The 2020 calendar year began normally enough for Shenandoah County government officials, as newly elected Brad Pollack and Tim Taylor joined the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 1 and preliminary talks began soon after on the budget for fiscal year 2020-21. Then COVID-19 upended the nation, and tragedy struck the board near the close of the year when Chairman Dick Neese lost his life in a vehicle accident.
As the pandemic gained steam in mid-March the county declared a local emergency on March 17, and the virus would become the center of attention for the county for the rest of the year.
Anticipating revenue shortfalls associated with the pandemic, the county began chipping away at its original $80.7 million proposed budget in late March and early April. Significant cuts were made to the budget, including the elimination of a proposed 6-cent increase to the real property tax rate and a proposed 75-cent increase to the business personal property tax rate, before supervisors officially a