Overall, the county is in a better financial position, partially due to pandemic funds, Treasurer Sandra Stone told the Patrick County Board of Supervisors in a year-end report for fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30.
“The net general county fund balance carried forward was $11,843,743, which was an increase of a little over $282,071 from last fiscal year. Our carryover balance comes from different sources, different budgets, unspent funds, some revenues received that are higher than budgeted, and some unspent carryover funds from a previous year,” Stone said at the August 12 meeting.
Stone said the carryover funds are needed as the county always saves them to use during lower revenue months, which are typically August to October and February to April. The county’s contingency fund balance at the end of June was $460,958, and interest earned on investments was $509,195, which was an increase of $174,143 from the previous year.
“Interest on our bank deposits was $38,682, which was an increase of $38,409 from last year. These increases were, of course, due to higher interest rates,” she said.
Stone said the county only set up one new fund this fiscal year, which was the required school payroll escrow account. It has since been closed, and the delinquent tax list has been completed. Copies are available for the board to view.
“If you do decide, which you’ve never done since I have been treasurer, if you wanted to publish that delinquent list in the newspaper, you can do so. Just let me know,” Stone said, adding the percentage of tax collections as of June 30 for 2024 real estate was at 87.80 percent for the first half. For 2023 it was 97.81 percent, 2022 was 99.8 percent, and 2021 was 99.77 percent.
Stone said collections for the county’s personal property in 2023 was at 95.73 percent and 2022 was at 98.92 percent.
“I think those are pretty good percentages, and I would like to commend my office for their hard work. They work hard to bring in the revenue for the locality,” Stone said. “Delinquent taxes are collected daily, the methods of collection include DMV (Department of Motor Vehicle) stops, debt setoff, tax interception, wage leans, bank leans, summons, real estate land sales, and monthly payment agreements.”
When Jane Fulk, of the Dan River District, asked about unrestricted reserves, Stone explained they are funds that are not marked for a specific fund.
“Your general county fund is there. There are certain funds that are allocated, they have to be used for specific funds, so they are restricted. General county funds can be used for whatever you the board, deems fit. I had given you the figures, and so it’s up to you to decide what to do with them,” she said.
When Fulk asked if the unrestricted reserves are part of carryover money that the county needs to use during the low-income months, Stone said yes, and noted she’s talked with Fulk and several others about the county’s financial situation.
“I want to point out that we all know where we were a few years ago, and we weren’t in such a great shape. We are in much, much better shape” now than we were, Stone said. “The COVID money helped us. I mean it wasn’t a good thing, but the COVID money that we received definitely helped us, but now that those funds are dwindling, it’s kind of where the rubber meets the road and the board’s going to have to decide how to use what you’ve got and how to keep it operating and going forward because” the Covid funds will not continue.
In other matters, the board:
*Heard from Benjamin “Ed” Pool about solar energy. Pool distributed a letter from U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and the response from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3 Administrator Adam Ortiz. He asked for the documents to be entered into the board’s records.
He also thanked Griffith’s staff in their quest to get a formal response to his request from the EPA.
“As was presented to the board of supervisors in previous documents, the Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLIP) are not overseen, regulated, or reviewed by EPA personnel. Rather it’s stated previously they are conducted by contracted third parties, thereby placing at risk the validity of any conclusive results,” he said.
Should any future tort claims arise in the future forcing the county to seek redress, Pool said the third-party tests will place the jurists in the position of deciding statement of facts and not statement of law that will create expensive and complex litigation.
“Competent personnel and the planning of risk-management should have long ago brought these issues before the board of supervisors and county administration. There is no way on earth that a county administrator can make informed decisions based upon marketing speak and inaccurate or biased information,” he said.
Pool said the letter should also bring into question the position and opinion of the Berkley Group, who he noted previously stated to the press that this is a political question about cadmium telluride solar panels.
“This is a question of risk exposure to heavy metal contamination. Always has been, always will be,” he said.
*Heard from Trena Anderson regarding the new “rules” read aloud by Doug Perry, chairman, and of the Smith River District, before the public comment portion of the meetings. Anderson said law and procedure requires new rules for a public meeting be discussed by the entire board in public and allow public input on proposed rules changes.
“A couple of supervisors and a county administrator can’t pull new ‘rules’ out of the air and implement them. This board can implement rules that impact time, place and manner with public input, but they must be discussed in public with an opportunity for public input. This was not done. The ‘rules’ read by the chair were crammed down the throats of the entire board and the public. They weren’t adopted as per procedure and regulation,” she said.
Anderson noted a similar case was recently ruled on by the U.S. District Court in Danville. The court ruled that the arbitrary ‘rules’ imposed by the board violated citizens’ right to free speech and petition that are secured by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution – a verdict that cost Pittsylvania County $1 million, she said.
“The First Amendment provides ‘Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances,’” she said. “Our public comments are quintessentially political speech and a redress of grievances from the government. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that political speech is the core of what the First Amendment is designed to protect. The rights of free speech have been incorporated on the states by the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects citizens of this county from you forbidding our right to free speech.”
Anderson said each board member, who took an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution upon election, violated the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of every county resident when the new rules regarding public comment were installed.
“Each supervisor is guilty because no supervisor stood up to protest the unconstitutional ‘rules.’ The loss of First Amendment freedoms, however intangible and even if limited in time, is an irreparable injury to citizens” who are “constitutionally allowed and entitled to question and criticize the board within our three-minute time limit,” she said, adding the county attorney should have shopped the board’s errors.
Anderson said the board has placed itself in a serious situation, and alleged that every county resident has the right to sue the board and the county for the violations. She suggested the board revisit the rules regarding public comment, remove the unconstitutional rules, “discuss them while allowing public input and apologize publicly to each and every resident of this county for the violation of our rights.”
*Heard from Jamie Clark regarding the county’s growing issues with Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Since June 1 when Jeb Stuart Volunteer Rescue Squad reverted back to a volunteer-only squad, Clark said the number of calls it’s been able to respond to has dramatically decreased.
“From my understanding, they responded to less than 10 calls during the month of June,” said Clark, who played a recording of a call with the dispatcher giving the 13th county-wide tone.
“At that point, you’re an hour into the call. From my understanding, Smith River Rescue (Smith River Volunteer Rescue Squad) was transporting a patient from the Woolwine area to Franklin Memorial in Rocky Mount. They finally agreed that once they got to Rocky Mount, they would drop their patient off then respond from Rocky Mount all the way back to Stuart to answer that call,” Clark said, adding the situation is getting worse.
He asked what the county is going to do to try and rectify the situation. “I can tell you as a former paramedic when we had a delayed response years ago.
“When I walked through the door, she said, ‘just call the funeral home. I called you when he collapsed. He’s dead now,’” Clark said.
*Approved the FY24-25 budget increase for the Patrick County School system.
*Tabled the proposed one percent Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) increase until a later date. The board also heard from Kurt Bozenmayer, Steve Ferring, and Bessie Weber, who spoke against the increase.
*Approved setting the Personal Property Tax Relief (PPTR) as 30.8. The PPTR for last fiscal year was 30.6. Commissioner of Revenue Glennda Morse said the increase is “going to be spread out for each payer to have that qualifying fee. It is favorable” for taxpayers, she said.
*Approved the other FY25 budget requests of $169,868 using unrestricted reserve funds to cover projects at the school, animal shelter, Jeb Stuart Volunteer Rescue Squad donation, and the public library HVAC.
*Approved the July 8 and July 22 meeting minutes with corrections.
*Approved the bills, claims, and appropriations.
*Answered questions from Boy Scout Troop #69, who attended the meeting as part of their communications requirement to earn the Eagle Scout ranking.
*Heard an overview on the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) from Executive Director Dean Lynch.
*Approved a resolution to seek a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) along with Step Inc. A local match is not required.
*Heard from James Houchins, director of Economic Development & Tourism about the Appalachian Gateway Community Initiative Spring 2024 presentation. Parks & Recreation Director Travis Murphy discussed community engagement and partnerships, and programs manager Sarah Wray also spoke about a trip to Alabama.
*Appointed Robert Pruitt to the Department of Social Services (DSS) Advisory Board as representative of the Peters Creek District; Jeffrey Riff will serve as the Blue Ridge District representative.
*Appointed Janet Rorrer as the Mayo River District representative on the Planning Commission.
*Appointed Derek Wagoner as the Mayo River District representative on the Public Safety Authority (PSA).
*Heard the administrator’s report.
*Heard the supervisors’ reports.
