02-27-2018 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes
BOS Finance Committee
02/27/2018
Draft Minutes
1
Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors
Finance Committee Meeting
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
VIRGINIA: The meeting of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors Finance
Committee was held on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 in the Pittsylvania County School Division’s
Educational & Cultural Center Auditorium located at 39 Bank Street, SE in Chatham, Virginia. Elton W.
Blackstock, Jr., Finance Committee Chairman, called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Fellow Finance
Committee members Robert W. "Bob" Warren, Joe B. Davis, and Ronald S. Scearce were all present.
The following Board of Supervisors, Ben L. Farmer, Tim R. Barber, and Charles H. Miller, Jr. were also
present.
David M. Smitherman, County Administrator; J. Vaden Hunt, County Attorney; Greg L. Sides,
Assistant County Administrator for Planning and Administration; Richard Hicks, Assistant County
Administrator for Operations; Kim Van Der Hyde, Director of Finance, and Rebecca Flippen, Deputy
Clerk to the Board, were also present.
Approval of Agenda
Motion was made by Mr. Warren, seconded by Mr. Davis, to approve the agenda, which was
unanimously approved by the Finance Committee.
New Business
Presentation of the County Administrator’s Proposed FY2019 County Budget
Mr. Smitherman presented the following PowerPoint presentation on his proposed FY2019
County Budget:
(Insert Presentation)
Mr. Warren wanted to thank not only the Staff, but the citizens. There were citizens in the
business of heavy equipment who informed us on how to save money on landfill equipment as was
discussed in Mr. Smitherman’s presentation.
Mr. Blackstock thanked the Staff for all their work in preparing this presentation. He stated that,
and to correct him if he was wrong, but if reassessment was figured in, alon g with the proposed 11¢ tax
increase, that put you at 15¢ increase on the 59¢ Real Estate Tax. And when those numbers are run,
you’re asking the citizens, “Can we increase your taxes over 25% to meet these needs?” As the
representative for the Staunton River District, Mr. Blackstock said he was going to be listening to his
constituents to see what their priorities are, because he realizes his district is very conservative with a lot
of people who are on fixed incomes. But he does realize there are a lot of things that have been pushed
down the road that need to be addressed.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:06 PM.
BOS Finance Committee
02/27/2018
Draft Minutes
2
Mr. Scearce asked did the election re-count cost the County and Mr. Smitherman responded that it was
approximately $3,000.
Mr. Blackstock stated that while he applauded Staff on looking for ways to save, he was
concerned about Constitutional Officer budget changes, and asked this item be placed on the Board of
Supervisors’ Work Session to give the Constitutional Officers the opportunity to discuss these potential
changes, as well as having Mr. Chris Slemp there to discuss potential changes in the Fire & Rescue
budget.
Questions/Comments/Discussion by the Finance Committee
Mr. Blackstock commented the Board of Supervisors and the Pittsylvania County Executive
Team recently attended a retreat and felt it good they were all able to have open and frank discussions
about County finances and economic development.
Mr. Davis stated while he agreed there was open discussion, he did not at all feel the Board left
the retreat with any sort of vision for the County’s future, and there were still a lot of unanswered
questions in that area the Board needed to address before the County could successfully move forward.
Adjournment
Mr. Blackstock adjourned the meeting at 5:08 PM.