February 23, 2026
I was meeting clients recently at the Mudhouse and they asked me about the plan for solving school overcrowding and the Albemarle County budget. I talked briefly about the County’s inability to plan adequate for the future, and some of the reasons and the whys.
- Curious where your property taxes go? Check out the budget.
- Wondering about where the schools get their money? Check out the budget.
- Want to know why the development dashboard is seemingly irrevocably broken? The budget probably has allocated money for that.
Update 2/25/2026
Click through to read the whole thing
Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson’s proposed total budget of $724,021,078 in FY27 will utilize reserves in order to maintain government services while avoiding an increase in tax rates.
“This budget is balanced on a real estate tax rate of 89.4 cents per $100 of assessed value,” Richardson said at a briefing Wednesday afternoon. “There are no recommended changes to the tax rates from what we adopted in the FY26 budget.”
And yesterday’s Charlottesville Community Engagement Week Ahead – one of the most important things I read and pay for – gave the important reminder that it’s always budget season.
Albemarle County Executive to present recommended FY27 budget to Supervisors
Budget season in the area’s largest locality will begin this Wednesday when Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson will unveil his recommendations at a special Board of Supervisors meeting in Room 241 of the office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)
In years past, there were enough members of the media to warrant a press conference a day before so we could ask questions. Those days are gone and this event no longer happens.
This newsletter seeks to cover the budget just as much as I have done in the past 20 years. Here are four recent stories to get a sense of what will be discussed.
- Albemarle Supervisors presented with five-year financial plan, November 28, 2025
- Albemarle Schools seek funding for fourth high while Supervisors want more data on need, December 9, 2025
- Albemarle Supervisors briefed on audit of FY2025 accounts, December 28, 2025
- Albemarle assessments have increased by 6.17 percent in 2026, January 25, 2026
Three things
An aside
I’ve written this before. We need journalists. To watch, to be present, to digest, to piece together threads and stories to that we the people can understand what is happening in our community.
I saw a comment recently on Nextdoor that said something like, “why are kids going door to door selling subscriptions to the Crozet Gazette? I thought it was free!”
Nothing is free. Good journalism takes more than ads. Buy a subscription to the Crozet Gazette. Pay for a subscription to Charlottesville Community Engagement. Go to a meeting. And go again.