Chesterfield Count is taking its dire budget forecast for fiscal 2011, which starts July 1, to residents in a series of eight district meetings.
The county has been notified that it will receive $3.9 million less than expected from the state for the current fiscal year. By department, those funding reductions include the registrar ($9,000), sheriff ($326,000), commissioner of revenue ($144,000), commonwealth’s attorney ($162,000), circuit court clerk ($146,000), treasurer ($144,000), aid for police ($591,448), community services board ($175,000), the Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act ($45,530), libraries ($10,750) and $2.1 million less in state sales tax revenue.
Leadership, including Chesterfield County Public Schools, will have some difficult decisions to make, and they want citizens to know it’s likely that there will be fewer services offered or that the same services could be delivered more slowly.
“The idea is for the people to walk away [from the meetings] knowing the county is facing a serious budget shortage,” said County Administrator Jay Stegmaier at a recent Budget & Audit Committee meeting.
“We need both the county government and school system being out there with a consistent message,” added Budget & Management Director Allan Carmody. “More budget shortcomings are going to be announced. For FY11, we expect a change in the level of services [being offered to citizens].”
“We’ll evaluate later whether the levels of services are acceptable,” said Dale Supervisor Jim Holland. He and Midlothian Supervisor Dan Gecker serve on the B&A and make budget recommendations to the county board of supervisors.
“Adjusted for inflation, we’re operating [now] at the level we were in 1997,” said Stegmaier.
County leaders are eyeing capital improvement projects and questioning whether they should proceed because of the funding shortage and slower population growth. Some CIPs were approved by voters in the 2004 bond referendum, but often there is a revenue mix with the cash flow from the county’s general fund. Stegmaier said some projects could be started “at substantial savings” but completing the construction might be delayed.
“We could build a library cheaply today but not afford to staff it,” he said.
According to Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Dave Myers, CCPS is anticipating a shortfall of $25 million for fiscal 2011. That includes about $10 million less from the county but perhaps $3million to $4 million more from the state. However, Virginia is increasing its retirement rate – to cost about $10 million more – and health-care insurance costs are certain to rise.
This story first appeared in the Chesterfield Observer, which is an RBS news partner.
$3.1 million from a billion-dollar budget doesn’t sound too “serious” to me.
What is serious to me are the County’s census, salary, and benefit numbers … particularly in the bureaucracy.
The County needs to be looking to “unwind” the last $250 million of budget expansion; and I want to hear about significant across-the-board census, wage, and benefit reductions. Also, let’s get the County’s unfunded pension liabilities out into public view.
Let’s face it, taxpayers are scared and angry. And they will be moreso once we start paying for the spending at the Federal level.
Education has to be priority #1 … but I believe we’re already spending too much for too little there. Everything else is way down the list, especially fire and police.
And let’s not be trying to attract new residents when the taxpayers can’t support the cost of having them.
What the county is trying to do is prepare the public for a big property tax increase. They know if they get out early enough and tell people that their services are going to be cut, they’re going to hear the Matoaca whiners who expect government to do everything for them tell them to move money around but don’t drop their curbside recycling. Then when they tell the Matoaca whiners that the money isn’t there to move and it’s a tax increase or no curbside recycling, the Matoaca whiners will take the tax increase.
Chesterfield County already has the highest property tax rate in the region outside the city. They already do WAAAAAY too much with government. Shedding 15 percent of the bloatedness isn’t going to hurt a soul.
Blackbeered… the county can’t afford NOT to try to attract new business and the new residentsa they bring. The fact that Chesterfield’s been running business off for years with the idiotic proffers and high taxes that don’t let their employees live here is what has gotten them into this mess.
“What the county is trying to do is prepare the public for a big property tax increase. ”
BINGO!
And yet Chesterfield County has the bucks to pay $850,000 for consultant Comprehensive Plan which will replace the individual Plans such as Chester, Jeff Davis, Ettrick, Midlothian. Bad decision at this time……..a way to stop community opposition to bad plans.
And what about law suits against the State Attorney General because we won’t come into compliance with the Chesapeake Bay Act–that’s got to cost us too. Urban Sprawl, it costs us all. We don’t need to be thinking about expanding Powhite into western Chesterfield. Tighten up for awhile….Other services such as police, elder care, transit transportation are wise investments. They shouldn’t take the hit for unwise capital building and road investments. Upgrade your infrastructure first. Use the legislative toolbox in place to slow growth in areas which are not prepared with adequate infrastructure.
The shame in this is that the current Board of Supervisors are responsible for putting us in this mess. Their inane no growth posture is just a bone for votes from the uninformed fringe. Taking political stances without the foresight or thought to understand the real world ramifications to the citizens of Chesterfield borders on the criminal. Look around at the county’s large scale economic development projects underway (there are far too few) and you will realize that all of them were instigated and/or approved by the preceeding BOS. The county is desperate for competent leadership, not just political wannabes. The bitter infighting and bickering amoung the supervisors demonstartes the utter lack of responsibility with which they use their authority.
A good example of this is the county administration, it is poorly managed and infested with bureaucrats looking to prolong their existance. Getting business done there costs the county money and drives away business because the system is so arcane and arbitrary.
To fix the mess in Chesterfield, first start with the real problem, the Board of Supervisors. Vote them out and demand real leadership- we deserve it.