The Hanover Board of Supervisors adopted a $513 million County budget for Fiscal Year 2022 on Wednesday, April 14. The all-funds budget represents an increase of about 7% from the current year.
No tax rates were changed. At 81 cents per $100 valuation, Hanover continues to have the lowest tax rate of any of the region’s largest localities.
This budget focused on keeping salaries for teachers and public safety employees competitive with others in the market; meeting the needs of the five-year capital improvements plan; and maintaining a focus on the future.
The Board approved a 2.5% compensation increase for all County and School employees with strong job performance. The budget also includes targeted market adjustments in the salaries of Schools and Public Safety employees. Neighboring localities are concentrating on raising the wages of employees in those sectors.
The County Administrator’s original proposed budget was amended to include an additional $2.28 million from the General Assembly. That money will to go to further increase teacher salaries as well as those of voter registrars.
“We invest in our people,” said Chickahominy District supervisor Angela Kelly-Wiecek. “I do not wish to become a training ground for those localities who are willing to pay more.”
Board members voted 6-1 in favor of the budget. Mechanicsville District supervisor Canova Peterson voted in opposition. He supported a two-cent reduction in the tax rate.
“We have been through a terrible pandemic and we are still going through a pandemic and the private sector has suffered more than the public sector,” he said.
Other Board members characterized the budget as being one that would enable the county to meet needs, but noted that other needs are still unmet.
“I think it’s a strong budget, an appropriate budget,” said Henry District supervisor Sean Davis. “It answers what the citizens demand us to do.”
Major capital construction projects funded in the proposed FY22 budget include a new fire station in the Mechanicsville area; developing new courtroom space in the Courts Building; and support for roadway improvements, including widening sections of Pole Green Road, U.S. Rt. 360 and Atlee Station Road.