Local Mechanicsville-Ashland
SERVING ALL HANOVER COUNTY COMMUNITIES
Volume 39, No. 24
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Richmond Suburban News
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Wednesday, February 22, 2023
COMMUNITY: Girl Scouts celebrate World Thinking Day P AGE 9
SPORTS: Atlee, Hanover claim indoor track region titles PAGE 14
FY2024 budget focused on education, public safety and human services LAURA MCFARLAND
Managing Editor
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Donald Coles stands in front of his new exhibit, “African American Musicians in the Richmond, Hanover and Vicinity Areas,” which will be on display at the Mechanicsville Branch Library through the end of the month.
Exhibit honors musicians Borne out of isolation during the who died in April 2020. Coles got COVID-19 pandemic, the proj- online, found a photo of Dabney, MECHANICSVILLE – Donald ect started as a tribute to a single and created a portrait of the late Coles has created a visual love let- well-known Richmond musiter to the Richmond music scene. cian, Herbert “Debo” Dabney III, Please see MUSICIANS, Page 7 LAURA MCFARLAND
Managing Editor
MECHANICSVILLE – Projected healthy growth in real estate, personal property and sales taxes will help Hanover County address deferred capital needs, invest in the county workforce and offer the board of supervisors the opportunity to explore tax relief options for citizens, county administrator John Budesky told board members last week. During his presentation of the fiscal year (FY) 2024 county administrator’s proposed budget and updated Five-Year General Fund Financial Plan on Wednesday, Feb. 15, Budesky laid out the county’s proposed budget, looking at the numbers but also placing a heavy focus on the services tied to those numbers, especially in the priority areas of education, public safety and human services. Budesky unveiled a $679 million proposed budget, up $64.3 million (10.5%) from FY2023. Funding for the FY2024 General
Fund, which accounts mostly for local funds, is proposed at $354.8 million budget, which represents a $33.2 million (10.3%) increase over the FY2023 budget. The budget Budesky presented to the board maintains Hanover’s longstanding real estate tax rate of 81 cents per $100 of assessed value. However, the primary driver of the increase in local revenues the county is expecting is a projected increase in general property taxes of $25.9 million that is fueled by higher assessed values for real property, Budesky said. He pointed out that the county’s median assessment value is seeing an 11.6% increase. Because of that, Budesky committed staff to work with the board of supervisors to provide relief to county residents, although what that path forward will look like is still to be decided. He said the county already provides $22 million in Please see BUDGET, Page 8
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