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Jefferson County and Municipalities Add Up Their Budgets
One county budget. Five municipal budgets. They all add up, but in different ways, according to a revenue analysis prepared by The Independent Observer (publisher of the Jefferson Weekly).
Property taxes (real estate and vehicle taxes) make up about half of the county’s projected revenue for FY26 which begins July 1, 2025. In Charles Town, Ranson, and Bolivar, property taxes are roughly 20 percent of the revenues and in Shepherdstown and Harpers Ferry, the number is under 10 percent.
Ranson’s budget relies on Business & Occupation taxes (assessed on gross business receipts) for about a third of its revenue. The number for Charles Town is 23% and for Harpers Ferry it is 17%. Shepherdstown raises 3% of its revenue from B&O taxes (assessed only on utility companies). Neither Bolivar nor the county assess this tax.
Sales taxes are a big part of the municipal budgets, with Harpers Ferry at the top (24%), then Shepherdstown (21%), Charles Town (18%), Bolivar (17%), and Ranson (13%). The county government does not currently have a sales tax (but it is thinking about it).
Parking meter revenue is big in Harpers Ferry (19% of the budget), followed by Shepherdstown (6%) and Charles Town (1%). (Free parking everywhere else in the county).
Bolivar expects 11% of its operating budget to come from federal grants in FY26, Charles Town expects 3% and the other municipalities and the county do not show any federal grants in their general operating budgets for next year.
Fun fact: Jefferson County, Charles Town, Ranson, and Harpers Ferry get less than 1% of their revenues from the wine and liquor tax. Bolivar and Shepherdstown get a lot more buzz from this tax, which adds up to around 6% of their budgets.
Visit ObserverWV.com for a deeper dive into the FY26 budgets.
A message from the Skinner Law Firm
Med Pay is a crucial auto coverage that helps pay medical bills after an accident, no matter who is at fault. PIP (Personal Injury Protection) offers similar benefits in states like Maryland. With state rules varying, Med Pay can provide extra financial protection and assist with medical expenses following a crash.
County to Buy 2nd APUS Building for New Courthouse
Jefferson County’s court system will soon have a new home. Last Thursday, the County Commission approved a $6.952 million purchase of 330 North George Street in Charles Town. The 45,454 square foot building, which is being sold by the American Public University System, will house all of the Circuit Court, Magistrate Court, and Family Court functions.
The North George building is adjacent to the building at 393 North Lawrence Street which the County Commission previously announced it will be purchasing to house most of the county’s operations. The County Commission expects to close on both properties in May 2025.
The County Commission deferred discussion about what it will do with the current court system space which includes the historic County Courthouse building that in 1859 was the site of the John Brown trial
Items on display in the new exhibit include a barrel from a rifle manufactured by Martin Sheetz of Shepherdstown, as well as a pattern for a stock of Sheetz rifle.
Next Friday, the Jefferson County Museum will launch a new exhibit at an event marking the museum’s reopening for its 60th year.
The new exhibit will feature the early history of what is today Jefferson County, from the archaic period to the early years of the republic. Several artifacts are new to the Museum, and this will be their first time on display, including a barrel from a Sheetz Rifle produced in Shepherdstown, an early copy of Notes on the State of Virginia, and a land grant signed by Thomas Jefferson.
The Museum will host the April 4 event from 5-8 pm with hors d’oeuvres, beverages and live music featuring songs from the 18th century. Tickets are $10 and are available in advance for a suggested donation of $10.
Tickets are now on sale for the play Bleeding Kansas, a historical drama that will be presented over two weekends in May at the Shepherdstown Opera House.
The powerful drama is set in the Kansas territory in 1855-56, where George and Kitty Clarke have set out to start a new life as farmers. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed settlers in the new territory of Kansas to vote to determine if the new state would be slave or free. As voter fraud turned into political violence, the threat of bloodshed became all too real to even those who wanted no part of the issue.
Directed by Joe Yates (who also directed and acted in The Anvil - The Trial of John Brown at the Charles Town Courthouse and The Rivalry in Shepherdstown), Bleeding Kansas is the first production by the new Town Run Theater Company.
Tickets are available now for all six performances: May 16, 17, 18, and 23, 24 and 25.
Parziale Presents History of Pottery Making in Shepherdstown
It was no accident that Pam Parziale and her late husband Ren settled near Shepherdstown to establish Sycamore Pottery over 50 years ago. They were continuing the Shenandoah Valley tradition of pottery making and were drawn from Washington D.C. by the area’s relatively low cost of living.
Tomorrow, Parziale will draw on her decades of pottery work to present on the history of pottery making in Shepherdstown from the 1700s to today. Included in her talk is the story of Shepherdstown’s Weis family, three generations of potters who made pottery from the late 1700s to 1901.
Hosted by Historic Shepherdstown, Parziale’s presentation will take place Thursday, March 26 at 7pm in the Byrd Center on the Shepherd University campus.
Pam’s work includes commissions for the Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Anacostia Museum. She has published articles in Ceramics Monthly, The Crafts Report, and WV Art Works. She served on the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, including as chair; was a founding member of the Arts Advocacy West Virginia Foundation; and she served on the board of the Arts Advocacy Committee of West Virginia.
