Chesterfield County could be getting another water treatment plant as part of its proposed $2.4 billion budget for fiscal 2026. The $426 million plant, which would be located in the Appomattox Tidal Basin, could become the county’s fourth water source by 2033 if approved.
While County Administrator Joe Casey referenced Richmond’s January water outage — which largely affected other Greater Richmond counties and a very small portion of Chesterfield — he noted the Appomattox plant has been in the works for almost a decade. He added that the proposed facility would help ensure the county has redundancies in case of another mishap.
Matt Harris, deputy county administrator for finance and administration, described the budget as “austere.” There are 175 full-time positions totaling $22.1 million that are going unfunded, and about $300 million worth of capital improvement projects are on hold. The county also decided not to float any bonds during the next fiscal year.
“The amount of economic uncertainty that’s currently floating around out there is at unprecedented levels,” Harris said.
Much of the talk surrounding uncertainty stemmed from cuts at the federal level. But county officials point out that any change in federal grants won’t have an enormous effect on the county’s finances.
Around 40 percent of the proposed budget — about $1 billion — is for the public school system. The current proposal raises the school’s funding by about $43 million from last year, which should cover 3% step increases for all employees and about $13 million to support special education.
In September 2023, school officials discussed a report by JLARC (the General Assembly's research arm) that determined the state had underfunded the district. They revisited that report in January and again on March 12.
“Chesterfield County remains about $250 million underfunded,” school superintendent John Murray said.
County residents could also get a one-cent reduction on their real estate taxes; the proposed tax rate the next fiscal year is 89 cents per $100 of assessed value. The rate was 95 cents per $100 in 2021.
The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors is set for a final budget vote during an April 9 meeting.
Prior to that, a series of community meetings is scheduled to discuss the plan.
All meetings start at 6:30 p.m.:
- Monday, March 17: Dale District, Beulah Recreation Center,6901 Hopkins Road (Multipurpose Room)
- Tuesday, March 18: Matoaca District, Career and Technical Center, Hull Street Campus,13800 Hull Street Road (auditorium)
- Wednesday, March 19: Clover Hill District, North Courthouse Road Library, 325 Courthouse Road(community meeting room)
- Thursday, March 20: Bermuda District, Chester Library, 11800 Centre St.
- Monday, March 24: Facebook Live
- Tuesday, March 25: Matoaca District, Matoaca Elementary School, 20300 Halloway Ave. (cafetorium)
