"One thing that amazes me is, we talk about property, and right across the field is land we gave to the YMCA, and not one person came in here and said why would you give away this property?" Brooks said.

SEEKING HIGHER TAXES

Koontz Campbell said something governing bodies don't usually hear.

"I'd like to ask you to raise my taxes," she said. "I can contribute 4 cents more on my real-estate taxes to help this county continue to grow."

She and resident Helene Kelly mentioned the need for more emergency-service workers. They referred to comments last month from fire and rescue officials who said the department has "serious issues."

There's no money in the budget for more emergency-services staff. Supervisors said they're waiting for a strategic plan that will address the department's needs.

Supervisors praised the dedication of the county's volunteer and career workers several times Tuesday. Dale Sisson Jr. said comments about a December report on fire and rescue services had been taken out of context in The Free Lance-Star.

He pointed out the state-of-the-art buildings, equipment and apparatus the county has, and acknowledged it didn't have all the staff it needed.

"Part of living in a rural county is you're going to have a rural fire and rescue system," he said.

That's why Campbell said she wanted higher taxes, because "no firetruck ever put out a fire, no ambulance ever saved a life. We have to pay attention to staff or we have just wasted our money on structure."

Kelly, who lives in Dahlgren, told the board that having enough emergency-services works in place is a matter of life and death. "This is shameful to think there could be people who die because of us I mean, [because of] you guys," Kelly said.

INCREASE UNOPPOSED

No residents spoke against a tax increase, although several asked the county to raise the tax rate 3 cents rather than 4 cents.

County Administrator Travis Quesenberry built his $62.4 million budget based on a 3-cent increase. When supervisors voted to advertise the budget, Brabo suggested advertising a 4-cent increase, just in case the board decided to fund extra positions.

The current tax rate is 50 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Resident Nelson Sample asked for more information about how the extra penny would be used. Richard Lorey encouraged supervisors not to raise taxes just because they could.