By Darlene Dawson
I hate the idea of additional taxes.
So why would I even consider adding a new one for Orange County?
The General Assembly authorized it, and the Orange County Board of Supervisors acted swiftly to place a question on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
The ballot question reads:
Shall Orange County, Virginia be authorized to levy a general retail sales tax at a rate not to exceed one percent, with the revenues to be used solely for capital projects for new construction or major renovation of schools serving Orange County, Virginia including related bond and loan financing costs, and with the tax expiring on July 14, 2046?
Here’s why I think this question deserves serious consideration, even for those like me who are new-tax averse.
Orange County does not have a robust commercial tax base, and so funding public services falls largely on residential taxes. Meanwhile, our schools keep getting older and critical updates are beyond the ability of our annual budgets to absorb.
Consider:
Lightfoot Elementary and Orange County High School opened in 1952.
Unionville Elementary – 1954.
Gordon-Barbour Elementary – 1965.
Orange Elementary – 1967.
If you’re a homeowner, you understand perfectly the demands that kind of age puts on critical infrastructure. It’s not the obvious aesthetics of the schools, but the inner workings that allow us to open buildings and welcome students every day. We have multiple schools with water and septic issues, HVAC concerns, windows and doors that need replacing, and the list goes on. Our facilities and maintenance crews continue to nurse these things along to keep us operating, but we need some serious and expensive upgrades, and right now, we simply cannot afford them.
The referendum authorizes a sales tax maximum of one penny on the dollar on purchases made by residents and visitors alike. Every visitor who travels to and through Orange and
spends a little money along the way will contribute, just like residents. This method avoids adding the burden exclusively to local property owners through real estate taxes.
The estimated return for that one penny in Orange County is $5.6 million annually. Read that number one more time.
We would need an additional 7 cents per $100 of assessed value to generate that same figure in real estate taxes.
While it is true that the Virginia Lottery does provide funding for schools, most of that money comes with specific requirements for how it must be spent. Schools do not have the freedom to use all of the lottery funding wherever it is most needed.
Orange received $3,691,877 in its most recent lottery allocation. The majority of that funding must be used for state-required initiatives and was designated for these specific purposes:
● $1,326,097 for instructional expenses and improving student achievement ● $676,211 for Special Education services
● $596,119 for reducing K–3 class sizes
● $554,075 to support at-risk students
● $213,958 for the Early Reading Initiative
● $153,285 for the State School Breakfast Program
● $172,132 for other programs, including improving graduation rates and supporting Career and Technical Education
The important point is that lottery funding is not simply extra money that the school division can spend as it chooses. Lottery funds are dedicated to public education, but for Orange County they are a labeled part of state funding, not extra money added after the school budget is already funded. And they cannot erase the County’s required local support.
In contrast, the 1% tax would provide funds for Orange County to prioritize locally. $5.6 million.
For one penny on the dollar.
Shared by residents and visitors alike.
This revenue, by law, can ONLY be used for
● new school construction,
● renovation and modernization of existing buildings,
● bond or loan financing of those projects.
It CANNOT be used for
● salaries,
● benefits,
● instructional materials,
● supplies, etc.
The tax would not apply to groceries, personal hygiene products, or prescription medications. It has a sunset date of 2046 – not one of those taxes that gets started and never goes away.
This revenue cannot be viewed as a replacement for existing budgets, but would provide a new funding mechanism specifically to address critical projects that have been too long delayed.
Best of all – YOU get to decide. Not the School Board. Not the Board of Supervisors. Not the Commonwealth of Virginia. You, the citizens of Orange County.
Please visit the Orange County Public Schools website for a list of projects and approximate costs: https://bit.ly/OCPSVA1
Please inform yourselves about the issues and then make a plan to vote. Early voting starts September 18. Election Day is November 3.
It’s your community, your schools, your voice. It’s YOUR decision.
Darlene Dawson is the chair of the Orange County School Board and a resident of District 2.
