The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors will vote Monday on whether to raise the real estate tax rate by 5 cents in the next fiscal year.
It will also vote on approving the fiscal 2026-27 county budget, which is proposed to grow by about $14.9 million compared to the current budget that expires after June 30.
Two of seven supervisors, Vice Chair Steve Fijalkowski and member Todd King, have said they will vote no on the tax increase and the budget.
There will be an opportunity for public comments before the votes.
If approved, the real estate tax rate will rise from 76 to 81 cents per $100 of assessed value. All other tax rates will remain the same.
The proposed budget totals nearly $285.74 million.
County general fund spending is projected to increase by about $10.4 million. The biggest increases are nearly $2.73 million more for general government administration, $2.39 million more for community development and $4.1 million more for the school division.
The schools’ operating fund spending will grow by about $7.92 million overall.
During a March 23 discussion, supervisor Anthony Grafsky said the 5-cent increase would generate about $6.35 million more annually. When the additional school funding and additional funding to raise county employees’ pay are subtracted, it leaves an increase of only about $980,000 for other needs, he noted.
During April 9 public hearings, six county residents spoke against the proposed tax increase and raised concerns about the proposed spending increases. Five residents defended both proposals.
Resident Angela Akers said 25% of county residents live in poverty. Young families are struggling, and many people work several jobs to get by, she said.
“The taxpayers are not ATMs,” she said.
Resident Sharon Brockman urged supervisors to make living in the county more affordable for ordinary people. Many citizens didn’t turn out to speak at the hearings because their kids were playing ball or families had other time obligations, she said.
Former state Del. Chris Obenshain, a Blacksburg resident, said supervisors have raised real estate taxes a total of 11 cents over three years. Unlike county government, he said, families can’t just go ask someone for more money — they have to cut their budgets.
Resident Kim Bowman said she has worked with a local food pantry that went from serving about 300 people per month to nearly 2,000 people. She added that she’s seen elderly people living in cars.
Resident Laura Mercier asked where the additional money for schools will be spent, adding that some county roads are “disastrous.” If the county keeps raising tax rates, residents eventually will leave for somewhere cheaper, she said.
But resident Anna Vajayin said since fiscal 2019-20, the county’s personnel costs have increased by 55 percent while school division personnel costs have increased 40 percent. Supervisors cannot abdicate their responsibility to fund both schools and local government, she said.
Resident Kelly Brennan said there is no better investment of tax dollars than in public schools. County government is well managed, he said, admitting that there’s a lot of work to do on the adult poverty rate, substandard housing and other challenges.
Resident Laura Brown said the pursuit of affordable living should not come at the expense of good schools. To stay competitive, the school system needs to increase pay and retain good employees, she said.
Resident Nick Fisher estimated the community gets back about $9 for every dollar it invests in public schools. The school system has a high employee turnover rate because neighboring systems offer better pay, he said.
During an April 13 meeting, King repeated his concerns about residents struggling to live on fixed incomes, saying some folks are paying their bills with credit cards.
Fijalkowski said county school costs keep going up, but test scores have not improved.
But supervisors Derek Kitts and Mary Biggs said they think the proposed budget is fair, both to county government and the school division. As for taxation, Biggs noted that Montgomery County includes a lot of real estate where the government’s ability to impose taxes is limited, including Virginia Tech, the Army ammunition plant in Radford and national forest land.
Board Chair April DeMotts said meeting all the needs of the county and its school system would have required a 12-cent real estate tax hike.
Kitts said some county employee turnover has resulted from expecting staff to do more work than there are sufficient people to do it.
“We’re working some people into the ground,” he added.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the board chambers at the county government center, 755 Roanoke St., Christiansburg. Here’s the agenda.
