County government representatives held a town hall at Western Albemarle High School March 23 to summarize the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget for local residents. General Fund revenues, which include local and state tax revenues but not debt proceeds, have grown by about $40 million to $514 million since last year, an 8% increase. About 43% of those funds are transferred to Albemarle County Public Schools, in addition to funding it receives in a separate budget for capital projects.
County Executive Jeff Richardson outlined the county’s priorities in spending and attributed Albemarle’s “triple triple-A” bond rating to its sound financial policies.” “Our obligations for FY ’27 and beyond include operating costs for two new schools, funding our partner agency agreements, maintaining market-based compensation, and managing the changing federal funding landscape,” said Richardson.
Though the County Executive’s initial proposed budget did not include any tax increases for the coming year, the Board of Supervisors decided to raise the personal property tax rate by 15 cents (up to $4.43 per $100 of valuation), and to dedicate the resulting $1.6 million in revenue to the county’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund. This increase follows a 32-cent jump in that tax rate in 2025, which restored rates to pre-pandemic levels. Personal property includes vehicles, motorcycles, boats, trailers, campers, and other business-related tangible property such as furniture and equipment.
Richardson said the proposed budget includes funding for three new police officers and $2.3 million to keep salaries competitive. “In 2024 we received over 75,000 calls for police services in our county. The HART team, an inter-disciplinary team of police, fire, and social worker personnel, has been created to be dispatched to calls that present as potentially a mental health crisis…