The Stafford County Board of Supervisors is still unsure how to fund Musselman Park.
Brian Southall, director of Stafford County Parks Recreation and Tourism facilities, heavily emphasized the importance of the Park to the citizens of Stafford. He showed a conceptual plan containing plans for a playground, trails, pickleball courts, and parking areas, all commonly requested by residents.
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Stafford County leaders support new legislation allowing them to hike the county sales tax to pay for school construction.
Virginia State Senator Jeremy McPike (D-29, Prince William, Stafford) has introduced legislation (SB14) in the upcoming January 2024 General Assembly session that would allow any county or city to let voters decide to hike the sales tax by 1%, a fee paid at retail shops and restaurants. Delegate-Elect Joshua Cole (D-65, Fredericksburg, Stafford) said he'll introduce similar legislation in the House of Delegates when he takes office in January.
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Stafford County leaders will meet with Virginia Delegates and Senators during an annual dinner at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, November 29, 2023, to discuss the county government's legislative wishlist.
At the top is adding Stafford to the list of Northern Virginia jurisdictions that get extra state funding for schools in a program called "cost to compete," or COCA. The state created the fund to help boost teacher pay for those working in Northern Virginia -- the most competitive market in the state.
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Fredericksburg.com: "At its Dec. 13 meeting, Stafford County’s Planning Commission will take on the issue of what medical facilities are allowed within which zoning ordinances — and have 100 days from then to take action or defer."
"Stafford’s Board of Supervisors sent the item to the planners last week, looking for a recommendation on what’s been a hot-button issue since the summer. That’s when residents discovered that Concerted Care Group, a Maryland-based business, is opening a 9,100-square-foot clinic next to Weis grocery store in the Woodlawn Shopping Center, off Deacon Road."
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Stafford County Government: "Due to the financial uncertainty concerning the delayed adoption of the federal budget and the effects this may have on the residents of Stafford County, the Board of Supervisors adopted on October 17, 2023, an Emergency Ordinance EO23-01 to temporarily lower penalties to zero for the Personal Property tax payments due December 5. This will allow taxpayers more time to pay their Personal Property tax bills. Please note that the Board desires to extend zero penalty through January 5, 2023."
"However, another emergency ordinance must be brought to the Board of Supervisors for approval at the December 12, 2023 meeting."
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Stafford County Board of Supervisors is set to get an update on Musselman Park, the newest county park, during its Tuesday, November 14, meeting.
The meeting takes place at 3 p.m. at the county government center, 1300 Courthouse Road.
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Stafford County Supervisor Crystal Vanuch: "I have great news… remember a few weeks ago when I said I was introducing a request for more time to pay personal property taxes due in December? Well, it passed our Board 6-1 on Tuesday! They are now penalty-free until January 5, and you will have more time to make those payments."
"Personal property tax bills go out at the beginning of November. These bills are due December 5th. With the impending government shutdown on top of difficult economic conditions, I think allowing residents an additional 30 days, penalty-free, to pay these bills is necessary. The bills will be penalty-free until January 5th."
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Crystal Vanuch is running to continue to represent Rock Hill District residents on the Stafford Board of Supervisors. For years, Crystal has said that uncontrolled residential growth is the biggest problem Stafford County residents face.
Our neighbor to the north, Prince William County, has been the victim of uncontrolled residential growth for years, which has led to a 70% increase in crime, huge increases in taxes, and has plagued the schools with overcrowding. Sound familiar?
She’s voted for ZERO development projects
Stafford has nearly 5,000 homes, which include many apartments and townhomes and some income-restricted apartment buildings in North Stafford. Vanuch has voted for ZERO of these projects because she understands the impacts on the taxpayers.
She knows that every one of these projects adds children to the already overcrowded schools and stresses our public safety to the max. Stafford runs out of EMS units from time to time because of increased call volume, our deputies find themselves running north to south during shifts just to keep up, and our schools are packed to the gills.
So, what is the solution? Vanuch says, “We have to stop allowing residential developers to get away with maximum density projects that don’t pay for themselves and shift the costs to the taxpayers, plain and simple. If we do that, then we can focus on building the schools we need NOW, building the fire stations, building roads desperately needed, and hiring enough deputies for our current population.”
It’s not that simple
The message about affordable housing is interesting because those who say Stafford needs to supply housing for just teachers, educators, nurses, and first responders clearly don’t understand the laws in Virginia. Virginia is a Dillon rule state, which means Stafford only has the authority the state gives them.
The state does NOT allow the Board of Supervisors to dedicate housing to certain individuals. If developers say “Oh, we will set aside some of the project for them, don’t worry, just approve our project,” there is no way for the Board to enforce it.
So, what does that mean? That means that’s a great way to trick residents into supporting additional housing units for the workforce they want to help. In reality, that means more HIGH-DENSITY uncontrolled housing that shifts the burden to YOU, the taxpayer. Stafford residents got a taste of that this year with a nearly 40% tax increase proposed by some members of the Board of Supervisors.
Crystal stopped the developers
This is a major area of concern for the Chairwoman of the Planning Commission, Kristen Barnes.
“The last four years, I have watched Crystal stand up to the developers and special interests that have built more houses, apartments, and townhouses than our infrastructure can handle. Developers know that as long as Crystal is in office, they won’t get very far in Rock Hill,” said Barnes.
“Whether it was Vulcan Quarry wanting to expand active mining operations even closer to already established neighborhoods or developers that want to add more and more houses without offsetting traffic impacts or helping add capacity to our schools, Crystal stood in their way. If you don’t like the direction Stafford is headed in, we need more leaders like Crystal to represent our interests, not the special interests, unlike her opponent who these special interest groups support. I hope you will join me in voting for Crystal Vanuch for Rock Hill Supervisor for four more years.”
Vote by Tuesday, November 7, 2023.
PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF VANUCH.
The county Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission will hold a joint public hearing on October 17, 2023, to discuss new rules on where the server farms that power the internet should be located in the county. Data centers are built on large campuses that take up acres of land and use excessive amounts of electricity to power the servers, and water to cool them.
The county has seen three major applications for new data center complexes -- one by Stafford Hospital, one near the county landfill on Eskimo Hill Road, and another in Falmouth. The county Planning Commission, along with data center operators like Amazon Web Services and Stack Infrastructure, spent three months examining where data centers should go.
