Goochland supervisors adopt FY2027 budget, boost public safety and employee pay

What Goochland residents get for the county’s FY2027 budget is more public safety staffing, higher pay for employees and no increase in the real-estate tax rate. The Board of Supervisors moved to adopt the amended spending plan at its May 5 meeting, setting up a budget built around service capacity, workforce retention and a growing county footprint.

The budget was advertised at $170,997,815, up from the county’s $148.5 million adopted budget for FY2026. County leaders said the plan was balanced and included about $3.4 million in identified savings. On the revenue side, the board also held the real-estate tax rate at $0.53 per $100 of assessed value when it adopted 2026 tax rates on April 14.

Public safety was the clearest priority in the spending plan. The county budget added an IT director and two dispatchers to support the sheriff’s office, along with three firefighter and EMS positions. Those hires come as Goochland continues to expand emergency response capacity, including the April 7 groundbreaking for Fire-Rescue Station 8 in Sandy Hook, described as the first new fire-rescue district added in more than 60 years, and the board’s approval the same day of architectural and engineering work for West Creek Fire-Rescue Station 7.

The budget also gave county workers a raise and a break on health costs. Supervisors included a 3% salary increase for all county employees and lower out-of-pocket health insurance costs for staff who choose county coverage, a move aimed at keeping employees on the payroll in a tight labor market.

Schools remained a major piece of the county’s spending picture. The FY2027 budget advertisement listed $46,510,052 for public education, while the capital improvement program totaled $4,400,510 for county and school projects. That capital plan was aimed at public safety, facilities management, school facilities, information technology and parks and recreation.

The budget process stretched across work sessions, public hearings on April 7 and the tax-rate vote on April 14 before the May 5 adoption. County materials tied the proposal to broader goals of balanced development, financial management, core services and a positive work environment, with the clearest practical result being a larger public safety backbone and a county workforce that costs taxpayers less to replace.