FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. – The Franklin County Board of Supervisors approved a more than $247 million budget that includes millions of additional dollars for the school system but comes with a 4-cent increase in the county’s real estate tax rate as officials grapple with mounting financial pressures.
Supervisors say the tax increase is expected to generate about $7 million in additional revenue, though some county leaders warn it still may not be enough to keep pace with rising costs.
“There are demands from the schools, there are demands for expenses for the county, there are demands for capital equipment,” Supervisor Dan Quinn said.
Quinn said inflation alone is increasing county costs by roughly 3% each year, adding an estimated $6 million annually just to maintain current services.
“We raised the tax rate quite a bit. It went up four cents, but it’s just not enough to cover all the costs,” Quinn said.
More than $3 million of the new tax revenue is expected to go toward the Franklin County Public Schools, while the remaining funds are planned for fire and rescue vehicles and capital improvement projects.
Quinn said county leaders still are not able to fully fund the school system’s requests.
“We’re not funding them adequately, but my hope is that this will be a little bit better,” he said. “We’re really forcing them to do bad things.”
Final budget figures could still change as county leaders await action on the state budget from the Virginia General Assembly.
Some residents expressed frustration over the tax increase and questioned the county’s financial oversight.
“I think it’s sort of something that has bothered me a little bit about how transparent the fiscal responsibility and also the fiscal oversight over the county budgets is,” said Franklin County resident Christine Sizemore.
Sizemore said she wants greater accountability from county government before supporting additional tax increases.
“Unless there is more transparency, it almost feels like you are throwing good money after bad,” she said.
County leaders said they hope the state budget will be finalized in the coming weeks so they can make any necessary adjustments to the county spending plan.