Dividing the worm

 

Feeding every baby

On Tuesday, February 20, Goochland County Administrator Vic Carpenter presented his recommended budget for FY2025, which begins on July 1, to the board of supervisors. A public hearing on the budget will be held on April 2, with final approval and setting of tax and fee rates on April 16. Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/1165/Budget-Transparency for details. Sheriff Steven Ned Creasey and Fire-Rescue Chief D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson, Jr. made presentations about their budget requests.

The 2024 pie

The school budget, which accounts for approximately 33 percent of county expenditures, will be presented to the supervisors at their March 5 meeting.

Carpenter said that because 71 percent of county revenues come from real estate taxes, government is funded by a “one-legged” stool whose precarious balance can be negatively affected by circumstances beyond its control.

The supervisors authorized advertisement of proposed tax rates, 53 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for real estate. The real estate tax rate has been 53 cents since 2007. This year retention of that rate, due to an increase in assessments, represents an effective tax increase of 4.9 percent. The personal property tax rate is proposed at $2.99 per $100 of valuation—owners of high mileage vehicles need to submit appropriate documentation to the Commissioner of the Revenue by March 1—and 32 cents per $100 of valuation for land in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District. Advertisement of a fee schedule that includes an increase for public water and sewer customers and adoption fees at the Animal Shelter was approved..

A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held on April 2. The board will adopt the budget and set tax rates and fee schedules on April 16.

District 2 Supervisor Neil Spoonhower pointed out that this is a draft budget, the first step in the final budget process and may be revised before final approval. The board wants citizen feedback about the budget. Town Hall meetings will be held in March to explain and discuss the budget. (District 1, March 11 at Byrd Elementary School; Districts 2 and 3 March 18 at the County Administration Building; District 4 March 25 at Salem Baptist Church; and District 5 March 7 at Dover Baptist Church. Please try to attend one or all of these meetings which will be livestreamed at https://va-goochlandcounty.civicplus.com/1154. Submit questions in advance to townhall@goochlandva.us)

Carpenter explained that the budget process starts in November and will be revised until April adoption. It is the product of meetings with board members, the community, and departments to see what worked last year and what did not. The starting point is the expected available revenue from real estate and other taxes, state and federal aid, and fees. Since 2018, the general fund had grown from $60 to almost $90 million. Using a conservative approach and the county’s strategic plan, the budget is crafted to seek efficiencies and cost savings where possible while funding priorities of public safety and education. Recruiting and retaining the best employees—highly skilled and motivated people are necessary to provide excellent delivery of government services—is a challenge in our competitive environment.

Utilities are a self-sustaining enterprise fund, a business unit that stands on its own two feet, said Carpenter. Modest increases in water and sewer are proposed. The ad valorem tax levied on property in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District is used by statute to service debt incurred by the county in 2002 to build water and sewer trunk lines.

Inflation, which Carpenter said is still at three percent, is a concern as is the possibility of a recession. Goochland is growing, and graying, which increases demand for emergency medical services especially in the east end driven by the arrival of senior citizen enclaves and Sheltering Arms Hospital.

Goochland has excellent schools. Preserving quality education in the county is also a high priority budget goal.

This year’s proposed general fund is 13 percent more than last year’s driven by significant increases in public safety funding, salaries, and benefits. Real estate taxes, based on a 9.9 percent increase in assessed valuations, account for 71 percent of revenues. Public safety spending accounts for over $6 million of the $7.3 million budget increase.

New positions in many departments, including information technology security, account for the increase. A new position in Animal Protection for instance, will improve communication between citizens and officers in the field. Three new 911 dispatchers, the first responders on the scene of any emergency, are needed to ensure that all emergency calls are answered.

Sheriff

Creasey explained that his department is the primary law enforcement agency for Goochland, responsible for 911 dispatch, court security, civil process service, prisoner transport, patrol, investigations, community outreach, enforcement of court orders, and providing school resource officers.

Last year’s River Road utility line break highlighted the need for additional dispatchers to deal with the influx of calls about the road closure. The 911 call center is the secondary phone line for utility issues. Had there been other incidents at the time, calls might have gone unanswered, which Creasey indicated is unacceptable.

His presentation included high quality videos made by Goochland High School students. To view, go to the county website gooclandva.us, click on “watch county meetings”, select February 20 under archive meetings and scroll to the 33-minute mark.

It can take 12 to 18 months from the date a deputy is hired until they are “turned loose” for solo patrol, so personnel requests for the current budget will take effect in future years, the Sheriff explained.

The Sheriff’s Office oversees several budgets, including those for the school resource officers, court related, and correction detention.

Creasey cautioned the board that he will make a much larger request for personnel next year to staff the new courthouse, provide necessary training for deputies, and add patrol deputies.

Compensation is Creasey’s major concern. He agreed to a five percent boost in starting salary, backing off his initial request for a 10 percent increase. “If our friends to the east blow us out of the water, I plan on coming back,” he said. Competition for law enforcement officers among surrounding jurisdictions is fierce.

The Sheriff’s budget also includes equipment upgrades and incarceration expenses. Goochland does not have a jail of its own and takes prisoners to jails in other jurisdictions whose costs have increased dramatically, Creasey said he is investigating other options.

As the county grows, so does the number of crimes that consume the time and attention of deputies.

Fire-Rescue

Ferguson began his presentation by acknowledging the role that the 911 dispatchers play in delivery of fire-rescue services and the close collaboration between his department and the Sheriff’s office.

The Chief explained that the influx of older residents at senior communities and the Sheltering Arms Hospital has dramatically increased demand for fire-rescue services, especially EMS in the past years and that the demand is expected to grow as Avery Point nears build out.

Goochland ambulances, said Ferguson, transport patients to hospitals throughout Central Virginia, including Charlottesville. A phenomenon referred to as “wall time” when ambulances wait, sometimes for hours, at an emergency department to offload patients, increases the length of a call, keeping the unit out of the county unable to handle other calls.

Goochland fire-rescue is just that. Employees and volunteers are trained in both EMS and fire suppression. Which hat they put on for any emergency depends on the situation. Structure fires, especially those in areas not served by public water, require water shuttle operations to transport water from ponds to the fire ground. This requires many firefighters, making them unavailable to respond to calls.  

Ferguson said that almost 70 percent of calls to fire-rescue are for EMS. Apparatus, including ambulances and engines are expensive to buy and maintain. Lead time for ordering new equipment is years.

Then there are new stations. A part time Sandy Hook station 8 came about thanks to delays caused by roundabout construction. Temporary measures worked so well there that they have morphed into an EMS station. The West Creek fire-rescue station is in the design phase. Stations at Manakin and Centerville, owned by the Goochland Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association, have been renovated to accommodate 24/7 career personnel, and Courthouse Company 5 renovations are under construction. Crozier cannot be expanded and must be relocated to a site as yet unidentified, perhaps somewhere on Cardwell Road.

Ferguson’s budget request of $12,411,317 is about a 19.3 percent increase over last year, which he attributed to salaries, wages, and benefits. Fire-Rescue too competes for people. He said that the remainder of his budget is pretty much flat from last year.

Since the first career fire-rescue personnel were hired in 2009, said Ferguson, responders in the field have increased exponentially, but there are not enough administrators to support them. Of the positions he requested this budget cycle, six would be assigned to Sandy Hook. His goal is to have five people on duty at each station 24/7. Because people need time off to train, take vacation, and sick days, more people are needed to ensure adequate coverage.

Providing excellent services to citizens in a fiscally responsible manner is a delicate task.