The James City County Board of Supervisors discussed a number of items to be included in planning the fiscal year 2014 budget including pay increases, road projects and new healthcare reforms.
County Administrator Robert Middaugh prefaced the meeting by saying, “I think you’ll find we are still in a pretty good place in the county.”
Planned for fiscal year 2014 are modest increases in revenue, support for the police department, salary increases for county employees, stormwater, the Capital Improvement Program and no new debt.
Staff reported the county’s debt level is currently about $190 million and is being paid off at a rate of about $16 million per year. Even with new projects in the county, staff said the debt level is still declining.
Several members of the county’s staff contributed information to Saturday’s discussion, reporting information to the board on the fiscal cliff, the Social Security tax holiday, the postponement of sequestration, and the expansion of the debt ceiling on a federal level as well as proposed state employee pay raises and the focus on transportation and education at the state level.
Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed a 2 percent pay increase for teachers and Standards of Quality funded instructional staff. The county planned for the increase and Middaugh said, “It’s more irritating than financially destructive because we have built that in … It’s a moot point for us.”
Some issues with the general fund are being looked at for inclusion in the budget:
- An increase in pay for county employees, estimated to be $985,000 with $700,000 included in the budget and the remainder coming from savings
- An increase in pay for school employees, estimated to cost $725,800 per 1 percent increase. The amount would be funded by increased revenue.
- The school’s Virginia Retirement System implementation, estimated to cost $550,000 with $537,000 included in the budget
- The hybrid retirement plan will be effective for all new employees hired after Jan. 1, 2014. The county can opt to purchase the plan from the state for .91 percent of each person’s salary or can opt to cover the costs as a county.
- A reinsurance fee for employees at $63 per person, estimated to cost $33,000, is not included in the budget
- A patient-centered outcomes research institute fee of $1 per person, estimated to cost $1,000, is not included in the budget
- Health insurances rates increase of 10 percent is included in the budget
- Insurance for newly eligible employees working 30 hours per week, estimated to cost $47,000, is not included in the budget.
Middaugh told the board the Virginia Department of Transportation is interested in a half-and-half match with the state paying half the cost for roads and the county matching half. The board agreed on finding the match in the county’s funds rather than imposing a revenue increase on citizens.
“We’re going to be in the road business, I guarantee you,” Middaugh said.
He suggested the board identify roads in the county in need of work on a scale of roads needing improvements the most to least rather than looking at it from a district standpoint. He said the information can be included in an online database that citizens can understand.
The board discussed building security in schools and central offices for the school, under the assumption James Blair will be retrofitted for use as a school in 2017. The Williamsburg-James City County School Board has not met with the supervisors yet to discuss its budget.
Berkeley Supervisor Mary Jones and Roberts Supervisor John McGlennon discussed greenspace purchasing in the county, a continuation of Tuesday’s discussion. Jones does not support borrowing up to $14 million for greenspace acquisition. McGlennon said it’s important to understand the county will pay off approximately $16 million in debt this year and extending the right to borrow will give the board two years to decide about future greenspace purchases.
Because of so many unknown factors in all levels of government, the board asked several questions of staff to be prepared from the trickle-down from federal government to state government to the county.
Stonehouse Supervisor Jim Kennedy was interested in the number of houses for sale in the county and the number of houses sold. He also wanted to know how many realtors are in the county.
Staff told the board, “James City County is the fastest growing community since the last census … The county is moving up.”
Kennedy also wanted to know if the sales and meals tax numbers have been compared to years when Busch Gardens’ Christmas Town and the newly renovated Williamsburg Pottery were not open to see how much revenue the two are generating.
Berkeley Supervisor Mary Jones and Kennedy were concerned about potholes, specifically on a section of Monticello Road and at the Interstate 64 exit 227 in Toano.
Several other questions were asked by the board, which would like the information prior to the springtime budget sessions:
- What is the cost of healthcare increases per employee? What would be the cost for the county to pick up the difference or for the county and employee to share in paying for it? What do other localities do as far as managing healthcare costs?
- What is the percentage for pay raises?
- Is there flexibility to allocate money toward roads from the general fund?
- How many county employees work 30 hours or less per week and can the jobs be completed with 30-hour or less workers? What is the implication of reducing hours?
- How many businesses closed or are closing in James City County?
- What is the worst case scenario with sequestration?
- If $1.5 billion is taken out of the Hampton Roads economy, what would the regional impact be?
