YORK COUNTY — York County Administrator Mark Bellamy presented the 2026 proposed fiscal budget at the March 18 Board of Supervisors meeting.
“Guided by the Board’s Strategic Priorities, this budget reflects the county’s commitment to responsible fiscal management, sustaining high-quality service, preserving critical infrastructure, supporting schools, and continued commitment to recruiting, retaining and recognizing the people required to get the work of county government complete,” stated Bellamy in a letter addressed to the Board.
The FY 2026 proposed budget totals $288 million.
Bellamy described it as a maintenance budget, as this year’s budget development has been particularly challenging due to minimal revenue growth, inflationary cost increases, and ongoing federal economic uncertainties.
“We have coined this our maintenance budget — there are no shiny things in there,” Bellamy said. “I want to give a raise to our staff and maintain the service levels we are currently doing.”
“With our region’s high concentration of federal employees, changes in tariffs, federal spending, and employment policies significantly impact or local economy,” said Bellamy. “Despite our efforts to limit expenditures and implement county-wide reductions, projected revenues are not sufficient to meet essential needs.”
A four-cent increase in the real estate tax rate as well as a 20-cent increase in the personal property tax rate is being proposed to assist the county in closing the budget gap — an amount that could generate $6.4 million in additional revenue.
“How do you bridge that gap? While we have had three years of tax rate cuts — a cent and a half, a cent and then last year we did three cents — so our (real estate tax) rate was down to 74 cents. I recommend that we go back up to 78. We need the four cents to help cover this budget gap,” explained Bellamy.
He continued, “Our personal property tax rate has been $4 for decades. And just two years ago, we lowered it for the first time by 10 cents and then last year, we lowered it another 10 cents. So, we are going back to $4. We are not raising it to some crazy number. We are just trying to bridge this gap.”
The county budget prioritizes essential services and infrastructure — employee compensation and retention ($2.5 million), public safety enhancements ($2.4 million), education support ($1 million), operation and infrastructure costs ($1.3 million), external agency support that includes funding for the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail, Williamsburg Area Transit Authority (WATA) and Williamsburg Regional Library ($.8 million) along with a proposed $50 million investment into York County’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
The board has asked the finance committee to explain what happens with the budget if the real estate tax rate is decreased by one, two or three cents.
“We need to see what our options are,” said District 3 Supervisor Wayne Drewry.
“What do we give up if we chose a lower tax rate? It is not obvious to us up here (on the dais). I think what we want to do is go in increments of one cent and what does that mean in terms of services or cuts in population or employment, etc.? What is the overall optics of a three-cent raise or a two-cent raise? That is what we are looking for,” stated District 1 Supervisor Doug Holroyd.
Residents are encouraged to participate in the budget process and citizens can access the proposed budget online.
In addition to public comment hearings before the final vote, citizens are encouraged to attend one of the two scheduled two hall meetings. The first will take place on March 25 at the Griffin Yeates Center from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m., and the second on April 3 at the Law Enforcement Building from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m.
Watch the entire March 18 presentation here.
The proposed budget is scheduled for final approval by the Board of Supervisors at its May 6 meeting.
