Smithfield, Windsor-area seats uncontested

 

Two of the three Isle of Wight County supervisor seats up for election in November are uncontested.

For the third, voters will decide between incumbent William McCarty and challenger Tracy Hendrix.

McCarty and Hendrix each filed paperwork by the June 20 deadline to get their names on the Nov. 7 ballot.

McCarty, lead pastor at Healing Waters Worship Center in Carrollton, has held the former Newport District (now District 2) seat since 2016 and is seeking what would be his third four-year term. He is serving as the Board of Supervisors’ chairman this year, a role he previously held in 2019.

“My record is clear, and I believe we have done our best to keep taxes low,” McCarty said, touting the board having funded new sheriff’s deputies and emergency vehicles, as well as multimillion-dollar career and technical education renovations at Isle of Wight County Schools and a new, larger Hardy Elementary, without increasing the county’s real estate tax rate.

For the past nine years, the supervisors have kept Isle of Wight’s real estate tax rate at 85 cents per $100 in assessed value, and voted earlier this month to lower the rate for the first time in 16 years to 71 cents.

Isle of Wight homeowners, however, can still expect to see their tax bills go up this year due to the state-required, four-year reassessment. Single-family homes taxable values went up 34% on average, though some residents saw their valuations more than double.

The supervisors had previously reduced the county’s car tax rate to $3.90 per $100 in 2022 amid a surge in used-car prices, but voted earlier this year to restore the car tax rate to $4.50 per $100 after Gwaltney told them vehicle prices had, for the most part, returned to normal.

Hendrix, according to her LinkedIn profile, is retired Air Force and currently works as a policy analyst for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Among Hendrix’s priorities, she said, is “challenging personal property assessment methods.”

Isle of Wight Commissioner of the Revenue Gerald Gwaltney said in May that the supervisors have the authority under state law to call for a new reassessment by majority vote if they believe the assessed values to be erroneous, but such a challenge hasn’t happened in the county since the late 1980s.

Both candidates list governmental transparency among their priorities.

Business retention, leveraging state resources for county infrastructure and a “positive partnership” with Isle of Wight County Schools are also among Hendrix’s stated priorities. 

McCarty says his priorities, if reelected, will be the development of a plan for senior citizen housing, continuing the county’s advocacy at the state level for expanded funding options for school construction and creating a platform for residents to speak remotely at board meetings using technology.

The former Smithfield District (now District 1) seat and the former Windsor District (now District 4) seat are uncontested.

Supervisor Dick Grice, who has held the District 1 seat since 2016, announced earlier this year he would be stepping down when his term ends on Dec. 31. Renee Rountree, a current member of Smithfield’s Town Council, was the only District 1 supervisor candidate to file for the ballot by the June 20 deadline. Joel Acree, who’s served on the board since 2016, was the only candidate  to file for the District 4 seat.