Hello, Williamsburg & James City County!
Here's What You Need to Know Today, Tuesday Jan. 21
Introducing a new local news service for residents of James City County and Williamsburg. We’re going to tell you all about ourselves….right after we fill you in on news you need to know.
Baby, It’s Cooold Outside!
It was 18 degrees at 4:30 this morning. Coming off the coldest night of the year, Tuesday will be sunny and cold with a high in the upper 20s, the National Weather Service at Wakefield says.
Will James City Home Tax Break End?
It’s that time of year again: budget season, when area governments fine tune their biennial budgets for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Administrators will lay out budgets that include some spending increases for projects they consider necessary; the public will criticize some of them as either too big or not generous enough, and elected officials will try to find a compromise.
For James City County homeowners, the size of their real estate tax bill will be back in play.
The 5-cent real estate tax credit granted last year, after anguished protests from homeowners facing double digit tax increases, was only good for one year. The credit effectively lowered the real estate tax rate from 83 cents to 78 cents per $100 in value.
County tax rates haven’t changed in three years. But housing values have exploded, largely as the result of too many people chasing too few houses.
The average price of a single-family home in the county jumped 50% between 2015 and 2023, the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency reported. The median home price in 2024 was $435,000 in James City County.
Compounding the fiscal pain for homeowners here and across the country is the rising cost of insurance. That’s the result of several years of natural disasters as well as the rising value of houses, which cost more to replace if they are destroyed.
In September, property taxes and insurance consumed about a third of the average mortgage payment for a single-family home in America, the highest rate in a decade, according to the Intercontinental Exchange.
For retirees living on a fixed income, the financial squeeze can be painful. Residents 65 and older are James City County’s largest demographic group, 26.8 percent of residents.
One of them is Jack Gurliaccio, who complained about the impact of higher taxes on top of other inflationary pressures at the Board of Supervisors’ preliminary budget hearing last week.
“There are many residents that are in the same situation that I am in, living on a fixed income, and they had to go get second jobs,” he said. “I see them pushing carts at Walmart, Harris Teeter…this isn’t right.”
The county offers tax relief for some elderly or disabled residents.
If you will be at least 65 years of age on July 1, or if you are totally and permanently disabled, you can apply for a tax exemption on the first $150,000 of your home’s value.
To qualify, household income cannot exceed $55,000 and total assets -- excluding your home and 10 acres of land -- cannot exceed $200,000.
For James City County, increased property values have been a consistent revenue windfall. The county’s real estate tax generates nearly half of its revenue, and the income from it grew from $101.4 million in 2020 to $113.2 million in 2024.
Even with the 5-cent tax credit, James City’s real estate tax revenue jumped by $15.3 million last year, according to county records.
Gurliaccio, who was one of several people asking for a tax cut at last week’s hearing, urged supervisors to cut county expenses to control taxes.
The county faces the same inflationary pressures as private citizens. County officials also say they have lost employees to other localities that pay higher wages.
But county spending has outpaced inflation, and its population growth, for more than a decade.
James City County’s budget has increased about 4.5% every year over the past decade, triple the rate of the county’s population growth. It’s also more than the annual growth of inflation, which averaged 2.9% a year over the same period.
Look for more discussion over right-sizing the budget as the process wears on. Public hearings highlight the disagreement between residents who want more services; county employees who want pay raises; taxpayers who don’t want to pay more, and the elected officials who must balance those demands.
Here’s the timeline for the FY 2026 James City County budget to be adopted this summer:
· January 28 – Capital Budget Discussion
· March 28 – Proposed budget will be completed and posted to the county website
· April 8 – Public Hearing
· April 22 - Budget business meeting
· May 13 – Budget adopted
Virginia Headlines
Cybersecurity breach affects 85 school divisions using PowerSchool system. From Cardinal News
House panel moves to end tax breaks for Confederate-affiliated groups. From the Virginia Mercury.
Trump names former SCC chair Mark Christie to lead Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. From Cardinal News.
Who Are We, Anyway?
Williamsburg Watch is a new online news service for residents of James City County and Williamsburg who want an unbiased and accurate news report to help them live better lives and make informed decisions at the ballot box.
Our founder and editor, a 40-year news veteran, left the business when it was clear the old newspaper model was no longer economically viable.
News organizations that once could afford a robust staff have lost most of their income and can no longer pay for experienced news people to go beyond the press release to explain the background and context of events.
We intend to go beyond the announcements and delve into what’s happening with your local government, your schools, and institutions such as the College of William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg.
Technology has given everyone a voice across a variety of platforms and social media. That’s positive but has its downsides – which of the reports you see are factually correct? Do they include all sides of an issue? Is there an ulterior motive for that negative comment?
Mass media that once served as a common point of reference for the community have splintered into dozens of online and cable offerings. Many of them grow audiences by offering a specific point of view, depriving their readers of the full story.
Advertising that supported strong newspapers and broadcasters has moved online, where organizations are paid mere pennies a click to reach eyeballs. Too many online news organizations wind up focusing on “click bait” that value their reporters’ work based on the number of clicks they get rather than the importance of the information.
We built our business model on reader subscription revenue (more about that later) rather than clicks.
We’ll tell you right off the bat that we are not for everyone. We’re not going to repurpose a lot of press releases, cover breaking sports or even put too much emphasis on routine crime and fire news.
Instead, we will focus on serious news that holds elected officials responsible, delights you with discoveries about our great community, and encourages responsible and respectful debate.
We will continue to evolve our design and offerings as we move forward, based on your feedback. Please provide your thoughts in our comments section, or send news tips to digby@williamsburgwatch.com
Eventually, we will require a paid subscription to read most of our content.
There is no charge to subscribe now. We won’t ask you for a credit card. We won’t clog your inbox with dozens of alerts.
So please try us out, give us feedback, comment on our stories and share us with your friends!
This Week’s Important Meetings
Williamsburg-James City County’s School Board will hold a preliminary hearing tonight on its 2016 budget. It includes several staff-related cost increases including:
1. $3.9 million to cover a 3% pay raise
2. $2.8 million to pay an estimated increase of 15% for employee health insurance
3. $1.8 million to hire 21 additional staff including seven additional teachers, 10 people to handle English language learners and aides for special education classes.
School officials aren’t projecting an increase in student enrollment over last year, when there were 11,379 students.
But the number of students who require specialized education continues to grow. Students who need help with English now account for 9 percent of the student body, according to the schools’ preliminary budget outlook. State guidelines require 31 employees for that program with the current enrollment, according to the preliminary budget document the School Board will review tonight..
You can learn more at the School Board’s work session this afternoon at 4p.m., and comment during the preliminary public hearing at 6:30.
We will dive deeper into the budget over the next few weeks, so subscribe to get your updates.
Other Government Meetings This Week
Every week in this space, we will list public meetings taking place during the week that may impact you or your children. If you run an organization that would like to be included in the calendar, please send an email to digby@williamsburgwatch.com
Tuesday, Jan. 21:
Williamsburg-James City County School Board Budget Work Session at 4:30 pm. School Board Central Office at 117 Ironbound Rd, Annex Room 300.
Williamsburg-James City County School Board Regular Meeting at 6:30 pm. The board will hold a preliminary public hearing on the proposed budget and will vote on pay raises for bus drivers. James Blair Middle School, 101 Longhill Rd., York Terrace
Wednesday, Jan. 22:
City of Williamsburg Planning Commission – Capital Improvement Plan work session at 4 pm. Stryker Center.
Passings
Thank you. It's early days yet, but i have been heartened by the response from people who are active participants in the community.
Digby, good luck on the unbiased approach. I was with a network that tried to do the same but missed the opportunity by not focusing on local. I know you'll make it work. Best, Orestes Baez