Trammell Some members of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors feel frustrated by what they see as a lack of cooperation and ineffective communication with the school administration and School Board in this year’s budget process. They expressed their concerns in a county budget meeting last week. “There has not yet been a serious effort to itemize what they do or what it costs to run the services they provide,“ said Midlothian District Supervisor Daniel A. Gecker.

It’s important for assessors and commissioners to do a reassessment right. Their job is to determine the fair-market value of real estate—and that matters to property owners, because it is one of the two factors that determine their real estate tax bill. Assessments are supposed to be an impartial estimate. It’s the other piece—the rate at which property is taxed—that’s a political decision.

A look at localities that reassessed residential and commercial properties this year: Chesterfield County: In all, the county’s tax base grew 1 percent. The Board of Supervisors will advertise a tax rate of 95 cents per $100 of assessed value, the same as it now charges, even though the so-called rollback-rate calculation shows it could set a 97-cent rate for all real estate. The rollback rate, which localities are required to disclose when reassessments average a more than 1 percent increase, is what the real estate tax rate would have to be to keep tax bills unchanged.

The real estate slump isn’t catching up with local property tax assessments, which are essentially unchanged. The counties of Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover saw slight decreases in assessment values, while Richmond had a slight increase. In most of the nine localities in the region that reassessed this year, overall property values—and real estate tax bills—barely changed from their previous levels even though the state Realtors association reported a 14 percent drop in average fourth-quarter sales prices in the Richmond area compared with the year before.

Spring can’t be long in coming. Virginia State Parks have opened their cabins and campgrounds. For many campers, the new season might bring a week in the wilds. For people like Bill and Virginia Stallings or Charles and Diane King, it means months making sure that other people’s weeks are pleasant. The Stallingses and Kings are camp hosts. For years, they’ve been trading volunteer hours for a free campsite for months at a time in a state park.

After two days of emotional testimony that pitted one family’s version of tragedy against another’s, a Chesterfield County jury seemed to take the judicial middle road in the case of 19-year-old Derek Stringfellow Best’s death. The jury of seven women and five men decided that Best’s shooting Jan. 13, 2008, was something much less than a murder, but something more than an accident.

Army Sgt. Jeffrey Alexander Reed of Chesterfield County still hadn’t made up his mind about re-enlisting. But he enjoyed his work with the military police so much that his parents figured he would make it a career. “He shared how rewarding it was to be spreading democracy and freedom and helping people who so desperately needed it,“ Mark Reed said of his youngest child. “He was very proud of his job, of his country and what we stand for.“

When the expansion at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts opens next year, the extra space will create a need for extra volunteers. Where will they come from? Why not Chesterfield County? To drive home the point, The Council of VMFA is sponsoring Chesterfield Day at the museum on March 18. “It’s such a large county. It has so many wonderful, educated people who love art,“ said Mary Ann Peppiatt, the council’s chairwoman of recruitment. “I feel it’s a rich area we could really reach out to. That’s why we’re trying Chesterfield Day first. We hope to get people excited about the expansion and the museum and getting involved.“

Chesterfield County school leaders are welcoming the news that they’ll get to keep most teachers and support staff after weeks of agonizing about the potential loss of hundreds of job because of budget cuts. “The current mood is happier, of course,“ said Brent Thomas, principal at Chester Middle School. “I think everyone is relieved.“

Chesterfield County police are hoping someone can identify a masked man who robbed a store last month. The robbery took place about 7 p.m. on Feb. 21 at Dyson’s Store in the 8100 block of River Road. The man displayed a gun and demanded money from a register. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash. No one was hurt. Police say the robber was about 6 feet tall with a medium build, and was wearing a blue ski mask, a white shirt, a blue jacket with an emblem on the left sleeve, tan pants, black gloves with a logo, and white tennis shoes.

A Chesterfield County jury convicted Joseph Wayne Garrard last night of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his daughter’s ex-boyfriend.

A Chesterfield County police officer was arrested and charged yesterday with brandishing a pistol during a traffic incident on Tuesday. Frank H. Darnold III, 25, has been placed on administrative leave with pay while criminal and internal affairs investigations are conducted, Chesterfield Police Maj. Dan W. Kelly said. Police said witnesses reported that Darnold, who was off duty and not in uniform during the incident, displayed a firearm in a confrontation with a motorist in the 11000 block of West Providence Road. Kelly said the incident did not involve a vehicle crash but declined to provide details, citing the pending investigation.

A Chesterfield County budget proposal presented yesterday to the Board of Supervisors is about $35 million less than the current budget and likely will mean job cuts and reductions in library and park hours and maintenance. The $714.2 million proposal for fiscal 2010, said county Budget Director Allan Carmody, is still about $4 million more than was anticipated in February, but it represents a $41.9 million shortfall. The proposal is down 4.7 percent from the $749.4 million spending plan for fiscal 2009.

Joseph Wayne Garrard testified yesterday that he accidentally shot his daughter’s ex-boyfriend after the teen “went nuts and charged me” during a 4 a.m. confrontation inside Garrard’s home. Garrard said 19-year-old Derek Stringfellow Best began to pummel him after he pushed the teen away from his wife in the foyer of their Chesterfield County home.