Councilman Williams update 5/21/25

Presentations, FY26 budget and Taxes were the main topics on Wednesday’s agenda. 

Council Member Announcements

Economic development – Business appreciation breakfast was a success.  

The economic development committee raise concerns over tax increase impacts on businesses.

Parks and Rec – American Legion Memorial Day ceremony at 11 AM

Public Works – Sewer and water line repairs, installations storm cleanup, and event support.

Public Safety- Neighborhood Watch Thursday 5:30 PM and coffee with a cop coming soon, encouraged citizens to attend.

Planning Commission – They approved changes to the FAR (floor area ratio) which will be coming before Council for approval soon. The change allows for a garage to not be counted in the total square footage.  They will be discussing the parking ordinance in their next meeting. Short term rental permits were due May 1 with 108 permits issued and a number of STRs that did not renew or are late.

Non-Governmental – the 2025 guides are here and will be distributed soon. The Rod Run and Potomac River Festival will be held on the same day this year.

Schools – Graduations and the school board meeting were last week.

Mayor – June 8 is the T-ball field grand opening (tentative), mention school board dedication to Mayor Garland, June 7 is save the bay day.

Town Manager Updates

Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) Reminder, Chris Ruchty, Director of Public Works - We were given a presentation explaining why fat, oils and grease should not be dumped into the sewer system. It causes treatment, plant issues, blockages, overflows. Reduces effectiveness of treatment plant. Problem is significant and suggested remedies are enforcing the rules and educate the public.

Sewer Plant Update, John Simmons, Inboden Environmental Services - We had two large rain events last month, causing a small sewer spill. The small spill was well below compliance requirements.  A sludge belt was replaced and nitrates are still high. I asked about inflow and infiltration testing and was told that we would have a plan within six months.

FY2025 Budget Constraints, Lisa Okes, Director of Finance - We were given a list of things that have exceeded budget over the last year and the big one was the wastewater treatment plant contract, which was $141K over.

Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Trivett, District V Supervisor - Stated he was going to look at the emergency communications contract with the town, stated treasurer retiring, no work sessions through August, Monroe Bay Circle open. They are working on a new strategic plan. They passed their $87 million budget with no tax increases. The trash issue was resolved, employees got raises and there was a huge surplus.

Colonial Beach Public Schools, Dr. Addo, Superintendent - Last Friday was the last day of school, kindergarten seventh grade and high school graduations took place. 100% of high school students graduated. State scores are good. Three students got associate degrees; school board building was dedicated to Charles Garland. Stated that most of the school projects are funded by grants (mainly State) e.g. new front entrance. Their tax lawyer said that the tax penalties will most likely be waived. The superintendent acknowledges that 30% of their budget comes from the town taxes. He said school raises are funded/mandated by the state so the 4.5% which most other school districts are giving cannot be compared to town employee raises. He urged Mayor Council and staff to refer questions to him vs putting out wrong information. 

Emergency Management Services, Westmoreland EMS Chief Byrd - We were given some really good disaster, preparedness information and I urge everyone to watch this presentation. Here’s a link and it starts at 53 minutes into the video.  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aSSuFbanNRo

Highlights 

• Dangers we face in CB, including flooding, storm surges, high winds, fallen trees.

• We are in zone C, which is a high impact zone and are at risk for title flooding.

• Be prepared by having three days’ worth of food, water, etc.

• Sign up for RAVE alerts

• We have 18k county residents with 4k in the town of CB.

• Shelter locations, Westmoreland, high school and Washington District elementary. 600-person capacity.

• 24–7 EMS in town, new cardiac monitors, tabletop exercise coming soon.

Public Comment

There were nine public comments and below are some highlights.

• Osprey Foundation is part of a study by boat only water nests this summer.

• CB historic Society - Native American exhibit, T-ball field grand opening June 8.

• Westmoreland and King George had no tax increases; money doesn’t grow on trees. Balanced the budget and don’t use the schools and staff raises as political wedges.

• North Beach, is there a contingency plan if we do not get the grant?

• Ethics and conflicts concern. Need to look at the big picture when it comes to taxes and budget. There should be an approval process if contracts go over budget e.g. $141k sewer over budget.

• Mention the legal question regarding lodging tax going towards tourism and stated it should go there either way. Concerns on rising costs.

• Keep people of CB in mind do what’s right.

• Schools, don’t let drifter pride sink the town.

• Small business owner has concerns asking does lodging tax benefit businesses? Are our decisions data driven? Don’t want to be left behind.

Resolution #14-25, Adoption and Appropriation of Fiscal Year 2026 Budget and School Board -  

• the town manager gave a budget update. 

• During our May 7 meeting I made a motion to direct the town manager to make more cuts and try to balance the budget with no increases.  The town manager reported she was not able to avoid a tax increase

• They were able to come up with 38K in additional cuts which still left them $46k short with no cost-of-living increase for staff.

• I was lectured at our last council meeting for suggesting that the budget process was not transparent this year but to this day, I have no clue what if any cuts were suggested by Tom Larson, Kenny Allison, Robin Schick or Rick Wood.  I suggested over $150K in cuts and I believe between myself Maggie Sanford and Lisa Grandstaff we suggested over $200K in cuts. 

Each council member was asked to give their feedback on the budget.

Grandstaff - still have some questions and asked about potential asset sales.

Allison – thanked staff for working hard, need to make sure we help the citizens. Believes we may have gone too far with the cuts stated everything cost more and no one wants to raise taxes.

Wood - maybe too many cuts. Funds need to be raised to keep basic services. The intern cut may be too far. 

Larson - asked questions about the amount of money needed for 2.5% COLA answer $84k. He later suggested possibly raising taxes or using one-time reserve funds to balance the budget.

Williams - I stated that I appreciate the staff efforts and hard work, but did not think they did enough to balance the budget without a tax increase. I said cost-of-living raises historically were added to the budget in the beginning, but now have become political wedges to pit Council against staff. The schools have also become a political wedge during the budget process. Mentioned how I suggested $150K in cuts which was only a reduction in the $300K of new spending and they only did $38K. 

Sanford - she questioned why she had not heard back from staff on her suggested cuts. Does not want to raise taxes. Need to look at possibly getting rid of the Parks and Rec Dept.

Mayor – thanks Staff, racking her brain, need ways to get more revenues. Look at parking fees and other things next year did not appreciate the schools and COLA being part of the process. Suggested an auto increase for schools. Asked what the amount needed for COLA, answer $136K.

After our discussion, Rick Wood made a motion to approve the budget balancing it with $136k in ARPA (COVID) funds and no tax increase.  I made a similar suggestion in a prior meeting to balance the budget using excess funds and got a stern lecture from the mayor saying that that was a completely irresponsible way to fund a budget so I asked if Wood was going to get a similar lecture.  She said yes, and proceeded to tell him that it was not a responsible way to balance a budget according to our financial advisor.  Larson and others did have concerns about balancing a budget this way, but felt they did not have the support to increase taxes.

I personally supported this motion because I knew we did not have a majority to force additional cuts.  I did state that I wanted to have a finance committee re-introduced to get our finances in order for next year.  I may still not have the votes for a finance committee but the others did agree to at least have additional budget meetings so this does not repeat itself.

The final vote to pass the $11M FY 2026 budget with NO tax increases was 7-0

There was a bit of excitement after I voted yes because this is the first budget I voted for in my 4 years of doing budgets.  My only concern is that this council and town staff does not have the will to pick up the can that we just kicked down the road by funding the budget shortfall with one-time funds. 

Thanks to all that supported the efforts to stop tax increases.  I’ve been in your corner for 4 years and will keep Working for YOU!

Ordinance No. 767, Amends the Town of Colonial Beach Town Code, Chapter 20,

Taxation," Article I, "In General" Section 20-2, "Real Estate Tax," by increasing the real estate tax rate from $0.78 to $0.79 per $100 per assessed value.  NO 7-0

Ordinance No. 766, Amends the Town of Colonial Beach Town Code, Chapter 20, “Taxation," Article III, "Transient Lodging Tax," by increasing the rate by a percentage not exceed two percent (2%) NO 7-0

Closed Meeting

Pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711 (A) (7) for consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members or consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation, where such consultation or briefing in open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the town, and

Pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-3711 (A) (8) for consultation with legal counsel retained by the town council regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by.

Councilman David Williams

Please email or call with questions or comments:

dwilliams@colonialbeachva.gov

540-604-4335