Goochland County Administrator Victor Carpenter presented a proposed All Funds Budget of $138.7 million for Fiscal Year 2024 to the Goochland County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, February 21st.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2024 Budget is a $14.3 million or 11.5% increase from the Fiscal Year 2023 budget and would begin on July 1. The County General Fund budget at $86.5 million represents a $12.1 million or 16.2% increase from the current year.
Priorities for the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget include enhancing the high-quality core services provided by Education and Public Safety. Total County planned investments in Education for Fiscal Year 2024 are $26.8 million, a 4.9% or a $1.3 million increase in local funding for Schools over the prior year (not including Capital Improvements). The budget for Public Safety, a key focus area for the proposed budget, grew by $3.5 million or 18.1% over the current fiscal year.
The Fiscal Year 2024 budget includes additional investments in employees. This budget provides a 5% pay increase for all employees. In addition, all Sheriff and Fire-Rescue employees will receive an additional 2% pay increase, and all Emergency Communications employees will receive an additional 8% increase. These additional pay increases will help Goochland County retain our trained staff in this exceptionally competitive market.
This is the sixth year of developing a County and Schools twenty-five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to meet the capital needs of the County and Schools. The FY 2024 – FY 2048 CIP contains $612.5 million for forecasted projects including needed investments in education and public safety including new elementary schools, a new courthouse, and new fire stations. The first year of the CIP for FY 2024 is $25.2 million and includes investments in a new fire engine, a new Goochland Elementary School, and a new West Creek Fire Station.
The Proposed Fiscal Year 2024 Budget may change during Board of Supervisor review between its presentation and scheduled adoption.
After hearing Mr. Carpenter’s proposal on February 21st, the Board of Supervisors also heard presentations from Sheriff Steven N. Creasey and Fire-Rescue Chief Eddie Ferguson. Dr. Jeremy Raley, School Superintendent will present the proposed Schools’ budget on Tuesday, March 7th at 2 p.m.
The Board’s consideration of the Fiscal Year 2024 budget continues with a Transportation / CIP Work Session on Tuesday, March 14th starting at 1:00 p.m. [This is a time change as of March 8].
The County and Schools will hold three Joint Town Hall Meetings during the month of March. They start on March 8th in Eastern Goochland (Districts 4 & 5), continue March 23rd in Western Goochland (District 1), and March 30th in Central Goochland (Districts 2 & 3) all at 6:30 p.m. with options to participate in person or via Zoom. The public is invited to attend any and all meetings in person or participate virtually.
The public hearing on the budget and tax rates will be held on April 4th starting at 6 p.m. Adoption of the budget and tax rates is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on April 18th. All meetings are open to the public.
The County Administrator’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2024 Budget can be read at https://county-goochland-va-budget-book.cleargov.com/7806 and a copy of his budget presentation is available at https://www.goochlandva.us/DocumentCenter/View/9251/County-Administrators-FY2024-Proposed-Budget-Presentation, both of which are posted to the County website at https://www.goochlandva.us/263/Financial-Services. A recording of the presentation is available at https://goochlandva.new.swagit.com/videos/208715.