JCC tax rates becoming a campaign issue
Happy Saturday, May 10! Also today: Next steps in the fight to rename York County's Magruder Elementary; Williamsburg approves a $103.3 million budget.
A looming increase in real estate property taxes has become a campaign issue in November’s race for two open seats on the James City County board of supervisors.
Average property taxes increased by double digits last year after the 2024 assessment captured the dramatic increase in the county’s home values since Covid. To mitigate the impact, supervisors voted to provide a five-cent tax credit for the first year. No credit is proposed for the budget that starts in July.
Board Chair Jim Icenhour, who is running for re-election to his Powhatan District seat in November, told us he is going to bring up a two-cent tax credit at next week’s meeting to approve the budget.
The supervisors are scheduled to vote Tuesday on the county’s proposed $389.5 million combined operating and capital budget -- up 38% from the current $283.2 million budget.
“ I believe we will also consider other possible cuts to the budget as well,” Icenhour said.
His Republican challenger, newcomer John Slokovitz, said he wanted to keep the current five-cent tax credit. He said the county needed to re-evaluate its spending, adding “we’re going to borrow over half a billion dollars in the next eight years and that’s a lot of money.”
The Republican candidate for outgoing Supervisor Michael J. Hipple’s Powhatan seat, Tracy Wainwright, agreed “taxpayers deserve some relief.”
“Just because the County can collect more money doesn’t mean they have to spend it by growing government,” said Wainwright, who like Slokovitz is a newcomer to the political scene.
We reached out to her Democratic opponent Ti’Juana Gholson by text and email but had not heard from her by the time we finished this on Friday night. Gholson is also a political newcomer.
Even if supervisors agree to some type of tax relief next week, the county is relying on homeowners paying more taxes for the foreseeable future.
The budget assumes real estate tax and public service assessments will increase by 3.5% every two years when real estate assessments take place, and 2% on other years. If those assumptions prove optimistic, given the current economic uncertainty and drops in home sales, it could eventually force the county to adjust its spending or risk its vaunted AAA bond rating.
Ratings agencies look at a variety of factors, including the ratio of debt to property values and the percentage of debt payments to operating revenue, in determining bond ratings.
York school board to discuss changing Magruder Elementary name Monday
York County’s school board will discuss changing the name of Magruder Elementary School at its work session Monday, May 12.
Critics have asked the name of the school, like James Blair Middle School in Williamsburg, be changed to avoid honoring someone who supported slavery. Blair was a founder of William & Mary and a slaveholder.
Opponents of a name change said Magruder School was named not for the confederate general John. B. (Jeb) Magruder, but for a community named Magruder Village that existed on land that is now part of Camp Peary.
School officials reviewed a document on the origins of Magruder Village produced by an independent researcher in 2015. They also perused old clippings at the special collections department of William & Mary’s Swem Library.
Their conclusion is that Magruder School was not directly named after Jeb Magruder, but rather after Magruder Village.
But since the village was likely named by the Confederate General, “it is a reasonable conclusion that the school is indirectly named after Gen. John B. Magruder.”
The Williamsburg James City County school division tabled a decision to change the name of James Blair last week after a survey of students, parents and local residents found only about a third wanted to change the name.
Williamsburg approves $103.3 million budget
Williamsburg City Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve a city budget of $103 million, including a 30% increase in water rates.
Faced with continuing protests from restaurateurs, council members unanimously agreed to postpone a vote on a 30% jump in meals and lodging taxes, and a new admissions tax, until their January 8 meeting next year.
Those tax increases were not planned to take effect until next year, so there is no immediate impact on planned revenues to support the budget. The 2026 budget goes into effect July 1 this year.
It increases spending 9% over the current budget, prompting calls for the city to find ways to economize.
Council voted after hearing from 14 people, most of whom opposed raising the meals and lodging taxes. The city has said the water rate increases are needed to pay for critical infrastructure improvements.
“The restaurant industry is struggling,” said Noreen Graziano, president of the 100-member Williamsburg Area Restaurant Association. She said labor and food costs have increased and customers are cutting back on spending.
Graziano proposed the city consider raising its real estate tax rate, which is the lowest in Hampton Roads, and scale back other levies.
“You know that this is not an easy decision,” Mayor Douglas G. Pons said. “The funds go to supporting a city that I want to see for all of our residents, and that’s a city that is meeting the expectations of people of all ages…that doesn’t come without a lot of dedicated city employees staff with a budget to support it. ”
Thursday, May 15, city residents will have a chance to provide input on the city’s proposed new library. The session starts at 5 p.m. in the Williamsburg Fire Department, 440 N. Boundary St.
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What are these people thinking when they want to raise tax rates? It seems to me that they are disconnected from reality. My Social Security increase for 2025 was 2.5%. My property tax increased 32.5%. How about instead of raising taxes, you cut your budget to be within the limits of the revenue you collect now. We do not need to change school names, or build a new building for county employees. Upgrade the building you have as I am sure you can make it shiny and feeling new at less the cost. Please extract your heads from dark places and think about what you are proposing while the whole country is struggling to just put food on the table. It is beyond my comprehension to understand why...well, maybe not. The Bible predicts these things, but it certainly does not mean you have to bow down to greed and stupidity
A 2-cent tax credit is a joke. The supervisors raised taxes 21% then want to get credit for "giving" a small portion back - while they decide how high to raise the meals tax. These guys have to go