Leaders of a small Virginia town voted Tuesday night to keep funding its police department, a week after the town council tried to dismantle it without public input or warning. 

Town residents have had problems with the council before, but they were caught off guard when it voted 4-2 earlier this month to defund the police department, which has been in service since the town was created in 1908.

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Purcellville Mayor Christopher Bertaut, Vice Mayor Carl Nett, and Councilwomen Susan Khalil and Carol Luke initially voted to dissolve the police force but lost Tuesday’s final vote.

Outrage over transparency and a separate scandal involving Nett, who had been fired from the police department just days before voting to dismantle it, led to recall petitions in the city and an investigation by the Virginia State Police. 

Purcellville, which has about 9,000 residents, is $50 million in debt, mostly due to a wastewater treatment plant constructed under a previous administration. Beginning in July, the town will have $8 million in the water fund principal and owe $30 million.

The financial strain has been passed on to residents in the form of high water bills. The town leaders claimed they wanted to dismantle the 16-person police department to save $3 million annually. 

Khalil called the department “a continual drain on our town’s financial resources” and said, “It’s time the hemorrhaging come to a stop.”The mayor noted challenges in staffing and competition from larger agencies luring law enforcement away with bigger paychecks. 

“It’s very difficult for a town our size to maintain its own police department,” Bertaut added.

His beliefs weren’t shared by residents who showed up to Tuesday night’s town council meeting. Fox 5 reported that it was “standing room only,” every side room was packed, and there was overflow outside the Town Hall as “council members listened to hours of outrage.”

“When you stop listening to your community, when you weaponize your position, you tear down institutions that protect us,” one resident said. “You are not governing. You are exploiting and, let me be clear, this town is not yours to exploit.”

Residents also brought up other questionable moves the council has made since the mayor and two new council members were elected six months ago.

One includes the Jan. 8 appointment of former Mayor Kwasi Fraser as town manager. The council tapped Fraser without interviewing 82 other candidates who had applied for the position, jump-starting recall efforts. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, Purcellville resident Brian Morgan announced that the effort to recall Bertaut, Nett, Khalil, and Luke had garnered enough signatures to submit to the circuit court clerk. Morgan said 495 signatures were needed to initiate a recall for each councilmember and the mayor who voted to eliminate the police department. Morgan said he and other residents had collected more than double the amount.

To date, there are 1,088 signatures to recall Bertaut, 1,081 for Luke, 1,085 for Khalil, and 1,091 signatures for Nett. Morgan plans to file the petitions with the circuit court clerk on April 28. 

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Purcellville’s police department will remain fully funded at $3.2 million for 2026. 

Calls to the mayor for comment were not returned.