The Madison County Economic Development Committee continues to explore ways to increase county revenue streams.
On Tuesday, Aug. 11, the committee hosted a joint town hall with the board of supervisors to share updates on its ongoing work. The town hall was the second hosted by the committee with the first having taken place last August.
Supervisor and committee chair Jim Jewett explained the need for increased revenue, stating the county’s expenses are only going to increase, in part due to unfunded mandates such as the recently approved paid family leave act and the likely to be approved in the next General Assembly session collective bargaining law. He said the FY27 budget was bare bones with savings and revenue increases keeping the once projected eight-cent real estate tax increase at only two-cents. The county also borrowed $4 million to cover capital expenditures.
Jewett said projections are that the budget will continue to get worse.
“Cost control is a priority, but costs continue to rise in all areas and revenue growth is lagging [behind] spending growth,” he said. “Economic development is critical to improving revenue streams.”
One possible stream is utilizing the 240 acres the county owns at the transfer station for a revenue generating project. The committee explored the possibility of opening a landfill at the site, evaluating the profitable landfill owned by King George County. That landfill is on 349 acres and earned $4.3 million in FY2023. However, considering state laws and regulations, costs to operate and potential citizen and landowner concerns, the committee ultimately decided opening a landfill would not be a worthy endeavor. However, the property could still be utilized via a public-private partnership. An example would be leasing the land for an ATV park. A business is considering opening something similar, but on a smaller scale, elsewhere in the county. Planning commissioner Pete Elliott suggested using the land for storage units and building an industrial park.
“What a cash cow that never goes away,” he said.
The committee is also focusing on increasing tourism, especially through increased overnight stays. One idea to draw visitors in is a new Possum Festival. Held in the fall, the festival would pay homage to Herbert Hoover’s 1929 visit to Hoover Ridge in which a young boy handed him a wild opossum. The two-day festival would include a variety of activities, live music, wineries, craft breweries, cideries and food trucks.
“The big thing about this is youth and community engagement,” supervisor and committee member Jud Buchanan said. “Nobody in Virginia has a possum festival.”
Another idea to build tourism and workforce skills would be the creation of a Fab Lab. The lab would be a skills development center focusing on woodworking, metal works, fiber arts, 3D parts design and creation. Students would come in and learn from experts while also offering a space for makers to create their items. The lab would need a space, staging and equipment, as well as funding.
“This has successfully been done all over the country,” committee member Molly Wilshere said. “There’s no limit to a maker space.”
Buchanan said he had visited one in the Helsinki Library, noting how amazing it was to see. Madison County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Anna Graham said there may be some opportunity to partner with the school since it has a lot of the equipment and the space isn’t used at night.
The idea of a business district was also discussed, with one audience member calling it the most important thing the committee should be focusing on. The creation of a business overlay district would create an area where appropriate commercial growth was encouraged, along with a clearer and more predictable path for rezoning to General Business, B-1, and allowing for some special use permit uses to be byright. County planning and zoning administrator Allen Nicholls said the county has been working with the Rapidan Service Authority (RSA) to determine where existing utilities are located and to plan for future expansion. The county’s wastewater treatment plant is currently undergoing an expansion which will likely create an additional 400 Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDUs), 190 of which could potentially be reserved by the county for non-residential use. That project is expected to be completed in 2028.
Meanwhile, the idea of hosting sporting events at Hoover Ridge is being explored. Sports tourism, or travel sports, was a $2.7 billion industry in Virginia in 2022. Deputy county administrator Brian Gordon said the playing surfaces are already there for tournaments, but more is needed in terms of lodging and restaurants.
The county may more immediately receive a budget boost next year. Voters will decide this fall via referendum if sales tax will be increased by 1% to fund school projects. Previously, only nine localities had the authority to levy the additional sales tax. The 1% would be in effect for 20 years and pay for the estimated $112.5 million in school capital costs over that time period. The sales tax would keep the real estate tax from being increased to cover those expenses.
