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COURTLAND

Southampton County Administrator Mike Johnson announced today, May 5, that the 6:30 p.m. budget workshop originally scheduled for this Thursday, May 6, is cancelled.

There will be a public hearing about the budget, and that’s scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 18. This will be done via telephone conference call. People interested in participating may do so by calling 1-646-749-3112 and, at the prompt, entering the following access code: 292 793 301.

Residents and other interested parties are also invited to submit advance written comments by email to budget@southamptoncounty.org, or by regular mail to Johnson’s attention. All written comments received prior to noon on May 18 will be shared with the board that evening and become part of the official hearing record.

People who intend to address the board on the conference call are encouraged to preregister with the administrator prior to 4 p.m. that date. Those who preregister in advance will be given the opportunity to speak in the order in which their preregistrations are received. Those who do not preregister will have an opportunity to offer comments following the remarks of the last preregistered speaker.

Johnson added that the board cannot take any action immediately following the hearing. This is because the the Code of Virginia requires that public hearings take place at least seven days prior to the approval of the budget.

There will be two related public hearings — Tax Rate Schedule and Fee Schedule — at the next regular meeting on Tuesday, May 26, starting at 6 p.m. As with the aforementioned hearing, this meeting will also be conducted by telephone conference call. For this one, call 1-312-757-3121 and, at the prompt, entering the following access code: 527 301 429. Advance written comment and preregistration procedures will work as outlined above.

After those hearings, the board will consider adoption of a final budget and related ordinances imposing the associated tax rates and fees.