Welcome to The Maysville Voice, the newsletter for those who reside and vote in the Maysville District in Buckingham County. I am pleased to bring you much information, links, and resources to inform and engage with you as your County Supervisor.
Some topics we will be considering or hearing about during our meeting on this Tuesday include: Honoring Tyshea Chambers for being crowned Miss Five County Fair 2022 and her other amazing accolades, which I am so proud of and glad we can honor our youth; consideration of appointments/reappointments to the Planning Commission and Industrial Development Authority; consideration of an EMS grant; hard surfacing the Route 56 Solid Waste Site and the Glenmore EMS Parking Lot; presentations from Ben Price with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund and Kelly Jones with the Peter Francisco Soil and Water Conservation District; and updates on the hotel coming to Buckingham (which they have obtained their building permit) and the Centra Medical Facility in Dillwyn.
Your Personal Property Tax Bill
Onto a very important topic: Personal Property tax bills. I, like you, saw a drastic increase in my bill this year on my vehicle, a used pickup truck, which I purchased used in late 2019. Let me be clear, the tax rate DID NOT INCREASE AND HAS NOT GONE UP IN MANY YEARS. The increased bills are being driven by the assessed value and the result of the economy being in the state it is. The Commissioner of the Revenue, who is tasked per the Virginia Constitution with assessing certain property, even changed her assessment method some time ago to a lesser value to help bear the brunt of the tax assessment.
Here is my plan: I plan on proposing waiving the fee for paying personal property taxes with a credit card and the county eating that fee, and waiting penalties past December 5 for a date to be determined.
There is no doubt that, because of the economy and interest rates and inflation over 8 percent, this will be a hard winter, especially for the working poor and those on fixed incomes. I do feel that these two measures can help ease the burden somewhat. Also, the County Treasurer will work with you on what you owe. Like what I plan to do, you can set up a payment plan to pay your Personal Property taxes in a structured way rather than all at once. Please contact the Treasurer for more details.
In other news, during our Statewide Gold Mine Committee Meeting last Thursday, I called on the committee to include, in our report, a recommendation to the Virginia General Assembly to ban and/or put a moratorium on new gold mining in the Commonwealth as our Committee findings and those of the National Academy of Sciences have clear and compelling evidence that Virginia’s regulatory structure does not have what it takes to protect our air, water, environment, and way of life against a gold mine operation.
Our upcoming Board of Supervisors regular meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022 in the Peter Francisco Board Room in the County Administration Complex on Route 60. I encourage you to attend to learn more about your County Government and how your tax dollars are spent. If you’re unable to attend in person, you can view our meeting live here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfIL3rVTUEqgxBwXCQoBDTA.
Here is a link to our agenda and full Board Packet: https://buckinghamcountyva.org/administration/boards___commissions/board_of_supervisors/board_agenda_minutes_youtube.php. Should you have any questions or concerns about anything contained in the packet or on the agenda, please reach out to me. My contact information is below at the end of this newsletter.
Public comments may be made in person during three minute increments. You must sign up before our meeting to speak.
Continued Outages with CenturyLink
As you know, even as BrightSpeed has taken over CenturyLink, I have continued to lean in and fight hard to get the company to restore telephone and internet outages that have been persistent in our county, but more so for the company to replace its failing infrastructure. I am still getting messages and calls about their failing infrastructure and billing errors for those who even have transition to FireFly!
Here are some links of past media coverage of that effort.
https://www.wtvr.com/problem-solvers/buckingham-phone-line-issues
Join our Chamber of Commerce!
The Buckingham Chamber of Commerce, which I am humbled to serve as President of; is our county’s largest and most impactful civic group. For this month and during December, for only $35 per year, you can be a member, whether you’re a business owner or not, of an organization that holds monthly meetings with speakers, food, and many updates; receive a monthly newsletter; participate and be recognized as Business of the Month or recipient of the Community Pride Award; attend ribbon cuttings and other special events; receive discounts in the annual Buckingham Guidebook; and receive many other perks, including participating in our annual Chamber Banquet held in January. But the best thing about our Chamber is the camaraderie and networking that we have amongst our small businesses. This month, our meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 PM, which includes a bake off featuring casseroles! To join, email info@buckinghamchamberofcommerce.com or call 434-983-2372. Dues will be $40 per year after Jan. 1, 2023 to join today.
Contact Me!
Should you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or opinions about this newsletter, county government, services, opportunities, etc., please never hesitate to contact me. You can reach me at 434-390-7023 via text or phone, email me at jmiles@buckinghamcounty.virginia.gov, or write me at PO Box 188, Buckingham, Virginia 23921. You can also come see me at my house at 13170 West James Anderson Highway, Buckingham, Virginia 23921.
Jordan
Thomas Jordan Miles III
Chairman, Buckingham County Board of Supervisors
District Four Supervisor (Maysville)
434-390-7023
13170 West James Anderson Highway
PO Box 188
Buckingham, Virginia 23921
Maysville District Supervisor Thomas Jordan Miles III 