York County’s proposed budget includes real estate and personal property tax increases

YORK COUNTY – York County Administrator Mark Bellamy submitted a proposed budget for FY2026 that includes increases to the real estate and personal property tax rates.

During the March 18 Board of Supervisors meeting, Bellamy said the upcoming year’s budget is “basically a maintenance budget” with no new programs that were not already in place. However, he emphasized that inflation has driven up the county’s operating costs significantly, necessitating the increases.

Bellamy said Director of Finance Theresa Owens extensively reviewed the budget but found that it would not be mathematically possible to continue providing the current services to residents without initiating a tax increase.

“While the rate of inflation has stabilized, it’s still higher than it was pre-pandemic. Tax cuts have been made during the last three budget cycles, and those cuts have a cumulative impact on revenue,” Bellamy said. “The overall revenue growth is not as strong as it has been in past years.”

According to Bellamy, the federal landscape is impacting the area’s economy, though he did not specify how the county’s budget process was affected. 

“Federal policies play a role in the local economy, bringing with that economic uncertainties,” Bellamy said. “Hampton Roads is especially vulnerable to this given the high concentration of federal employees, federal installations and spending.”

The county is not expected to meet the real estate revenue that was budgeted for fiscal year 2025, and that translates to lower revenue growth in FY26 for real estate, he said.

Bellamy added that he declined to recommend more than $15 million in requests from various departments within the county due to the county’s budget constraints. 

“Inflation becomes a real factor for us in this budget,” Bellamy said. “We’ve tried to maintain a conservative, disciplined approach to managing the rising operational costs. Quite frankly, we’re fighting a losing battle.”

The proposed budget features a four-cent real estate tax increase, bringing the rate to 78 cents per $100 of assessed value, up from the current rate of 74 cents.

The personal property tax rate would increase by 20 cents, to $4, up from the current rate of $3.80. 

Expenditures in the proposed $288 million budget include:

• A $2.5 million investment in employees, including a 4% general wage increase plus a $500 bonus for eligible employees, which is on par with recent years. Funding would also be allocated to account for an 8% increase in health and dental insurance costs.
• A $1 million funding increase for York County Public Schools to help address enrollment growth, student needs and employee compensation.
• $2.4 million for public safety, including funding for Fire and Life Safety, the Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Communications.
• $1.3 million for operational costs, such as grounds maintenance and utilities, supplies, contractual services and expanding library e-book subscriptions.
• $0.8 million in funding for external agencies, including the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail, Williamsburg Area Transit Authority and Williamsburg Regional Library.
• $50 million for the Capital Improvement Program, which covers investments in infrastructure maintenance, school renovations and facility upgrades to meet current and future community needs.

Bellamy said that even if the county provides a $1 million funding increase for the county’s schools, the superintendent’s budget will have a shortfall of just under $3 million. That shortfall could, however, be substantially reduced if the General Assembly and the governor take action to increase funding on the state level.

While higher recent property tax assessments have brought in more money for the county in the past year, the additional revenue is still not making up for the inflationary operating costs the county faces, Bellamy said.

“Even though we’ve seen more revenue from real estate assessments, the rate of inflation is such that the cost of doing business in the county to keep the lights on is negative as far as revenue coming into the county,” Supervisor Stephen Roane added.
 
One slide presented during the meeting broke down some of the inflation-related increases. It showed that the Sheriff’s office has seen a 76% jump in patrol vehicle costs in the past three years. Gravel for the public works department has increased by 20%-37% and county-wide, utility prices have gone up by 9%.

If the proposed budget is passed, taxpayers with homes valued at $400,000 would face a tax increase of $160 per year, or $80 per bill.

York County’s real estate property tax rate is lower than any other full-service locality on the Peninsula, Bellamy said. James City County’s rate is 83 cents, and Poquoson, Hampton and Newport News, all of which have rates about $1.

The county maintains several tax relief programs, including real estate tax relief for the elderly and disabled, real estate tax relief for disabled veterans, personal property vehicle exemption for disabled veterans and solid waste reduction for the elderly.

A public Town Hall/Listening Session pertaining to the budget will be held on March 25 at the Griffin-Yeates and on April 3 at the Law Enforcement Building, both scheduled for 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. 

Additional information about the budget process, including FAQ’s, can be found here.