Supervisor Maya Guy, Thank you for reading Potomac Local News and for your comment on our coverage of the February 17, 2026, Stafford County Board of Supervisors meeting.
We welcome engagement from elected leaders.
However, we must correct the record: our article did not claim that the supervisors who took office in January 2026 — including you — are personally responsible for creating Stafford’s structural budget crisis.
We reported exactly what County Administrator Bill Ashton and sitting supervisors said, word for word, in that public meeting.
To prove our reporting was faithful to the meeting, here are specific comments from Mr. Ashton himself laying blame squarely at the feet of the Commonwealth of Virginia (Richmond):
“The Commonwealth continues to impose new requirements without providing the funding necessary to support them, shifting financial burden to local governments and our residents and businesses.”
On the exploding tax relief/exonerations (mostly veterans): “The exonerations have eaten up all the increases in the reassessment… To get to the exact same base revenue in real estate taxes, we would have to keep the tax rate the same.”
“We are navigating the financial realities of opening three new schools while facing an unfunded, rapidly accelerating state tax mandate that is unprecedented.”
“I’ve been in local government for twenty-nine years. These pressures that we’re talking about tonight are unprecedented.”
Mr. Ashton repeated this theme throughout: the $40 million in projected tax relief next year (15 cents on the tax rate) has wiped out all gains from the 10% average reassessment, forcing the choice between a 6-cent rate hike or cutting $9 million from the current budget.
That is not our opinion — that is the county’s own administrator, speaking on the record.
- Did he propose cutting county staff positions? No.
- Did he propose reducing or eliminating local government services (e.g., parks, libraries, non-mandated programs)? No.
- Did he propose temporary layoffs or furloughs to preserve taxpayer dollars? No.
- Did he propose outsourcing non-essential programs to churches, non-profits, or private partners to shift costs off the general fund? No.
Instead, Ashton highlighted modest internal “efficiencies” that carefully protected the status quo:
- 2% across-the-board departmental reductions, explicitly targeted at “non-core” items so as not to affect essential services;
- Savings from technology contract adjustments and system optimization (~$1 million);
- No new positions added (except two revenue-neutral ones);
- Reduced vacancy savings projection to allow faster hiring into existing roles.
He repeatedly stressed that the county would continue “delivering essential services,” “safeguarding our investments in education and our workforce,” and simply asking existing employees to “do more with every taxpayer dollar entrusted to us.” In plain terms: no meaningful service cuts, no layoffs, no outsourcing, no reduction in headcount, and no deferral of major commitments like new school operating costs or debt service.
Stafford residents do not care that this is your first term on the Board, or how long any individual supervisor has served. They see one continuous Board of Supervisors — the elected body responsible for protecting their interests, regardless of when each member was sworn in. It is unfortunate that the bill for years of decisions has come due now.
Facts are facts. Residents are not sitting around pondering board tenure or pointing fingers at predecessors. They are thinking about their families, their children, and their futures.
They are paying the bills, securing their homes, and trying to get ahead in an economy where everything costs more. They are the ones volunteering at local schools (tutoring kids, assisting in classrooms, or reading to students), strengthening churches and faith-based outreach (preparing meals for those in need, organizing community events, or supporting senior programs), picking up litter along roadsides and parks, maintaining community gardens, coaching youth sports teams, organizing or participating in food drives and pantries, helping at animal shelters, and leading neighborhood beautification efforts like tree planting, trail clean-ups, and special events such as fall festivals or holiday celebrations.
The tax increases approved or proposed by the Stafford County Board of Supervisors — combined with those levied by the newly elected Democratic majority in Richmond and by our new Governor, Abigail Spanberger — have made daily life noticeably harder for county families.
Homeowners are already facing an average $462 jump in their annual tax bill under the proposal. That is real money coming out of real paychecks. When you accuse us of “spreading misinformation” and immediately pivot to blaming predecessors, it sends a clear message to those same residents: you are more focused on deferring blame to past boards than on solving the problem in front of them today.
That does not demonstrate that you have Stafford’s best interests at heart. It demonstrates that you would rather litigate old meeting minutes than acknowledge the very real pain this tax hike will cause.
Our job at Potomac Local News is simple: report what actually happened in the meeting, quote the officials accurately, and hold everyone — local and state — accountable. We did that. The transcript is public. The numbers are public. The $40 million in state-mandated tax relief is public.
Stafford taxpayers deserve straight answers from Richmond, not deflection. Governor Spanberger, the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, and every delegate and senator who represents even part of Stafford: the local board has now told you — on the record — that your unfunded mandates and tax-relief policies are forcing this choice.
The fix starts in Richmond and at home.
