Members of the Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of advertising and holding a public hearing for its proposed budget on May 3 at 6 p.m., during its meeting Thursday.

County Administrator Gee said the budget will use approximately $375,000 in reserve funds in order to balance the budget.

“We don’t want to get into the habit of doing that,” Gee said, “so the finance committee has been very dedicated to finding ways, any options we have that we can use to reduce that amount of reserve use.”

One way Gee suggested to reduce the reserve fund is to increase personal property tax rate, from $3.60 to $3.80, which Gee said could generate approximately $100,000 and is comparable to personal property tax rates in surrounding counties.

Items in the budget include an allocation for a part-time assistant in the Commonwealth’s Attorney office for approximately $18,000, a reduction of $10,000 to the capital improvement budget and adjusted school contribution to $200,000 even, Gee said. She noted that the finance committee recommends $85,000 to be allocated to the school division’s capital fund.

Plymouth District Supervisor T. Wayne Hoover said the finance committee explored numerous options, but believe the proposed budget is the best option for the resources the county has.

“Mrs. Gee, her staff as well as the finance committee put many hours on this, and feel this is absolutely our best option at this time,” Hoover said.

Following a discussion after five members of the board said they could attend, the board voted in favor of holding the hearing May 3, a week prior to its regular meeting on May 10.