The Patrick County Board of Supervisors tabled potentially increasing the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) by one percent at its Monday, September 9 meeting. The suggestion to increase the TOT from five percent to six percent originally came up in July after it was discovered the county needed an additional $83,868 for required line items and an estimated $68,719 for maintenance repairs.
To pay for the estimated $152,587 in unexpected items, the board approved using some of its unrestricted reserves.
Doug Perry, chairman, and of the Smith River District, said the county’s unrestricted reserves was enough to cover all the costs.
“We still have enough to be comfortable in our unrestricted reserve funds, so technically we don’t have to act on anything right now. We did have some concerns” that were brought to us by residents, “and other concerns were we didn’t want to increase what a tourist or someone coming into the county would have to pay because we’d like them to come back, and bring friends, and give us a good thumbs up and encourage other people to come here,” he said.
On the other hand, Perry said the average bed and breakfast in the area is about $150 a night. He estimates one percent on the $150 is an extra $1.50 a night to the bill.
“We’ve got a lot of things coming up, a lot of things that have been pushed aside for a very long time to include the courthouse, to include investment in our rescue, especially talking about we have to get Station 8 into a home, having those ambulances sitting outside and running of the whole shift, that’s not the best for ambulance or fuel,” he said.
Perry also believes the board needs to work to bring more business and industry to Patrick County.
“I think we might have butted a few heads as to which business or industry to bring in the county, but there’s certain things that make a county attractive for business and industry to come in and that takes money as well,” he said. “So, knowing that there’s things in the future that we’re going to have to invest in, where does the money come from? Do we keep leaning on property owners, or how does that work? This is just a suggestion on moving forward into the future.”
Before the board tabled the matter, Kurt Bozenmayer spoke about the potential increase, as he did at the August 12 meeting. Then, Bozenmayer said the board was asked to approve a one percent increase in the TOT to fund “recent exigencies.”
The board tabled the proposal at the meeting following negative input from citizens, Bozenmayer said.
“On August 19, we were treated to a joint meeting between the board of supervisors and the Economic Development Authority (EDA. Among the presentations made by the county’s consultants were proposals to develop the Patrick County incentive philosophy and to design and solicit a Hotel Market Study,” he said.
Bozenmayer said he fails to see how increasing the TOT to fund recent needs could put an attractive spin on hotel market studies and incentive philosophies.
“To me, this proposal says, ‘come to Patrick County, we want to pick your pocket to fund our inability to budget properly.’ Please show your support for our tourism industry, and the local entrepreneurs who operate lodging, campgrounds, bed-and-breakfasts, etc. by leaving the Transient Occupancy Tax alone,” he said.
In other matters, the board:
*Met the new Facilities Director Michael McGuinness, who said “I’m here because I want to be in Patrick County, and I want to make a difference. Honestly, there’s no place in the world I’d rather be and no position I’d rather have than here.”
Originally from Pittsburg, McGuinness said he joined the U.S. Marine Corps the day he turned 17. He is married to his high school sweetheart and the couple have two children together.
“I’m driven to be the best, and I don’t mean this to be rude, I’m not real concerned with what other counties want to do, I want to set the standard in Patrick County, and I want them to look at us and say, ‘look at what they’re doing down there.’ We could be that gold standard,” he said.
McGuinness’ philosophy is to do what he can for residents, the county as an entity, and to help save the county money, so taxpayers aren’t stressed. In the two weeks he’s been on the job, McGuinness said changes have been made that have benefited the county.
County Administrator Beth Simms “gave me a priority list that we’re making progress …, simple things like uniforms on employees. You know, they need to take pride in being part of Patrick County. That identifies them and gives them a purpose, and that behavior will build a culture that drives them to success as a team, meaning the county as a team,” he said.
McGuinness said he told the team not to allow complacency to sneak in because one of their missions as public servants is to continuously seek self-improvement in ways to better serve residents.
“Changes are imminent, they always are. There will be no changes made just to make a change. A change will be made when it benefits our citizens and our great county with services or financially. I totally expect my department heads to complain and go behind closed doors to tell me it’s not going to work, but at the end of the day I’ll make that decision, and they’ll execute,” he said.
The purpose of upper-level management, McGuinness said, is to provide service to employees below him so they can provide the best service possible for the county. One of his goals for the next month is to talk with every board member to gain knowledge of the county, tour the county’s facilities, note changes that are being made, and ask for their input on what he needs to be doing.
“That way I can better serve Beth and our team. I closed my department head meeting with two ideas: I told them, you take your directions, and you execute it. That’s what I do for Ms. Beth, she’s my boss, I’m loyal to her. She tells me what to do and I do it, and she gets that direction from you,” he said to the board.
*Heard an update from Chris Hughes, of Springs of Life Camp and Retreat, regarding the camp.
*Approved the non-discrimination policy for grant applications with noted changes.
*Discussed the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget calendar.
*Approved the bills, claims, and appropriations.
*Heard the administrator’s report.
*Heard the supervisors’ reports.
*Appointed Rodney Overby to the EDA for the Peters Creek District.
*Reappointed Scott Eustler to the Public Service Authority (PSA) for the Peters Creek District.
*Appointed Kendrick and Larry Cowley to the Stormwater Board of Appeals as At-Large members.
