Accomack County presents $86.1M FY2027 budget; proposed 1.3¢ tax-rate increase, $2M school carryforward for EMS stabilization

County Administrator Mike Mason presented the Board of Supervisors with a proposed FY2027 budget of about $86.1 million that he said is down roughly 3.6% from FY2026 largely because of reduced capital spending.

Mason said the proposal freezes the number of county employee positions, includes a 2% cost‑of‑living increase for county and state‑supported local employees and increases the county subsidy to the public school division by $632,000 (about 2.7%), raising local school support to approximately $23.9 million.

The proposal includes $3.33 million in one‑time capital or operating allocations (largely from last year's unassigned fund balance) for items such as preliminary engineering for the next landfill cell, demolition at the old ferry dock, health‑department roof replacement and animal‑shelter and security improvements. Mason said the budget relies on no new debt issuance.

Mason told the board there is a structural imbalance in the county EMS fund: expenditures are growing faster than revenues. He said the proposal uses $2.0 million of school carryforward funds to stabilize EMS through fiscal 2029, which, under staff projections, would prevent a projected $2.0 million deficit in 2029.

On taxation, Mason explained the county reassessment raised average assessed values by about 11.7%. Under state rules the county must calculate a "lower rate" that would generate the same levy; that rate computes to 0.473. The FY2027 proposal sets a real‑estate tax rate of 0.486 per $100 of assessed value, which Mason said is 1.3¢ above the lower rate and therefore has been advertised as a tax increase. Mason said the 1.3¢ change would cost about $13 per $100,000 of assessed value.

The budget also proposes a $5 (6%) increase in landfill tipping fees (from $80 to $85), and a 10% increase in building and zoning fees (last raised in FY2019), intended to better cover staffing and administrative costs. Mason said those fees help pay for landfill cell expansion and closure costs and restore permit fees to cover actual departmental costs.

The board did not vote on the budget at the hearing; Mason reminded members that Virginia law requires a seven‑day wait before adoption. The board scheduled further budget consideration for April 8 at 5 p.m. in the board chambers.

The public record for the hearing includes petitions and about 110 calls regarding the translator television service; Mason said all written comments and petitions are available in the online agenda packet.