meeting to adopt budget
The eight members of the Halifax County Board of Supervisors will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the county administration building at 1050 Mary Bethune Street in Halifax. (meeting info)
This is a quiet meeting. A lot of the 82 pages in the packet are the minutes from a meeting earlier in June. That’s when the tie-breaker had to come on board to weigh in on a vote related to a solar installation.
The main event at this meeting is to adopt the $192,241,015 budget for FY2026 as well as the School Board Budget for FY2026.
Halifax County Supervisors will take off all of July and will next meet on August 4.
One story about Halifax County:
Halifax County Board of Supervisors reverses course, decides against raise, Miranda Baines, Gazette-Virginian, June 18, 2025
Six public hearings before Powhatan County Board of Supervisors
The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. for a work session on the Powhatan Economic Development Authority followed by a regular meeting. Both are held in the Village Building. (pre-meeting) (agenda packet)
Under new business, there are two items.
The first is a transfer of $20,000 from the contingency fund to the Powhatan Christmas Mother.
The second is to allow for the creation of a private road to serve eight lots on Maidens Road.
There are six public hearings:
The first is for a new lease for the cell tower site at Mitchell Road.
The second is to confirm that the due date for the first half of property taxes for 2025 is June 30, 2025.
The third is to replace the current system of annual dog licenses to lifetime dog licensing.
The fourth is for the creation of a Highway Corridor Overlay District for a portion of U.S. Route 60 from the Chesterfield County Line to Maidens road.
The fifth is for an update to rules for family subdivisions.
The sixth is related to the fifth and updates the chart for minimum lot sizes.
There are a lot of details to write out but I won’t get to that today. It’s late and I want to get this out in advance!
Stories about Powhatan County:
Powhatan promotes deputy administrator after previous administrator leaves for Hanover, Ryan Nadeau, WRIC 8 News, May 19, 2025
‘Software is not making it possible’: Powhatan extends tax bill due date again due to technical issues, Clare Gehlich, WRIC 8 News, May 22, 2025