Coraggio Consulting
Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors Meeting - April 9, 2025, Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Place: Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 25m (video)
Official meeting video (CivicClerk): https://chesterfieldcova.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1229/media
Official agenda (CivicClerk): https://chesterfieldcova.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=2112,plainText=false)
Official minutes (CivicClerk): https://chesterfieldcova.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/GetMeetingFileStream(fileId=2155,plainText=false)

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-24. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:01:39] Good evening, and welcome to the April 9th Board of Supervisors meeting. I've verified that all board members have received copies of the citizen comments on unscheduled matters posted on the online comment portal. These comments are part of the public record and will be attached to the meeting minutes.

[00:01:57] At this time, I'm going to ask Mr. Holland to give the invocation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Shall we pray? Eternal and almighty God, our Father, we thank you. We thank you for your love, your kindness, your patience, and your care.

[00:02:16] Oh, Heavenly Father, we are reminded of that day that the crucifixion was held. We're reminded that you gave your only begotten Son, that we might not be lost, that he will save sinners like all of us are and were.

[00:02:37] We thank you, Heavenly Father, for your grace again and your mercy. We ask for peace throughout our world. Lord, we ask for alleviation of hunger and suffering. And we ask for your blessings upon this meeting and each supervisor and everyone therewith that will assist in the task that is before us.

[00:03:03] We pray that we will do it well, that we will do it with wisdom, justice, and mercy. And we always be humble and be reminded that that's your command, to be humble and to do justly and to love mercy.

[00:03:23] Bless us all, one and all. And then we pray, not only throughout this land, but bless. We pray and touch the hearts of leaders that they might turn toward what you have advised us to do. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, amen.

[00:03:43] We would like to call forward Deputy County Administrator Matt Harris to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

[00:04:10] Mr. Chair, the first item on the agenda is approval of minutes for the March 26th Board of Supervisors meeting. Get a motion. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Item four, request to postpone agenda items in additions, deletions, or changes in the order of presentation.

[00:04:30] Staff has no requests. Item five, 15-minute citizen comment period on unscheduled matters. We have no speakers. Item six, new business. Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris, that's got to be the quickest I've seen you had to come up like this before.

[00:04:52] I think you just set a record. I'm at the chair's control this afternoon, so he's giving me, he's putting me on the clocks. I've got to be speeding it. So we are here to adopt your FY26 budget, run through a couple of very quick slides.

[00:05:11] We did have a lengthy public input period. You see some of the highlights on here. We did have seven community meetings and put out information through all of our channels, including the blog and the podcast. the state budget does, as Tate probably sounds similar to last year, remains the wild card for us as we look forward. As we've said all along, you all need to adopt tonight to be able to get the tax bills out to repersonal property in a timely fashion, but we will likely come back as we did last year and deal with whatever the outcome is from the state budget. There's several

[00:05:50] pass. Ms. Spillman and her team are following those very, very closely. But, you know, we feel like there is a reasonable outcome either way for schools. And we're very close consultation with Dr. Murray and his staff. So this is likely a May, but worst case, a June scenario. But again, we are on top of this on a daily basis. Tax rates. Again, the only change here is the real estate down to one penny. The only thing I'll add here is it's embedded in your appropriation resolution as is every year. The tax relief percentage for personal property, which is tied

[00:06:29] to that $950 million statewide, is set at recommended for your vote tonight at 40%. Last year was at 44%. So we calculate that against the book that we have from the commissioner and you know, attach that to the number that allows us to dole out the full amount of relief. So 40% is the recommended relief percentage for tax year 2025. Again, your specific actions tonight come three pieces. You deal with the utilities ordinance up front first, and then the tax levy

[00:07:06] that we just talked about a second ago. And then lastly, vote on the budget itself, including the appropriation resolution, which is really what authorizes the expenditure of all of the monies that are spread throughout the the budget plan itself. This has been our theme really since the get-go back in back in January and tonight is a milestone but it is not the finish line in terms of this budget. The overall U.S. economy is certainly not on a clearer path just yet so continue to monitor that, continue to monitor what's going on at the state level

[00:07:41] and we will bring back updates as as they need we've got a as you see on the screen and audit finance meeting set for the 14th and probably we'll see a more aggressive audit and finance calendar from us at least through the summer we were working on some of that today and then you've got your may and june meetings where we will do a couple of things or first let me come back to april because i think that is important that's when you actually appropriate the the funds you set aside in December that will be applied to the real estate bills for June 5. So waited for

[00:08:16] tonight to have this vote, and then we come back on 23rd to do that, and then likely set a public hearing to amend some CIP things for some critical projects that are in motion right now. We'll talk more about that coming up at your April meeting. Hold that public hearing in May and deal with, again, some of those cleanup items, potentially the state as well, and then come back in June for your traditional year end, but the point is lots and lots of points of contact, audit finance and the full board to update you as we see where this budget ultimately ends up.

[00:08:51] With that, I'm happy to take any questions you might have. Board members, anybody have any questions on the presentation? Mr. Chair. Yes, ma'am. So with the relief fund that we set aside the dollars, when will the commissioner of revenue have that information for us as far as how to set how we're changing that yeah so so two two separate pots the first is the car tax relief for lack of a better term that comes from the state so we take that and apply it against all of the vehicles that we know about the eligible

[00:09:31] vehicles county-wide and we figure out how what the relief percentage will be and there's some you know value caveats and it's not quite that simple but how do we make sure that we at least pass out that roughly $41 million of relief. So that's a collaborative exercise with her office and the treasurer so that when you get your car tax bill, the first 40%, generally speaking, of that bill is relieved through that program.

[00:09:59] That we do every year. That comes through the state. That is part of the vote tonight. Separately is the $15 million we set aside as part of last year's surplus that is being rolled forward for the one-time 5% credit that will be on the June 5th real estate bill.

[00:10:15] So it's relief on both sides, but mechanics are just a little bit different. Okay, so I think I'm talking about the senior, the $5 million senior relief. Well, see, there you go. It's okay. The third leg of the school. I didn't want to interrupt you. Yeah, so when you vote on the budget tonight, you will appropriate the dollars.

[00:10:36] So that's kind of the first step. And then that doesn't kick in until January 1st of 2026. Depending on the level of modification, if you do something like add an additional tier, that will back us up probably into a May, June sort of, you know, discussion point.

[00:10:56] If you just want to adjust the brackets as they exist today, we've talked to Ms. Hughes, and that's something we probably can stretch into, you know, further into the summer. our concept have been trying to wait as long as possible so that we can see how the overall economy is performing if we need to add additional funds to that.

[00:11:17] We'll jump right into that with you all when we get through with this part of the budget. Okay, thank you. I just wanted to make sure that everybody gets... Yes, ma'am. All three of those pieces are in motion. That's a good question. Thank you. There's another question with Chad.

[00:11:37] The budget team is hiding in the back. They've all got their shirts and ties on, so I did want to point out their Herculean efforts again this year. Did a wonderful job. Can't thank them enough. Mr. Durkin and his whole team did a fantastic job.

[00:11:54] So thanks for all their efforts leading up tonight, and then certainly thank them for also being in attendance. Thank you. And I would like to add that this board is very, very thankful for all the work that the budget team has done through this whole budget process, and that you'll continue to do the rest of this year to help us get ready for the next one.

[00:12:16] A, adoption of ordinance amendments relating to the Department of Utilities, B, changes. Board members, do I have a motion? Second. Any discussion? All in favor?

[00:12:33] Aye. B, adoption of an ordinance establishing the annual tax levy on various classes of real estate and personal property. Mr. Chairman, any discussion? All in favor?

[00:12:48] Aye. C. Adoption of the FY2026 Budget, FY2026-2030 Capital Improvement Plan, FY2026 Appropriations Resolution, and the FY2026 Community Development Block Grant and the Home Investment Partnership Annual Plan.

[00:13:09] Good move. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Item 7, 15-minute citizen comment period on unscheduled matters. This time is designated for citizens to talk to the Board of Supervisors.

[00:13:25] It is not a time for dialogue with board members, and it is not a question-answer period. Those conversations can easily occur with individual board members outside of the board meeting. As a reminder, the board's procedures state no citizen shall speak on any matter of business that is a subject on the board's agenda for that day, and each speaker shall have three minutes to address the board.

[00:13:45] We have two speakers, Renee Eldred and Teddy Knight. Good evening. My name is Renee Eldred. Since the budget's already done, I'm going to talk about next year's budget.

[00:14:07] I've already spoke to Mr. Engel about this, but the Route 1 Association would like to put their two cents in to get a revitalization department back.

[00:14:23] we've had one in the past at that time the the board and administration didn't really want to say chesterfield needed revitalization but it does go to any corridor that meets the city it needs it route one needs it we we need help we can't do it on our own we need help Route 1 used to be a very thriving corridor.

[00:15:01] It was the north-south corridor. And then when 95 opened the year before I was born, that's how long we have been in decline. I'm not going to tell you how old I am. But I was looking online today, and I think it's 14 miles, 12, 14 miles between line to line.

[00:15:25] There's 24 used car lots. I haven't even gotten to the tire-changing places, the lack of restaurants, we just need help, and we need a revitalization department back that can focus strictly on that.

[00:15:44] And there's all different terms for what revitalization means. Ears is the extreme. So I'm going to be coming back over and over again and give you some facts as to why we think this needs to be initiated, so thank you.

[00:16:08] - Should have done this last month, But Mr. Carroll kind of corrected me on some things. Mr. Chair, members of the board, Dr. Casey, I bring sincere and heartfelt greetings from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 47 here in Chesterfield.

[00:16:29] I'll keep my remarks brief, but I want every word to reflect the deep gratitude and respect we hold for you all. My name is Teddy Knight, and I'm honored to serve as the president of Lodge of Lodge 47. Beyond my road with the lodge, I wear another badge with pride. I'm a sergeant with the sheriff's office here in the county.

[00:16:47] Like so many of my fellow lodge members, I have dedicated my life to serving and protecting this community. Our community, a community that each person in this room is proud and happy to be a part of. A resilient community that still believes in goodness and kindness of our neighbors and knows we are always stronger together.

[00:17:08] Tonight, I stand before you, not just as a deputy or a large president, but as a husband, a father, a veteran, a neighbor, and a friend. Thank you for your unwavering support of first responders, especially the law enforcement community.

[00:17:23] Your commitment, just in the scene and policy, is felt in our homes, around our dinner tables, and in the lives of our families. Because of your leadership, deputies and officers no longer must look beyond Chesterfield for better pay or brighter opportunities.

[00:17:41] Instead, we can stay right here, serving the neighbors who are sworn to protect with integrity, courage, and accountability. Your dedication to fair and competitive salaries mean more than a paycheck. It means stability for our families. It means fewer spouses sitting by the door late at night worried that their loved ones might need to take on a second job to make ends meet.

[00:18:05] It means fewer children wondering why their parent missed another milestone because they had to work overtime somewhere else. Your investment in us is an investment in our families, and that is a gift we can never repay. But your support goes beyond wages.

[00:18:23] In a time when our profession is under fire, when some may try to tear us down, defund our budgets, or diminish the sacrifices we make, we thank you for allowing us to do our jobs without any backlash from outsiders or politicians who might want to bring unwanted issues or agendas into our agencies.

[00:18:43] You have stood shoulder to shoulder with us. You have shown courage by rejecting political pressures and instead chooses to stand with the men and women who run toward danger when others run away. For that, we are forever grateful. On behalf of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 47, I want you to know that your trust and support fuel our courage.

[00:19:06] It strengthens our resolve. It gives us the confidence to put on the badge each day, knowing that we have leaders who have our backs and believe in our mission. On behalf of every officer and deputy who calls Chesterfield home, thank you. Thank you for protecting those who protect you and in believing in us.

[00:19:26] Thank you for making Chesterfield a place we are proud to serve and honored to call home. God bless. Thank you. Mr. Chair, we need a motion to adjourn to the regularly scheduled Board of Supervisors meeting on April 23rd, 2025 at 2 p.m. in room 502 of the County Administration Building.

[00:19:49] Mr. Chair, before we make a motion, if I could say something. I just want to take a moment and appreciate you for your stewardship through this process. It's not easy to go through this, and as you've shown your leadership and your patience and calmness through all of it.

[00:20:11] So I just want to take a moment before we make a motion just to appreciate you and as we're going through this. Mr. Chairman, if I may, I want to ditto that outstanding job you've been doing. I've been noticing sometimes from afar, but I appreciate everyone's hard work, and especially our illustrious budget department and Mr. Harris, who has done an excellent job.

[00:20:41] I see the demands placed on him to provide more data. He seems to come through each and every time. I don't always respond because I figure you all have enough e-mails. If you want more e-mails, let me know. But I'm not one to email a lot.

[00:20:59] I just want to let the process move forward as smoothly as possible. So I applaud you and I applaud everyone in this county for the outstanding job. When we say excellence, we talk about Chesterfield.

[00:21:16] And it starts at the top, as often said in our audit meets, my co-audit partner. It all starts at the top. And you look at those lines in our org chart, you see that very clearly.

[00:21:31] I saw it many, many years ago and articulated on it at times. But again, I applaud you and applaud everyone for the tremendous job you do and have done. It makes me proud to be associated, be a part of you all as a county.

[00:21:50] So thank you so very much for all you do. And keep up the great work. As you once said, Mr. Chairman, take it a notch higher, which I appreciate that as well. That comment was made. So thank you. Yeah, I want to echo the comments of my colleagues.

[00:22:11] I think this is never an easy process to go through, especially when you're talking about a county as large as us. But some people didn't have the opportunity that we did last night to attend the awards ceremony for the fire department.

[00:22:28] But when we talk about a public safety, and for those who didn't get to go last night, we got to see the bravery on display of, and look, it's an everyday thing. They do it every day, but you don't jump out of, you don't repel out of a helicopter on a piece of wire every day.

[00:22:45] And what they did to save people in Southwest Virginia with the Air National Guard was just amazing. And that's why we do this. That's why we support public safety. That's why we make sure we have the best trained people, because when people need help, they call us.

[00:23:06] They call our people, and it's why I ran for office, to make sure that we could do this. So I appreciate all of you all. I appreciate the public support, because they couldn't do it without you, because you're the ones paying the money for this. But we're trying to make sure we spend it as wisely as we can, and it's unfortunate.

[00:23:27] I hope they play those videos for the community, because what those firefighters did and do every day, and our fire, our police officers as well and our sheriff's deputies. But what they showed last night was amazing and heroic. And so why do we do it? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[00:23:46] I did know about the first responders. They were just doing their job up at 288 on the way here. So there was a really bad accident and they were having it all under control and directing traffic down the line. It was those utility workers that were putting the light post across that were slowing things down.

[00:24:07] But no, it makes my heart happy to watch those ceremonies that we go to, to see the reactions with the citizens that they've saved.

[00:24:22] Those are the best ones when they can come and be there. And so I think there were a lot of them that said that they very seldom get to see it through all the way and meet the person that they save. And so I think that becomes a special moment for them. So I'm glad we're able to support them all.

[00:24:42] No, you can have your motion adjourned if you want it. We did get to see last night, along with those lives that were saved from the National Guard and our firefighters, at least 13 more lives that truly wouldn't be here today.

[00:25:02] And many of them that came to the ceremony last night to say thank you to our first responders, that literally, as well as community members, police officers, and even first responders from other jurisdictions, but literally they were dead and they were back thanking them last night and that was amazing. Thank you for that. And with that, can I get a motion? Second. All in favor?

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