County budget proposed

STAFFORD - County Administrator Anthony Romanello gave his office's Fiscal Year 2009 budget presentation at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Several cost-cutting measures were taken to reduce the county's expenditures: Five positions are being held open instead of being filled. Rather than contract consultants carrying out the tasks, staff will be doing so. Further, he stated that this was the first time in several years that the county was not recommending the creation of new positions.

Agencies will receiving an average 2.3 percent increase in their budgets, and the school system will receive a 3 percent increase.

In regard to the schools system, this will result in $15.3 million less than it had asked for.

"The county does not have an expenditure problem. It has a revenue problem," Romanello stated in an earlier meeting.

Expenditures are within self-imposed guidelines of affordability. However, collections are down in the areas of real estate, personal property, sales tax, meals tax, deed fees, planning fees, recordation, state and federal support, as well as other various sources. In addition, there are no surplus funds to carry over to the new budget.

In order to compensate for some of the gap, there have been cost savings, grants and economic development.

Other good news is that Stafford County is rated by the Commonwealth to be second in wage growth, third in job growth and fourth in business growth.

According to Romanello's report, Forbes.com had named Stafford as "the best place to get ahead" and the "11th-highest median household income."

In order to balance the budget, Romanello's office is proposing a tax rate of 89.8 cents, up from 70 cents, or a 28 percent increase.

Based upon an average home value of $327,000, this would result in an annual $206 increase for Stafford families. Figures range from the present rate all the way up to $1.09. The tax rate proposed is an amount that would balance the budget.

School board Chairman Patricia Healy presented the school board's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2009. The total amount came to $189 million.

She stated that approximately $3.6 Million of the money went to addressing the issue of retiree's health insurance.

Eighty-five percent of the total budget went to operating costs, such as salaries.

Also included was the opening of Shirley Heim Middle School, a well-contested issue.

Delaying the opening of the school would have resulted in a $1 million savings. Besides the operating costs of the new schools, the student population of Stafford Middle School, according to projections, would drop in half from approximately 1,100 to less than 500.

Such a drop leaves the school under capacity and results in a loss of staff, which in turn can translate into a somewhat depleted curriculum.

Healy explained that the curriculum would not be negatively impacted, though not all the programs offered now will be in house. Foreign languages, for example, would be taught at the high schools.

Later in the meeting, Stafford Supervisor Paul Milde, R-Aquia, was critical of school board decisions such as the opening of Heim and failure to redistrict. Due to the absence of redistricting, Stafford Middle School would be left with a significant amount of empty seats..

At a prior meeting of the school board, a choice to open the new school and redistrict was turned down as some students would have had to changed schools twice in a year.

The issue of an amendment to land use within the courthouse area was discussed at length in the evening session.

Planning director Jeff Harvey presented a change from light industrial zoning for the area off Courthouse Road near the county government complex.

Questions concerning proffers, infrastructure, economic impact were raised.

"Do you want to be the county known as the county that rezones businesses out of the county-" asked Robert Hopkins, a Stafford resident and business owner.

A resolution to change the area to B-3 zoning was passed 5-2, with Woodson and Milde dissenting.

Discussion over a comprehensive plan to redevelop areas in Boswell's Corners, Falmouth (South Gateway), the Courthouse area, and Route 17, was extensive, also. The issue was on whether or not a company should be paid approximately $732,000 for developing a plan.

Approval of the study was approved by a vote of 6-2, Brito dissenting.