With Virginia legalizing the recreational use of marijuana by adults, King George voters would have to approve a measure in a referendum to ban its sale in the county.
One member of a new working group formed to look at diversity issues in King George is asking county officials once again to remove a Confederate monument from the courthouse lawn.
Any such object âhonoring the Confederacy endorses racism,â said Robert Ashton, one of three members of the new Diversity Advisory Committee and the vice president of the King George chapter of the NAACP. He wondered why surrounding counties have taken action to remove symbols of the Confederacy âyet King George is reluctant to do so.â
âIt appears to me that we have not grown as we say we have,â he said during Tuesdayâs Board of Supervisorsâ meeting. âMy question is, do King George leaders want to preserve a past of oppression for people of color or move forward in unity for all its citizens?â
For a while Tuesday night, it looked like the King George County Board of Supervisors might lower the proposed real estate tax rate increase by a penny as board members favored reducing the local money given to schools.
But in the end, the fear of economic uncertainty propelled the board to move forward with a 3-cent increase, which would bring the real estate tax rate to 73 cents per $100 of assessed value. The rate is the lowest in the Fredericksburg area, and the supervisors are scheduled to approve itâand the countyâs $97.4 million budgetâon May 4.
Developing a county spending plan is difficult at the best of times, but King George faced several obstacles in addition to the biggest concern: the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. County Administrator Neiman Young left in February, and Travis Quesenberry, who had served in that post before 2016 when he went back to being county engineer, stepped in to fill the void until a new county administrator is found. King Ge
King George County wants to be ready on July 1 to impose a tax on cigarettes, and the deadline is lighting a fire under county officials.
The King George Board of Supervisors last week appointed a committee of county officials to research, review and report back to the board March 16 on whatâs needed to implement a cigarette tax by the first of July. Even though thereâs not much time to learn all the ropes involved with taxing what County Attorney Matt Britton described as a âhighly regulated industry,â supervisors stressed thereâs too much money at stake not to be ready.