In the weeds

And so it begins. On February 20, Goochland County Administrator John Budesky presented his recommended $89.4 million budget for fiscal year 2019, which begins on July 1, to the Board of Supervisors. This represents an increase of 11.3 percent over the current year’s budget. (The document may be viewed at:  http://goochlandva.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/1153  Recordings of these sessions, February 20 and 27, are available under the “on demand meeting” tab on the county website goochlandva.us.)

The county budget process is a continual activity. Each annual budget includes a “look ahead” to the next year to limit surprises. Budesky commended county staff, schools, and constitutional officers for their hard work and collaborative spirit in managing public funds and commitment to transparency.

Budesky’s budget is based on retention of the 53 cent per $100 of valuation real estate tax rate, in place for more than a decade. As the economy improved, and with it the fortunes of the county, the flat tax rate may result in higher tax bills for those who property values have increased.

Even with increased revenues, Budesky said there was not enough to fully fund every submitted item. He was careful to point out that the departmental requests were needs based and not padded wish lists.

When this board took office in 2012 it declared that funding core services—law enforcement; fire-rescue; schools; and social services—would be its priority. The Board sharpened its pencils and kept everything going.

Budesky said that after many lean years, spending in some places, can no longer be postponed. The countywide financial software, for instance, which is nearly 30 years old, has far outlived its useful life.

Growth is pressuring every local government function. New residents tend to come from places with higher levels of service and they expect to find the same here. People do not understand that services provide by local government are not funded by fairy dust. County employees have bills to pay and dreams of retirement like everyone else and deserve adequate compensation. Tax dollars only go so far.

Details of the FY’19 budget paint a clear picture of the wide variety of county functions and their cost.

Sheriff James Agnew requested five new deputies for each of the next two years in addition to this year’s three recommend dispatcher positions. (Budesky’s budget recommends no new deputy slots.) He said that five people are needed to put one additional patrol deputy “on the street” for all 168 hours in a week. Failing that he asked for additional overtime pay instead of the “comp time” used for extra hours.

Agnew explained that demands for the many functions of the Sheriff’s office, from transporting people with mental health emergencies and staying with them until they are admitted to an appropriate care facility, to issuing eviction notices to apartment dwellers, are increasing and will continue to do so. Burgeoning traffic in the county’s east end, which brings more accidents and DUI arrests, further exacerbates the situation.

The Sheriff also reported that filling vacancies is difficult because the pool of acceptable candidates is shrinking. Fewer young people, he said, are drawn to law enforcement  because of the relatively low pay, irregular hours, and potential for danger. The negative picture of law enforcement painted by the media is also a deterrent.

Fire-rescue Chief Bill MacKay echoed Agnew’s concerns about growing demand for service. His department is also grappling with a dramatic falloff in volunteer participation. MacKay said that 70 percent of fire-rescue volunteers in the east end of the county live outside the Goochland and do not have the community buy-in of volunteers of yore.

Retention for both law enforcement and fire-rescue is a challenge due to not only salary levels, but a dearth of opportunities for advancement in small departments like Goochland.

Director of Human Resources Kelly Parrish said on February 27,  that more than 50 percent of the Goochland General Fund budget is consumed by salary and benefits. She said that there are 118 full time and 25 part time county employees. Constitutional Offices employ 75 full and 10 part time employees. During calendar year 2017, 21 employees left county employ and seven departed from Constitutional Office staffs for a combined turnover rate of  12.3 percent, down a bit from the previous year. Reasons for leaving included retirement, other employment, and involuntary separation. Parrish said that her turnover goal rare is under ten percent.

Board Chair Ken Peterson, District 5, asked for a breakdown of the growth of local government, absent increases in fire-rescue providers, to gauge if county staff is growing appropriately in relation to population increase.

A proposed two percent across the board salary increase  is in line with neighboring jurisdictions, except for Henrico, which is offering a 2.5 percent bump.

Staffing requests for the FY 2019 budget included 23 fulltime positions, 14 are recommended, including no deputies or convenience center attendants. The cost of 10 new full time positions, and conversion of four part time to full time; merit increase and benchmark salary adjustments is  $1,126,001.

While the largest source of county revenue is real estate taxes, there is other income. Local sales tax for FY ’19 is budgeted at $2.9 million; personal property taxes not quite $13 million; and building permits $1 million.

The capital improvement plan (CIP) (discussed at length in other posts) will require some hefty borrowing on the county’s part in the not too distant future. While each annual budget tucks money away for capital projects, it is not enough to fully fund them. By FY 2023, the county expects to borrow approximately $53 million to fund a new courthouse, elementary school, fire-rescue station, and improvements to the high school. Service on the debt incurred is projected to be within borrowing threshold policies established by this board. IN FY 2024, the debt service is projected to be eight percent of general government expenses, well below the 12 percent limit. These numbers assume a 1.8 percent annual increase in taxable assessed values through 2032.

 Todd Kilduff, Assistant County Administrator for Utilities and Community Development  said that increases in water and sewer rates are necessary to ensure that the county is able to maintain infrastructure and meets its financial obligations to Henrico County, the City of Richmond, and the Virginia Department of Corrections.

There are, according to Kilduff, 140 miles of pipe in the ground in Goochland. Water and sewer lines have a general useful life of 50 years. To ensure continuity of service with minimal disruption, an R and R (repair and replacement) policy has been created.  It will be funded by a portion of utility rates.

The Henrico based civil engineering firm of Draper Aden was retained by the county to prepare a rate study. Kilduff said that the study suggests that bi-monthly rate increases of  fiver percent for water and six percent for sewer, which translates to a $5.20 per month increase for 4,000 gallons. Kilduff contended that the rate increases are needed to cover operating costs as well as the R and R initiative and prevent large one time increases to pay for emergency mends.

The ad valorem tax for land in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District is expected to remain constant at  32 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

Public hearings on the proposed budget, tax and utility rates will be held on April 3. Rates and the budget will be voted on at an April 17 meeting of the  Board of Supervisors.

In addition to comments and discussion at the upcoming Town Hall meetings, Budesky and the supervisor welcome all citizen comment on the budget. They are spending your money. Please pay attention.