Tomorrow, April 18, 2023, is decision day for the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.
Elected leaders on the board will vote to approve the county governments’ fiscal year 2024 budget and the Real Estate tax rate used to fund the $947 million spending plan. Supervisors proposed 38% percent tax hike on residents, the largest in state history.
The proposed budget would completely fund the school’s adopted $442 million budget, automatically sending $12 million more to the school division. The county administrator suggested the county create a fire levy, and fund it with an additional 3-cent tax, to fund fire and rescue services, bringing the proposed tax rate to $1.175 per every $100 of a house’s assessed value.
The move would increase the average annual Real Estate tax bill from about $3,200 to $5,400, about 20% higher than neighboring Prince William County, more than twice Stafford’s size.
On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 81 people signed up to speak, and many shared stories of how their children struggle in the county’s public schools because of the division’s inability to retain experienced teachers, provide adequate places to provide tutoring, and its installation of trailer classrooms outside the school buildings.
With the prospect of paying more taxes in the face of rising inflation on just about everything, many were outraged. Many said the tax hike is pricing families and seniors on fixed incomes out of the county and forcing the elderly to choose between medicine or food.
The public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the county government center, 1300 Courthouse Road. It’s open to the public, and you watch it online here.
Upcoming Stafford County Meetings
