The Brick Wall Withstands the Quake

Purcellville Council majority holds firm and passes budget

By Valerie Cury

After three months of often heated debate, the Purcellville Town Council on June 17 passed a $33.1 million FY 26 budget in a 4-3 vote, capping a process marked by sharp philosophical divides and public unrest. The meeting erupted with frequent outbursts from the opposition—including shouting, profanity, and repeated interruptions directed at the council majority, which passed a budget aligned with its platform of right-sizing government to fit the Town’s scale. 

The minority, who favored expanded services and a broader role for government, offered only one proposed cut over the three-month period: eliminating $60,000 in council and committee stipends. At the same time, they claimed that cutting the budget or drawing from the Town’s reserves—which are $5.8 million above the recommended 30% threshold—would lead the Town toward bankruptcy. 

The adopted budget, trimmed from the $35.9 million March proposal, represents an 8.3% increase over the FY 25 budget, and includes a 9% drop in water rates and an 11% drop for sewer. 

Mayor Chris Bertaut, Vice Mayor Ben Nett, and Council Members Carol Luke and Susan Khalil voted to approve the FY 26 budget—with Council Members Erin Rayner, Kevin Wright and Caleb Stought voting against.

Town Manager Kwasi Fraser opened the budget discussions by stating that he had been directed to cut an additional $800,000 from the FY 26 budget. He said the Town will receive a one-time payment of $325,000 for forestry management of the 1,200-acre watershed property. In addition, management secured a $300,000 reduction from the $600,000 budgeted for Well 6F and froze one position, saving $175,000, he said. These measures—combined with the $325,000 in revenue from the timber cut—total the required $800,000 in budget adjustments.

Fraser said town management will explore cost-saving measures within the General Fund, with a focus on improving and controlling internal processes and systems.

Council Member Erin Rayner
downplayed the importance of the $325,000 in one-time forestry revenue, referring to it as merely a “one-off” savings. 

She questioned the pros and cons of the savings to the Well 6F project, asking if the town has the man power to using in house work for the waterline instillation instead of using a contractor.

Public Works Director Jason Didawick said, “We have done something similar on Allder School Road.” He explained that staff changed the water line there “in house.” Regarding Well 6F, he noted, “We don’t have to dig up asphalt or sidewalks.” He added that the Town wouldn’t need to implement traffic control measures because the area is an open field. “It’s a straight shot from the Well 6 [F] to the water plant; we have the talent on staff—on our maintenance team to do this.”

Rayner asked if freezing a senior member’s position was a viable decision. Didawick answered, “With the recent retirement of the water superintendent, we believe the best course of action is to temporarily freeze this position and conduct a comprehensive assessment of our water operations—rather than moving immediately to fill the vacancy.”

He said the department wanted to have the opportunity to evaluate their structure, model, and long term needs.

Rayner asked if Didawick was worried that this pause would “overwork your team—is it going to tax them?”

Didawick replied, “We wouldn’t be thinking about this if we didn’t have a talented team. Staffing levels will be at our current levels”—since a training position is in the process of being filled.

Vice Mayor Ben Nett said that the FY 26 budget is 8.3% higher than last year’s approved budget. “The Town is not going bankrupt. The FY 26 budget is balanced and it substantially increases reserves in the water fund which will help defray costly Capital Improvement Project expenditures for water in the years to come.”

Nett said the council has chosen one of the 12 models presented to them and to the public by the Town’s utility advisor, Stantec.

The Town’s utility reserves are stable, including the planned drawdown of excess General Fund reserves for FY 26, said Nett and this approach can continue for four years before reaching the Town’s 30% General Fund policy limit. This timeline, he said, will give “the Town Council ample time to improve the efficiency of Town operations to reduce future drawdowns on the General Fund services.”

Said Nett, “The budget before us preserves those essential services. The utility rate cuts for FY 26 will help residents and to an even greater extent the businesses—particularly the restaurants in our community.” 

Nett said, “Who would not want to see their water rates go down, especially given the Stantec Utility Model G forecast [with] the lower annual water costs for five years.”

The Scenario G in FY 26 is -9% water and -11% sewer, FY 27 is zero % water and +9% sewer, FY 28 is +8% water and +7% sewer, FY 29 and 30 is +25% water and +3% sewer. This is based on building a new water plant starting in FY 29.

Picking up where Rayner left off, Council Member Caleb Stought argued that freezing a position in public works before an assessment is “putting the cart before the horse.”

Fraser responded, “No, it is not. Not if the director tells me that right now that position can be frozen without any detrimental impact to the organization. So, it was done because we looked and assessed the position and we made a determination that right now it’s prudent to freeze that position.”

“No,” Stought answered back, “that defies belief.” Continuing his criticism and referring to the $325,000 the Town will receive for selling lumber, he said, “We can do that in FY 26, but not in FY 27.”

Fraser responded, “That is correct, but it is $325,000 net, that we do not currently have.” Stought shot back that it is not sustainable to transfer 83% of the meals tax to the Utility Fund. “This budget is beyond laughable,” said Stought.

Each budget year, employees whose salaries are paid through the General Fund charge back time spent working for the Utility Fund. In FY 25, for example, the finance department charged back approximately $311,000 to the Utility Fund for accounting services. The projected chargeback for FY 26—for all General Fund employee support to the Utility Fund—is approximately $1.2 million.

Stought also argued that the Council needed more than a simple majority vote to pass the budget. Stought, along with Rayner and Wright, has raised this issue numerous times during the budget process arguing that more than a simple majority was required to adopt the budget—a position that would have prevented the Council from passing it.

Addressing one of the reasons given by the minority was that each yearly budget represents new taxes—implying that taxes are newly imposed every year. Town Attorney John Cafferky said he didn’t know what else he could say as he has repeated numerous times that he disagreed that taxes are imposed new every year. 

Said Cafferky, “I think what I said here within this budget cycle in the last couple months is consistent with what your [previous] town attorney Ms. Hankins said. I gave you an email with a number of citations to the code and different cases. You don’t have to agree with me. You obviously don’t. That was my opinion and it’s consistent with what Ms. Hankins said.”

Council Member Susan Khalil said that Stought, Rayner and Wright have reprimanded the council majority for not acknowledging “the expert advice from our staff—from our experts.
It’s interesting to me to see how fast the tables can turn when our experts no longer say things that are in line with the council minority.”

Khalil said that she supports the budget. “When families are struggling, when we have a high cost of living, we can’t be tone deaf. Lowering utility rates is not irresponsible, it’s empathetic and achievable. We are right sizing our town government and spending, not cutting just to cut—but making intentional thoughtful adjustments to ensure we are operating efficiently and living within our means.”

Mayor Chris Bertaut reiterated that the Town currently has $5.8 million in reserves above the 30% policy limit. He noted that if the Town continues drawing down at the same rate as in FY 26, the above policy level reserves will last for four years. He added that the water reserve fund with this scenario will be 121% above the policy level, and the wastewater reserve will be 83% above policy. 

“This will help us to defray costly CIP expenditures in the water—in the years to come.” Bertaut noted that in FY 27 Stantec will have better numbers looking outward toward the later part of this decade.

Bertaut said the budget is a “responsible resident and business focused approach. Right now, we are carrying $46.3 million inherited debt including over $38 million in water and waste water obligations. We can’t continue to solve yesterday’s problems by placing burdens solely on the backs of 2,700 households and businesses.” He said the budget keeps critical services and addresses infrastructure needs.

Contrary to Council Member Caleb Stought’s “order” at the first June meeting—where he said he didn’t want to hear any more blaming of former Mayor Bob Lazaro for the Town’s utility debt—we covered this issue at the time and stand by our reporting. 

Here are the facts regarding utility debt Lazaro caused the town to incur while serving as mayor. When a $6 million, grant-funded, state-mandated upgrade to the Town’s wastewater plant was undertaken, the then Lazaro-led Council chose not just to comply with the mandate, but to significantly expand the plant, despite it operating at only 40% capacity. That decision significantly increased the Town’s long-term utility debt, much of which Purcellville residents and businesses are still paying off today. At the time of the ribbon-cutting, Lazaro said the expansion was done to support “future growth.”

Bertaut said, “The utility rate relief that we have asked for is not reckless—it is a result of smart cuts and fiscal discipline. Our Town’s reserves remain well above the policy thresholds even after a drawdown of $1.4 million from the General Fund reserve. This is sustainable governance, not political theatrics.” 

Rayner said the budget is “irresponsible” and the majority of Council is “selfish.” “We are creating a problem that we didn’t need to have.” Council Member Kevin Wright said, “If you don’t like it here, why don’t you move.” Stought called the majority a “dictatorship.”

Nett concluded, “I understand your frustration.” He said that he understands the frustration that Council Members Rayner and Stought feel “because these same bullying tactics [were] implemented for years and they were successful with weaker people. You got two people to flip on their positions. You got two members of Town Council to quit and resign. You got one member of Council to move out of Town—but you are up against a brick wall with these individuals.”

“The majority of the Town is not represented by this room and they haven’t been for any of the meetings—and I do live in this town and I resent you impugning my motives, and my character and my commitment to the town,” Nett concluded.