On June 10, 2025, I attended the Warren County Board of Supervisors hearing to discuss the proposed fiscal budget. I told the Board I had to bring a flashlight and a snorkel because navigating the document felt like an underwater adventure through a fog machine. While the Board often speaks of transparency, the current budget structure remains as clear as a brick wall.
The Technical Barrier to Transparency
One of the most frustrating aspects of the 1,000+ page budget is how it is presented. The majority of the document is published as images rather than searchable text or tables. This means:
- The public cannot use simple “Find” commands to track specific spending.
- Analyzing the data requires OCR software or manual entry, a “technical support ticket” most citizens shouldn’t have to navigate.
- Vague and duplicate line items like “Other Services” become “black holes” where accountability goes to die.
Budgeting by Plot Twist
My “deep dive” revealed several alarming discrepancies that seem to contradict the Board’s stated goals:
- The Vanishing Fire Dept Funding: I noted what appeared to be an 80% funding cut to a volunteer fire rescue station (Chester Gap). Without a name or explanation in the line item, it looks like a disappearing act for critical public safety.
- Rewriting Library History: The newly created Warren County Library Board (WCLB) appears in the budget taking credit for fiscal years before it even existed. Meanwhile, Samuels Public Library—the nonprofit actually running the facility—has been conveniently scrubbed from the historical record.
- Slashing Partner Agencies: Long-standing community pillars like the Blue Ridge Arts Council saw their funding slashed in half, while groups like Habitat for Humanity and the Small Business Development Center were crossed out entirely.
The MOA Mystery
Finally, I pushed for clarity on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Samuels Library. Despite prior public comments suggesting that a notice of non-renewal had been sent, the Library had received no such correspondence as of the meeting.
When the Board operates through “plot twists” and unsearchable documents, it erodes the very trust necessary for local government to function. If a budget is meant to reflect a community’s values, our current document suggests we value confusion over clarity.
Watch the Testimony
See my full “budget audit” and the Board’s response at these timestamps:
- 0:00 – The “Flashlight and Snorkel” Metaphor for Transparency
- 1:01 – Images vs. Searchable Text: The Technical Barrier
- 1:14 – The 80% Cut to Chester Gap Fire Dept
- 1:30 – The WCLB “Plot Twist” and Samuels’ Erasure
- 2:18 – Questioning the Missing MOA Termination Notice
Transcript (auto-generated)
Chapter 1: Lack of Transparency
0:00Hello, Lewis Motton, North River District. Uh, I’ve taken a deep dive into the proposed fiscal budget on the website and I I brought a flashlight and
0:08
8 secondsa snorkel because navigating this thing is an adventure. We keep hearing about increased transparency, but from what I’ve seen, the budget is about as
0:16
16 secondstransparent as a brick wall and a fog machine. To be fair, I didn’t see Comic Sands at this time, so kudos for that.
Chapter 2: May 20 – Silly Font
0:24
24 secondsMy only comment is the fonts. It’s It’s petty, but you know, get do something about the fonts. The the silliness of the font is just very weird. Thank you.
0:35
35 secondsThat the the slanted jaggedness curly fonts in the in the plan. That’s it.
0:43
43 secondsOh, okay. All right.
Chapter 3: Vague Line Items
0:45
45 secondsBut what I did see was page after page of duplicate line items like salaries, supplies, professional services, and the
0:52
52 secondsalways mysterious black hole of other services. If vague budgeting were an Olympic sport, this would be a gold
0:59
59 secondsmedal medal contender. Worse still, the whole document is published as images, not tables, not searchable text. So
Chapter 4: Images vs Text
1:06
1 minute, 6 secondsunless you’re a wizard with OCR software, good luck figuring out what’s what. Transparency shouldn’t require technical support ticket. One item that
Chapter 5: Chester Gap Fire Dept
1:15
1 minute, 15 secondsreally set off alarm bells, an 80% funding cut to one of our volunteer fire rescue stations. Or at least I understood it. There’s no name, no
1:24
1 minute, 24 secondsexplanation, just a disappearing act. I assume we’re not planning to fight fires with good intentions. And then we have the Warren County Library Board, a shy
Chapter 6: WCLB replacement
1:32
1 minute, 32 secondsnew budget entry, um claiming that credit for budgets before its existence, requesting a 16% increase
1:41
1 minute, 41 secondsnext year despite being created with the promise of cost savings of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, the nonprofit that actually runs the library is
1:49
1 minute, 49 secondsconveniently missing from the historical record. Oops.
1:53
1 minute, 53 secondsIt’s like budgeting by plot twist. To top it off, organizations like the Blue Ridge Arts Council and being slashed by nearly in half and groups like Arc
Chapter 7: Partner Agencies Cut
2:01
2 minutes, 1 secondHabitat for Humanity and Small Business Development Center have been crossed out. So, it’s not like Samuels couldn’t have appeared in the list to begin with.
2:09
2 minutes, 9 secondsIf this budget is meant to reflect our community’s values, I think we need to hit a refresh and maybe uh in include a table of contents while we’re at it. And
Chapter 8: MOA Non-renewal
2:18
2 minutes, 18 secondsby the way, we’re still waiting for some kind of notification that you don’t want to do the MOA. So I know you got 90 days
2:25
2 minutes, 25 secondsand that renews July 1. So what’s going on?
Chapter 9: Apr 8 Noticed…?
2:30
2 minutes, 30 secondsUm the next item is the um library debrief. So notice was provided to
2:36
2 minutes, 36 secondsSamuels that um the board would not be extending the current MOA for an additional year.
