Stafford Supervisors Approve 4 Cent Real Estate Tax Increase
Supervisors also approved the budget for next fiscal year, and referred comprehensive plan amendments regarding the location of high voltage transmission lines to the Planning Commission.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The Stafford Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a real estate tax rate of $0.9675 for calendar year 2026, a 4-cent increase over the 2025 tax rate of $0.92, but down from the $0.98 advertised rate.
Supervisors Maya Guy (Aquia), Kecia Evans (Falmouth), and Tinesha Allen (Griffis-Widewater) joined Chair Deuntay Diggs (George Washington) in supporting the approved rate.
Supervisors Pamela Yeung (Garrisonville), Darrell English (Hartwood), and Crystal Vanuch (Rock Hill), were in opposition. English, supported by Vanuch, made a motion to keep the tax rate at $0.92 cents per $100 in assessed value, but the other five supervisors were not in favor.
The board arrived at a majority consensus on the $0.9675 rate during a budget work session on Monday.
On Tuesday, Diggs addressed the question, “What are we getting for our tax increase?”
“I think it’s important to frame this correctly,” he said.
The tax rate, he said, will support the opening of three new schools—Hartwood High School, and Falls Run and Crow’s Nest elementary schools—as well as “an increase in per pupil funding.” It will also support new fire stations in the Aquia and Rock Hill districts, the addition of career fire and rescue staff at the Potomac Hills station in the Grrifs-Widewater district, “the integrity and funding of a public safety step plan,” and the construction of Musselman Park and the Carl Lewis Community Center.
“Going forward, we will have a conversation around BPOL [business, professional, and occupational license] tax breaks for businesses and a framework for data center revenue,” Diggs said. “And so we are taking care of people. We’re trying to retain our staff here in Stafford and we’re keeping in mind our constituents who are bearing a lot of the burden.”
Allen pointed out that the county’s population has grown by about 14,000 people since the 2020 census and that the county’s budget has grown to support them.
She said that since 2022, the county has hired 143 new sworn deputies, 33 new fire and rescue staff members, and “countless” new teachers.
“We hadn’t built new schools [for growth] in almost 18 years, and now we’re building three to deal with that,” Allen said.
Bringing the tax rate down to $0.9675 from the advertised $0.98 will result in about $4.8 million less revenue, according to Tuesday’s presentation from Andrea Light, chief financial officer. In order to balance the budget, the board agreed to reduce spending on county and school 3R [repair, replacement, and rehabilitation] projects by about $2.8 million; transportation funding by $1 million; and partner agency funding by 6% or $445,000—among other cuts.
County support for the Rappahannock Area Health District, Community Services Board, and Office on Youth will not be affected by the 6% cut to partner agency funding, but the cuts will affect organizations such as the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank, and Empowerhouse.
In the past, cuts to library funding have resulted in a reduction of branch operating hours, Yeung warned.
Yeung said she could not support the $0.9675 tax rate because she does not support these cuts, but also because “I do not support placing this burden on homeowners, seniors, and families on fixed income,” she said.
Vanuch also said she is “very, very concerned” about “what folks are paying in their taxes.”
“We are chasing people out of this county who can’t pay the tax bill,” she said.
In addition to approving the tax rate, the board voted on Tuesday to approve and adopt the budget for fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1, and to adopt and fund the capital improvement plan for the next 10 years.
Transmission Lines
Also on Tuesday, the board voted to task the Planning Commission with holding a public hearing and considering amendments to the county’s comprehensive plan regarding the siting of high-voltage transmission lines.
County attorney Rysheda McClendon said the proposed amendments are in response to Dominion Energy’s North Anna to Bristers 500-kilovolt transmission line, previously known as the Kraken Loop, which would run through Stafford, as well as Spotsylvania and Caroline counties, in proximity to homes and schools.
Dominion is holding a second round of community meetings about the project, McClendon said, and anticipates submitting the plans to the State Corporation Commission this summer.
McClendon said that “ultimately the normal power that localities have with regards to zoning is largely diminished by this project,” but that the comprehensive plan “is one way localities can designate where power lines should go.”
The proposed amendments that will be considered by the Planning Commission state that high voltage lines should be placed underground and that they should be located to minimize impacts on residents, schools, and sensitive land areas.
Regarding the North Anna to Bristers line, the amendments would state that the location is not consistent with the comprehensive plan given the density of homes and schools in the area, and that the plan is not designed to minimize visual or environmental impacts.
McClendon said the SCC will consider the county’s comprehensive plan in its consideration of the North Anna to Bristers line, but that it’s “not assured” they will require Dominion to comply with it.
The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing and make recommendations about the proposed amendments within 60 days.
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