Nelson County Supervisors to consider two Fire/EMS budget requests 

The five-member Board of Supervisors meet for the first time in 2024 with a new representative in the South District. Jessica Ligon defeated Mary Kathryn Allen 621 votes to 421 votes. J. David Parr won re-election against Mark Franklin 691 votes to 354 votes.  (agenda packet)

Supervisors meet at 2 p.m. in the General District Courtroom at the Courthouse in Lovingston. The first item on the agenda for the afternoon work session is the annual organizational meeting of the Board which included elections of a new chair and vice chair. In 2023, East District Supervisor Jesse Rutherford was the chair and Parr was the vice chair. Nelson rotates their officers each year. This year it appears Parr will become chair and Central District Supervisor Ernie Reed will be the vice chair.

After public comments and the consent agenda, there will be a report from the Virginia Department of Transportation and an update from the Thomas Jefferson Conservation District. The latter organization provides resources to property owners in the interest of improving water quality and preserving agricultural land by funding projects such as methods to keep livestock out of waterways. The presentation begins on page 52 of the packet. 

There are three items under new and unfinished business. 

• The first is a request from the Wintergreen Rescue Squad for an interest free loan of $100,000 to pay for part of the cost of a new ambulance to bring the total fleet up to five.  
• The second is a proposed shift schedule change for Nelson EMS for FY25. Currently there are 12 full time employees who work shifts of 24 hours on, 48 hours off. The proposal would be to shift to 24 hours on, 72 hours off. That would require hiring four new full time employees at an additional cost of $281,000 a year. Staff is recommending increasing the ambulance transport billing rates to cover some of the cost. (details on page 83)
• The third is a request from the Nelson County Community Development Foundation to continue waiving solid waste tipping fees for affordable housing projects and allow a 24-month period to pay connections to public water and sewer. This is usually agreed upon annually but a resolution expression support hasn’t been adopted since July 2020. (page 86)

The afternoon session will conclude with various reports from staff.

The evening session will convene at 7 p.m. and there is one public hearing. Should Nelson County amend the tax ordinance to alter the personal property tax exemption for volunteer fire and rescue personnel? Currently, the first $5,000 of an item’s assessed worth would be exempted. The proposed change is to grant a $300 credit instead. 

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