We can pay it, but is it the best use of our money?

Good morning! Today we'll look at how much local governments will pay on debt. Also James City County sets data center policies, and York moves to repair Queens Lake dam.

Nov 17, 2025

Total projected debt repayment for next 20-30 years. chart produced by Chat GPT

James City County and Williamsburg can easily afford to pay the debt for the buildings they are constructing, their financial advisors assure us. But an increasingly vocal group of taxpayers are asking whether that is the best use of their money.

Economists call the decisions governments make on where to spend tax dollars “Public-Sector budget prioritization”. Businesses call it business spending priorities. We consumers talk about consumer choices.

Critics say the $895 million that the three localities in the Historic Triangle will spend over the next few decades could be used for a variety of other purposes besides putting up libraries and government centers.

Our local governments are currently on track to pay an average of $40 million a year on debt service. That is well within their capacity, according to Davenport and Company, their financial advisor.

But critics say that money could go in part to schools for programs or teacher pay.

It could go to cut real estate taxes, which have been surging along with home valuations. James City County’s average real estate tax bite jumped 21% this year.

Williamsburg could choose to trim the planned increase in meals taxes that local restaurateurs say will hurt their business.

Or it could be applied toward the variety of creative ideas citizen task forces have floated to provide more affordable housing for the public safety employees, teachers, and service industry workers upon which our local economy depends.

A group of James City County taxpayers has asked for an emergency injunction to stop construction of the county’s proposed government center.

Artist renderings of the proposed James City County government center, left, and the Williamsburg downtown library

James City County has the area’s largest budget -- $390.5 million, including spending by its capital fund. It will spend about $596 million over the next two decades paying down debt for planned projects, including its $190 million government center and a $25 million library annex.

Williamsburg has the smallest population and budget, $83 million. It will spend about $119.26 million paying off its debt, and that only includes $20 million in debt for a new downtown library, which will not be sufficient to cover its projected cost of $26 million.

York’s total budget this year is $291.6 million, and it will spend about $181 million to repay its debt over the next three decades.

The county has the area’s most conservative capital spending philosophy. It largely elects to spend money updating its structures rather than building new, which architects have told us is cheaper and more environmentally friendly. None of its school buildings are less than 50 years old, and the county administration works from a 78-year-old former school.

But York schools are the best in the area in terms of student performance.

Longtime supervisor Sheila Noll says the government’s main function is to cover schools, fire and police, not “Taj Mahal” government buildings.

Answer to last week’s question — all three of our local governing bodies have five elected members.

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James City County approves data center regulations

After factoring in suggestions from Grove activists, James City County supervisors approved new controls over data centers that may want to locate in the county.

The new regulations are designed to minimize noise, water and electrical impact from the power-hungry data centers.

They will require a special use permit for data centers, which must be connected to a public water system.

Northern Virginia has the largest concentrations of data centers in the country. While they have brought large amounts of tax dollars, counties that were not prepared for them are facing residential complaints about noise and vibration. The data centers consume large amounts of electricity, at a time when consumers are also demanding more power.

A spokesperson for Dominion Power told us the utility expects data center demand to quadruple over the next 15 years until data centers account for 25% of Dominion’s energy production, as artificial intelligence raises demand for more computing power.

To pay the cost of upgrading the state’s creaky electric infrastructure, Dominion has proposed that it be allowed to charge data centers a higher rate than consumers pay and require them to commit to paying for at least 14 years’ supply of power, whether they use it or not.

At their regular meeting Wednesday, the supervisors unanimously voted to more than double the distance that data centers should be located from any home, from the 400 feet originally proposed by staff to 1,000 feet.

The change came after Roberts member John McGlennon received several recommendations from Grove Connections, a local community group, to minimize the impact on local residents.

Connections member Sheree Beaufort told the supervisors that while many people point to Grove’s industrial sites as the best place for data centers, “none of those people live in our community....but they will put them in our back yard.”

Work to start on Queens Lake dam

Lake Manager Douglas Ellis points to dam problems (Williamsburg Watch photo)

The Queens Lake subdivision of York County is finally getting help with its failing dam and with runoff from several ravines that flow into the subdivision.

At their regular board meeting Tuesday, the county board of supervisors is set to approve a $1.66 million project to remediate runoff from five ravines in the area.

Last week the county signed a separate $1.4 million contract with Howard Brothers Contractor, Inc. to restore the dam at Queens Lake. County officials are still hoping for state and federal help to pay for the silt from I-64 that has been filling in the lake.

“We’re happy to have it finally started after three years,” we were told by Douglas Ellis, the former president of the Queens Lake neighborhood association and lake manager.

He said the dam repair work should be complete within six months.