Author: Gage Harter

Proposed federal budget reduces funding for Chesapeake Bay Program

President Trump’s recently proposed budget would reduce funding for the Chesapeake Bay Program from $73 million in FY 2017 to $5 million in FY 2018. In FY 2017, the largest portion of these funds were distributed throughout the Chesapeake Bay’s 64,000-square mile watershed in the form of grants to states, localities, nonprofit organizations and community […]

Visit Craig County and the Fenwick Mines Waterfall

Fenwick Mines was once an old mining area and is now home to trails and a recreation park. The trail takes you by open pit mines and foundations of old mining structures. The Fenwick Forest Walk is a one-mile nature trail. The Wetland Trail allows you to observe wetlands created by beavers; follow the trail […]

Financial Facts

In a new statement issued March 20, GASB addressed a wide range of accounting challenges that preparers of financial statements for state and local governments encounter in preparing, implementing and applying a variety of GASB statements. GASB Statement No. 85, Omnibus 2017, addresses issues related to blending component units, goodwill, fair value measurement, pensions and […]

NACo releases analysis of President’s budget proposal

President Trump released his FY 2018 budget proposal on March 16. Overall, the budget proposes to increase defense spending by $54 billion and reduce non-defense discretionary spending by an equal amount. NACo issued an analysis of the proposed budget’s effects on counties on March 20. As noted in NACo’s analysis, the Administration’s proposal, nicknamed the […]

Public Comment Period Open for Proposed CSA Policy Regarding Audit Findings

Public comment is now being accepted on an outline of a proposed policy to direct the response of the Office of Children’s Services to findings of non-compliance by local CSA programs.  The policy is outlined in concept on the CSA website under the “Public Comments” header; comments are being accepted on the same page.  The […]

16 CTE programs to receive $37,500 each for new equipment and improvements

The Governor issued a press release on March 23 to announce that 16 high schools and technical centers will share $600,000 in grants to upgrade equipment for their career and technical education programs (CTE). Each school will receive $37,500 to purchase new equipment and make other necessary improvements. The awards, by school division, are as […]

Governor vetoes education bills opposed by VACo

Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed education bills on March 23 that would have diverted public funds away from public schools or limit local decision-making authority. Last month, VACo sent the Governor letters urging him to veto HB 2342 (Landes)/SB 1283 (Obenshain) and HB 1605 (LaRock). VACo’s overarching legislative priority position during the 2017 General Assembly Session […]

VACo Requests Amendments and Vetoes

After the General Assembly’s adjournment sine die, the Governor has the opportunity to make amendments to legislation or to veto bills.  Governor McAuliffe must submit recommended amendments and vetoes by midnight on Monday, March 27 for the General Assembly’s consideration at its reconvened session on Wednesday, April 5.  VACo has requested amendments to several bills. […]

Visit Albemarle County and Doyles River Falls

Doyles River Falls Trailhead is located in the South District at mile 81.1 on Skyline Drive. Here you will find the beginning of the Upper and Lower Doyles River Falls hike and the Doyles River Falls and Jones Run Falls hike. At Doyles River you can play in the woods and in the water. Hike […]

Heather Lewis is home as the new Middlesex County Attorney

Often in life, things have a way of working themselves out. Take Heather Lewis’ story for example. Lewis was born and raised in Saluda, the seat of Middlesex County. She attended Middlesex Public Schools. Her grandmother, Anita Wilson, retired in 1999 after 24 years as Middlesex County Treasurer. Her mother, Cathy Wilson, worked six years […]

First Lady holds conference call on Summer Food Service Program with local leaders

First Lady McAuliffe joined The Honorable Pam Hemminger, the Mayor of Chapel Hill, N.C., and representatives from No Kid Hungry Virginia on March 15 to discuss ways that local governments can be involved in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), a federally-funded, state-administered program that ensures that low-income children continue to receive nutritious meals when […]

General Fund Revenue Collections Up in February; Unemployment Down

Several pieces of encouraging economic news were released this week, as the Governor announced that healthy General Fund revenue collections continued in February and that Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 4 percent. Total General Fund revenue collections increased by 3.6 percent in February over the previous year. For the fiscal year-to-date, revenue collections […]

Sara Carter

Appomattox County Supervisor Q1. You hold a master’s degree in planning, and in addition to working as a planner for several local governments, you served on the Appomattox County Planning Commission. What sparked your interest in planning and land use?  SC: When I was a senior in high school, I was invited to participate in […]

Commonwealth Transportation Board considers changes to Revenue Sharing Program

The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) is considering a number of changes to Virginia’s Transportation Revenue Sharing Program.  On March 14, a subcommittee comprised of CTB members met to consider the five following policy options as presented by VDOT’s Local Division Director Julie Brown: Option 1: Limit total annual allocations to $5 million per locality (or […]