First draft budget

Orange County Supervisors got their first look at the 2010-11 county budget last week and found the first draft provides consistent funding for county schools, cuts up to 15 county jobs and increases real estate taxes four cents.
Orange County Administrator Julie Jordan and finance director Karen Karasinski spent more than an hour and a half at Thursday's budget work session outlining anticipated revenues and proposed expenditures before the five board members and more than 25 county and school staff.
Following Thursday's presentation, District 5 Supervisor and board chairman Lee Frame said the proposed staff budget was, "a good starting point."
Jordan said overarching goals for this budget included submitting a balanced budget that maintains quality services and an effective employee workforce, while prioritizing position reductions through attrition and managing decreased state funding with appropriate spending reductions.
Another priority in building this budget, she said, was to maintain school funding at last year's level.
"We know the schools are reacting to severe state budget shortfalls and we wanted to be careful in our local cuts to make sure our cuts don't affect schools," Jordan said.
Jordan presented a $114.4 million overall budget that includes $53 million in school funding.
The proposed 2011 general fund budget is $50 million, up nearly 3 percent ($1,447,813) from last year's adopted budget.
General fund expenditure increases include higher unemployment expenses, an insurance consultant, increased comprehensive services and utility costs, more money for the Rappahannock Regional Commission and more than $2 million in fund transfers-much of which will be used for future landfill operations.
On the flip side, the budget cuts $525,000 by eliminating nine full-time positions, converting five full-time positions to part-time and reducing five part-time positions.
Jordan's proposed budget includes no cost of living adjustment for county employees nor merit pay increases.
However, the proposed budget calls for the reinstatement of the office on youth director and a reorganization of that office and parks and recreation. Childcare - currently managed by parks and rec - would be shifted to the office on youth, with childcare directors becoming part-time employees rather than full-time employees.
Additionally, the proposed budget calls for the elimination of the assistant county administrator and the hiring of an economic development director. Other position decreases could affect the sheriff's office, public works, the commissioner of revenue's office, the treasurer's office, the library and the circuit court clerk.
At another budget work session Tuesday - with the weekend to digest what they'd been given Thursday - supervisors had some ideas about where the budget might go from here.
District 1 Supervisor Shannon Abbs looked at the "cultural enrichment" line items and noted that the $37,428 recommended by the county administrator essentially represented a school reading specialist position.
"Out of this budget, it's not a lot of money, but when times are this tight, I think we should let people decide where they donate their money," she said. Lest any of the agencies or organizations listed think she wasn't supportive of their causes, Abbs offered to volunteer to demonstrate her good faith.
Frame said he couldn't support cutting funding for those groups whose services were most critical in this economy, like Skyline Community Action Programs and Services to Abused Families.
Ultimately, supervisors agreed Jordan should provide a spreadsheet for each supervisor and the board will pick and choose which not-for-profit agencies and organizations to support.
District 4 Supervisor Grover Wilson, who repeatedly communicated throughout the evening his lack of support for a major tax increase, sought to have the county's eight solid waste collection centers reopened on Wednesdays. He found little support for his idea. Eventually, the board directed Jordan to consider what it would cost to extend hours at each of the eight sites one night a week.
District 3 Supervisor Teel Goodwin found the most support in his suggestion. Goodwin said he'd like to see a (tax rate) penny's worth of cuts in spending that instead could be channeled back to the schools (about $612,000).
He suggested funding for broadband and long-term water supply projects could be cut further to fund the schools' budget beyond what the board did a year ago.
Wilson wondered if it'd do any good for the dozens of school employees who'd been told recently their jobs would be cut.
But school board chairman Jerry Bledsoe said any additional funds the supervisors gave to the schools would be used to protect jobs.
"Every dollar we get back are jobs we can add back," he said.
"I like the idea of giving another penny's worth to the school board," Frame added.
Still, Frame painted a grim outlook for future budgets if the board adopted a four-cent real estate tax rate this year.
"We may be able to ease the pain this year, but what we're doing is setting ourselves up for a much worse situation the following year," he predicted.

The board opted not to meet again at Thursday's scheduled work session, but will meet again at its regular meet next Tuesday.