Where the county's money goes
1The short version
Supervisors unanimously adopted a $197.7 million all-funds budget for FY2026-27. The general fund is $61.12 million, with the largest items being social services and children's services ($9.93M), schools ($8.1M), law enforcement ($8.06M), public works ($7.09M), and environmental management ($3.94M). Property taxes bring in about $21.77 million. Outside the general fund, $50 million is set aside for school construction and $11.48 million sits in the Coal Road Fund .
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2The full story
The Appalachian School of Law. The county is putting $3.4 million over two years into keeping the struggling law school in Grundy, after talk of a merger with Roanoke College. The final version passed 6-1 (Stiltner opposed), and if the school leaves, its real estate transfers to the county IDA[5]. This is the clearest example of the county spending to hold on to an anchor institution rather than lose it.
Flock license-plate cameras. In September, Supervisor Trey Adkins said he doesn't think the county needs Flock cameras anywhere and asked whether an ordinance could block new ones. The county attorney was asked to determine what authority the county has over cameras already running inside Grundy[16]. Surveillance tech versus local control is a live, bipartisan-feeling argument here, and a good one to follow.
3Dig deeper: every source
Every bracketed number above links to its source. Here they all are in one place. If one doesn't say what we said, tell us.
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