James City County Supervisors approved a $390.5 million budget for the Fiscal Year 2026 that begins July 1.
The budget does not carry forward the 5-cent tax credit on real estate property taxes, which County Administrator Scott Stevens said would raise the average homeowner’s tax by 6%. It also continues plans to spend $230 million for a new government office center and an adjoining library.
The tax credit was put into effect for a year to provide some relief from double digit increases resulting from the 2024 property assessment. Homeowners’ average tax bills increased by 15% last year, Stevens said, and will increase another 6% with December’s tax bills.
Next year will see a new property assessment, since they are carried out every two years. State law requires regular assessments of property values, Stevens said, which are based on sales of comparable homes, or the closest possible match.
The final price of the government center, which has nearly doubled to $189.5 million from original…