Stafford County Needs a Dose of Fiscal Responsibility
As most are no doubt already aware, an accounting error between the school board and the county two years ago, recently confirmed by the results of audits, has led to a sudden $6.2 million surplus in county coffers.
This past Tuesday at the regular meeting of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, the board approved a resolution authorizing the appropriation of a portion of the aforementioned surplus – approximately $1.4 million to be exact. Supervisor Joe Brito (I-Hartwood) introduced a resolution that would have provided a 1.5% continuous pay rate increase to school employees.
A heated discussion ensued between board members. The result was a substitute motion put forth by the Republicans that nixed the 1.5% continuous pay rate increase for school employees, which would have brought pay in line with Spotsylvania County. The substitute motion, instead, proposed a one-time bonus be paid to certain categories of school employees and to sheriff deputies. This substitute motion eventually carried with all Republicans on board and Supervisor Crisp (D-George Washington) voting in favor of it. Supervisors Schwartz (D-Falmouth), Woodson (D-Griffis-Widewater) and Brito (I-Hartwood) voted against the resolution.
…Listen, ALL school employees (minus the overpaid administrators) deserve a continuous pay rate increase after two years of salaries remaining essentially stagnant while health care premiums have continued to soar, which has ultimately led to a decrease in employees net pay; however, is dipping into this surplus to pay for this increase advisable…The answer to me is NO…In November, State Sen. Ed Houck (D-Spotsylvania) warned the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors that (from the FLS):
The state’s biennial budget has already been cut by $7 billion, he said, and to finish out the current fiscal year, Houck said it is likely the state could have to make $200 million to $300 million more in cuts to make up for falling revenues.
Looking forward to the next two-year budget period, for which Gov. Tim Kaine will announce his plan next month, Houck said the state could be looking at another $3 billion in cuts.
That will be hard to do without cutting education funding again, and Houck said that at this point his goal is “to control permanent damage to our core services.”
…It is VERY likely that based on declining state revenues that education funding from the state will be cut…Not to mention that Gov.-elect McDonnell (R-Virginia) has proposed taking a significant amount of money ($5.4 billion) out of the general fund to pay for his transportation initiatives, which would undoubtedly lead to further reductions in education funding locally…
…I believe that if common sense prevailed on the board that our schools wouldn’t be getting short changed and school employees would be rewarded…Why is no one talking about the fact that the county has a large transportation department when they have no money or responsibility for transportation or why Supervisors Dudenhefer (R-Garrisonville) and Milde (R-Aquia) are so hell bent on spending $45 million on the $25 million radio communication system the county is buying…Why is Stafford County buying a $25 million radio communications system in the first place…This happens to be one of the most expensive systems around and it appears to me that Stafford County taxpayers would have be better served by a more appropriate choice in systems…It is clear to me that we need some major changes to the way procurements are conducted in this county…
…In the end certain categories of school employees and sheriff deputies will be getting bonuses, based on the aforementioned substitute resolution passing…I think that ALL school employees (minus the overpaid administrators) are deserving of this bonus, although I completely disagree with the fiscally irresponsible means by which this is being funded…While I have a great amount of respect for the job that sheriff deputies do, was it really necessary in these fiscal times to provide a second pay increase for deputies this year when many other county employees have received nothing….How about board members put aside their difference for a change and do right by Stafford County…
Supervisor Joe Brito (I-Hartwood) then proposed enacting a new ordinance that would allow Stafford County to return real property tax revenue to taxpayers in any fiscal year with a surplus. This proposal would have provided an equal payment amount to every taxpayer in Stafford County; however, an amendment was adopted to have the payments distributed on a pro-rata basis. The adoption of a county ordinance requires that a public hearing be held. On a 5-2 vote, with Brito (I-Hartwood), Schwartz (D-Falmouth), Crisp (D-George Washington), Woodson (D-Griffis-Widewater) and Sterling (R-Rock Hill) voting in the affirmative, a public hearing was scheduled on Dec. 15 to potentially adopt this ordinance.
…Consistent with my prior comments, I do not believe the surplus (now down to $4.8 million) should be touched, at this point, with expected state cuts coming down the pike…Providing rebates to taxpayers is not a bad thing; however, given our current economic fiscal condition it is fiscally irresponsible…
…The Republican outrage is also quite disingenuous (earth to Dudenheffer and Milde)…The only reason they are outraged is that they want to spend the surplus on repealing the business tax, which is also fiscally irresponsible at this point…Any decisions on spending this surplus should wait until there is a clearer picture from the state on the size of cuts to expect…
…If the same folks that are so against the business tax stopped wasting county money on overpriced consultants and procurements, the repeal of BPOL could be paid for several times over without cutting any services or dipping into any surpluses…
…Given where revenues are headed at the state level, if the surplus is spent there is a high likelihood that property taxes will have to be raised to offset this loss of revenue or there will be severe cuts to core services…Of course this might still happen if the downturn is severe enough, but why put the county in such a position…It’s time to put aside the partisan bickering and do what is right for Stafford County…
…I hear that Dudenheffer actually threatened Crisp with political retribution, after following him to his car to scold him for his support of the rebate ordinance…This sort of behavior is over-the-line, especially from someone who is rumored to be the next Chairman of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors…The “Dude” needs to get ahold of himself and his political ambitions, if this board has any chance of functioning in the near future…
First, I applaud Joe Brito for going out with a bang and sticking to supporting the teachers and our schools! I believe it was admirable because supporting our teachers and supporting our schools IS in the best interest of our county.
Additionally, I applaud Cord Sterling for supporting our Sheriff Deputies. While I probably would have rather waited, I don’t mind seeing this money go to hardworking county employees – my only wish is that the Board would have discussed other groups of employees, as well.
Specifically, the men and women of the Stafford County Fire and Rescue Department – both professional and volunteer. The men and women of this department deserve the community’s support, as much as the teachers and deputies; after all, they save lives for a living! They are there for us, for our families at the absolute worst times in our lives and it is time we DEMAND that our Board stops neglecting them and their needs.
Unlike other departments, it is the higher level officers suffering the most from the bleak economic picture of the county and they need more than a bonus… they need a pay raise! Additionally, the Fire and Rescue department is severely understaffed and could really use “one-time” monies to boost the number of volunteers available to relieve some of the load – until the Board actually addresses the staffing issue with additional career staff.
Finally, if the rumor is true I believe Supervisor Crisp should come out to the public because based on my experience, as “the Dude’s” former opponent, Supervisor Crisp is not the first person threatened with political retribution and there are others who need to know they are not alone too.