Bath Board’s Chair Reports

February 23, 2015

At our February 10 meeting, Robertson, Farmer, Cox Associates presented the County’s audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. The 115-page audit report commonly referred to as the financial report provides a general overview of the County’s finances. Overall, the financial position of the County is stable with Dominion Power and the Omni Homestead Resort continuing to be the major employers and sources of revenue for the County. Sales tax collections continue to increase. The unemployment rate for July 2013 – June 2014 averaged 4.5 percent. This rate compares favorably to the state’s average unemployment rate of 5.3 percent in October 2014 and the national average rate of 5.8 percent in October 2014. For more audit information, the presentation and report is available for review on the County’s website.

Also, Russ Archambault, Vice President and Principal of RKG Associates accompanied by Lauren Callahan presented the Board with an overview of the four to six month interactive community focused based process to develop the Bath County Economic Development Strategic Plan. The process will involve you having the opportunity to define what economic development is to our community and identify strategies to develop local, asset-based resources and businesses to build on our rural character and heritage. We encourage your involvement. More information about the process will be reported in the future.

This is the time of year the Board hears from the County Administrator on budget requests received and meets in work session to discuss budget. Our adopted budget calendar has the proposed budget prepared and presented by the County Administrator and advertised for a public hearing to be held at the Board’s April meeting. This is an annual fiscal planning process to project the amount of funds received and spent beginning July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016 on operations, maintenance, programs and projects, either mandated by state law or identified as needed to provide services to community. The budget serves as a financial guide for the upcoming year.

As always, the Board is pleased to serve the community. Stay warm and well.

February 17, 2015

Story By

Bonnie Ralston

Bonnie Ralston is the Assistant Station Coordinator at WVLS and a Highland County news reporter. She began volunteering at Allegheny Mountain Radio in the fall of 2005. In 2006 she became an AMR employee and worked in Bath County for eight years as the WCHG Station Coordinator and then as the news reporter there. She began working in radio while in college and has stayed connected to radio, in one way or another, for more than thirty years. She grew up in Staunton, Virginia, while spending a lot of time on her family’s farm in Deerfield, Virginia. She enjoys spending time outside, watching old TV shows and movies and tending to her chickens.
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