February 10, 2026 -  Finance Committee: Revenue Summary
In attendance were David Weiss, Terri Catlett, John Staelin, Chris Boies, Steve Nucci, and Nancy Warczyglowa. Staff presented revenue projections for the current year and FY 27. The final real estate book value is still being worked on by the Commissioner of the Revenue's office, as is the personal property book value (basically incorporating changes to both that happened in calendar year 2025). The current real estate projection does include the planned 2 penny increase for calendar year 2026. The committee made a few minor tweaks to a couple small line items. Staff hopes to have better numbers for the real estate and personal property projections at the February 17 meeting.

November 18, 2025 - FY2027 Budget Priorities
The Board unanimously adopted the FY27 Budget Priorities as:

• Compensation for employees. 
• Funding priority capital projects - Health & Human Services Building and Courthouse Green.
• Funding operational requests as resources are available, such as Animal Shelter staffing and Fire-Rescue staffing plan. 

Find the approved FY27 budget calendar here.

Find the approved FY26 budget calendar here.

Click on the dates below to view materials distributed at each meeting.

April 15, 2025 - Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting
The Board of Supervisors approved the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 (FY26) budget.

FY2026 Budget Resolution       FY2026 Budget Appropriations      Calendar Year 2025 Tax Rates and User Fees

April 7, 2025 - Public Hearings: 

Click the link below to download and view the public hearing presentation. To listen with audio, select the "slideshow" button at the top, followed by "from beginning."

FY25-26 Budget Public Hearing Presentation

The Clarke County Board of Supervisors will conduct a public hearing in the Berryville Clarke County Government Center Main Meeting Room, 101 Chalmers Court, 2nd Floor, Berryville, VA, on Monday April 7, 2025, at 6:30 pm, or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard, to hear public comment on the following:

PH2025‐04: Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. This budget has been prepared on the basis of the estimates and requests submitted to the Board of Supervisors by the several officers and department heads of this County, including the Clarke County Public Schools. Any citizen of the County shall have the right to attend said hearing and comment on the budget. Written copies of statements made at public hearings are requested but not required. Information relative to the complete budget is available for public inspection in the Office of the Clarke County Administrator during regular working hours and at clarkecounty.gov.

This budget is prepared and published for informative and fiscal planning purposes only. The inclusion in the budget of any item does not constitute an obligation or commitment on the part of the Board of Supervisors of this County to appropriate any funds for that item.

The Clarke County Board of Supervisors will conduct a public hearing in the Berryville Clarke County Government Center Main Meeting Room, 101 Chalmers Court, 2nd Floor, Berryville, VA, on Monday April 7, 2025, at 6:35 pm, or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard, to hear public comment on the following:

PH2025‐05: Clarke County Tax Rates for the Calendar Year 2025. This public hearing is held for the purpose of hearing citizens who wish to comment on the proposed local tax levies for the year beginning January 1, 2025 in accordance with Section 58.1‐3007 et. seq. of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended. The Board will also receive comments on a proposed master fee schedule for department user fees, a full copy can be found on the County website.

March 10, 2025 - Budget Work Session: Board of Supervisors
The full Board of Supervisors heard an update from the Finance Committee on the recommended FY 26 budget. The presentation below summarizes the information presented to the Board. The Board will consider setting a public hearing at the March 18 board meeting.  

Presentation

March 6, 2025 - Finance Committee - Finalize Expenditures
In attendance were David Weiss, Terri Catlett, John Staelin, Brenda Bennett, and Chris Boies. The Committee did a final line-by-line review of the budget. A few minor tweaks were made to the budget, including adding $21k requested by the Sheriff’s Office for overtime and part-time budgets and adding $25k to Fire-EMS overtime. The impact on the fund balance was also discussed.  

Updated Balanced Budget Memo    Updated Budget Template    Updated Fund Balance

March 4, 2025 - Finance Committee: Finalize Revenues
In attendance were David Weiss, Terri Catlett, John Staelin, Brenda Bennett, Mickey Powell, and Chris Boies. The Committee reviewed a scenario, which included a 2-penny increase for Calendar Year 2025 and 2026. This scenario provided a 4% raise for county employees and teachers, provided for one full-time firefighter-EMT to improve coverage at Blue Ridge, an additional 2% raise for Sheriff deputies and dispatchers, and added some of the previously cut capital items back into the budget.  Following discussion, the Finance Committee decided to talk with the full Board at the March 10 work session about a 2.5 penny increase in Calendar Year 2025 and a 2 penny increase in Calendar Year 2026 (both in addition to the Machine & Tools tax increase of 75 cents), which allows for $90k for new positions for the schools (the request was for $264k). 

FY26 Budget Template       Balanced Budget Memo

March 3, 2025 - Budget Work Session: School Board Presentation
Superintendent Rick Bolling and School Board Chair Monica Sing-Smith presented the FY26 School Board Proposed Budget to the Board of Supervisors. 

Work Session Summary

February 25, 2025 - Finance Committee: Balanced Budget Presented
In attendance were David Weiss, Terri Catlett, John Staelin, Brenda Bennett, Wayne Whetsell, Mickey Powell, and Chris Boies. The Finance Committee reviewed potential tax increases and cuts made to requested budget expenditures in order to get close to a balanced budget. These include a 75 cent increase to the Machine & Tools tax, a Calendar Year 2025 increase in the real estate tax of 1.5 cents, and an additional increase to the real estate rate in the same amount for Calendar Year 2026. The Committee heard about declining revenues in several categories related to real estate (like recordation tax, building permits, etc.) and how the personal property and real estate taxes were projected to grow less than in previous years. For many years, the county has balanced budgets off natural growth in revenue sources and has lowered taxes when surpluses were projected. The balanced budget memo is a starting point for budget decisions and the Committee will further explore their options at their two meetings scheduled for next week.

February 20, 2025 - Finance Committee: External Presentations
In attendance were David Weiss, Terri Catlett, Chris Boies, Brenda Bennett, and the various outside agencies that presented. The Finance Committee heard from 18 different agencies who are requesting funding from the County. The Finance Committee listened to each presentation but had no time for any discussion on the budget.  

Materials Handed Out at Meeting

February 18, 2025 - Finance Committee: Revenue Follow-up
In attendance were David Weiss, Terri Catlett, Chris Boies, Brenda Bennett, and Nancy Warczyglowa. The Committee completed a final review of revenues and made the following changes; slightly increased the projected collection rate (based on previous collection rates) on real estate, which is now showing a year-over-year increase of $261k, slightly adjusted the proposed collection rate (based on previous collection rates) and received more final numbers on personal property, which is now showing a year-over-year increase of $247k, and adjusted machine and tools tax up $105k based on updated numbers. Total revenues are now showing a year-over-year increase of $344k. The one outstanding issue is the drop in motor vehicle license revenue, which requires further investigation. The Committee also reviewed the spreadsheet below, showing a comparison of various tax rates from surrounding counties.

Surrounding Counties Tax Rates      Updated Revenue spreadsheet

February 13, 2025 - Finance Committee: Expenditure Summary (Internal Presentations)
In attendance were David Weiss, Terri Catlett, John Staelin, Chris Boies, and joining remotely Brenda Bennett. In the audience were Mickey Powell, Sheriff Travis Sumption, Emergency Communications Director Rebecca White, Fire-EMS Chief Wayne Whetsell, Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew Bass, and Fire-EMS employees Wade Wilson, Coy Beverage, and Shayla Reza. The Committee heard presentations for budget requests from the Sheriff’s Office, Fire-EMS, Commonwealth’s Attorney, and Joint Administrative Services. A summary of all personnel, technology, minor capital, and major capital requests was presented, as well as a high-level summary of county department/outside agency line item requests. Line item requests total an increase of more than $300k, excluding social services and the Children’s Services Act (we are still working on corresponding revenue numbers for these areas), and the increase for personnel and technology requests exceeds $1.2 million. Many of the capital requests have corresponding fund balance designations to cover those expenses, but not all of them.  

February 11, 2025 - Finance Committee: Revenue Summary 
In attendance were David Weiss, Terri Catlett, John Staelin, Chris Boies, and joining remotely were Brenda Bennett and Nancy Warczyglowa. Staff walked through the revenue projections for the current year and FY26. The revenue-neutral real estate tax rate has been calculated to be 42.6 cents per $100. The personal property tax numbers aren't final yet, so better information will be presented to the Committee at the February 18 meeting. Many local tax revenues are down, including cigarette tax, motor vehicle license, and recordation tax. While there is still some tweaking to do, local revenues are currently projected to be down $53,620 and total revenue up just $39,805 (which is about a tenth of one percent revenue growth). The updated revenue spreadsheet with changes made during the meeting is below.

Revenue Spreadsheet

• Compensation for Employees
• Adopting a revenue-neutral real estate tax rate
• Continued upkeep of facilities
• Being cognizant of current economic conditions as it relates to departments submitting realistic budget requests based on actual needs