The sentiment from the more than 35 people who addressed the York County Board of Supervisors during a pair of public hearings Thursday regarding the budget for the upcoming fiscal year and the tax rate was almost identical: Raise taxes to fully fund the York County School Division’s budget request.
The three speakers who did not ask the supervisors to fully fund the request spoke to other issues. The rest of the speakers — the majority of whom are YCSD employees — framed YCSD as the crux of the community. They characterized the division as an institution that attracts families from far and wide, boosting property values and contributing to a high quality of life. Nobody spoke in opposition to fully funding the school’s request.
The York County School Board passed a budget in March that seeks $52.9 million in local funding, an allocation the supervisors must approve. That figure stands in contrast to the $50.9 million proposed by York County Administrator James McReynolds in the budget he and his staff have drafted for the upcoming fiscal year, which runs from July 1 until the end of June 2015. Were the school board to get its full request, the county’s allocation would climb $2.9 million from last year, while McReynolds seeks to boost the county’s contribution by $880,000.
Tabb High School Guidance Counselor Lynn Kenneally used her allotted time to present the supervisors with a long scroll of paper, which she said features signatures from more than 700 YCSD employees who want the supervisors to fully fund the school board’s budget request that includes the equivalent of a 3 percent raise for them. The scroll attracted widespread applause from the audience, which caused Chairman Don Wiggins to tell the hearing attendees to refrain from applause.
The attendees continued to applaud after each subsequent speaker, all of whom urged the supervisors to fully fund the request. Wiggins cut off Joseph Taylor a few seconds into his comments after the crowd applauded him when he said “I just celebrated my 92nd birthday, and I’m still interested in public education in this county.” Wiggins called a recess at that point, attracting boos from the crowd while telling them if the applause did not stop, the hearing would.
“I’ve attended I don’t know how many public hearings in the 11 or 12 years I’ve been on the board of supervisors,” Wiggins said. “I’ve never seen an outburst when the chairman asks the people not to clap, not to make these outbursts, because you need to respect everybody’s opinion.”
The applause stopped after that, with Taylor finishing his comments before the parade of primarily YCSD employees continued to urge the supervisors to fully fund the school board’s budget request.
“YCSD employees have significantly less buying power than we did seven years ago,” said Katrice Rutherford, a YCSD employee. “A vast majority of YCSD employees are working extra jobs in order to pay our bills. Frankly, school division staff is tired, and tired does not lead to our best teaching.”
A handful of parents, a few of whom identified themselves as business owners in the county, spoke in support of the school board’s budget request.
“If anybody thinks that their property values aren’t directly affected by the schools, they don’t know what they’re talking aboout,” said Michael Reames, a Realtor. “People come here for one reason, to raise families. Be selfish, it’s going to help your own property values.”
Many of the speakers also cited York County’s position as spending the least amount of money per pupil out of nine comparator districts in Hampton Roads. They also pointed to the teacher pay, which falls seventh out of nine. Several teachers spoke of morale problems they say have been growing worse with each passing year.
“When you have a culture and morale of anger and resentment, it really affects the entire system and becomes a sort of cancerous effigy,” said one woman who identified herself as a special education teacher. “We will do what we are called to do, but it is the bare minimum.”
After the public hearing on the budget, the supervisors held a public hearing on their proposed tax rates for the upcoming fiscal year. More than 35 people spoke in that hearing — including many of the speakers from the previous hearing — as well as others who did not speak during the previous hearing. Every speaker asked the supervisors to raise their taxes to help fund the schools.
The supervisors decided at an April 8 work session to not consider an increase in the real estate tax rate, which is the primary generator of revenue for the county. A tax rate increase is necessary to fully fund the schools unless the supervisors elect to pull the money from elsewhere in the county’s budget.
At that work session, the supervisors agreed the school board should prioritize with the $4.6 million in new revenue projected to flow to YCSD plus the proposed $880,000 McReynolds has proposed giving YCSD. The school board contends the $4.6 million is already spoken for by a slew of necessary spending increases, including technology maintenance, the hiring of new teachers to handle a projected enrollment increase and maintaining the 13-year textbook replacement cycle.
Should the supervisors change their mind and consider a rate increase, they will have to move fast: Taxes are collected June 25, and the bills need to go out about a month ahead of time to give citizens warning. Furthermore, they will have to advertise the proposed rate increase and then hold another public hearing on it. County staff will also need time to incorporate the rate increase into their operations.
Supervisors Thomas Shepperd and Walt Zaremba stayed after the meeting ended to talk with a large group of the YCSD budget request supporters.
During those conversations, both the supervisors and the supporters cited a lack of communication between YCSD and the supervisors. A few of the supporters criticized the joint work session held between the supervisors and the school board, which was cut off at 55 minutes due to weather issues forcing that meeting to be held the same night as several public hearings.
Shepperd said he had tried to meet with Superintendent Eric Williams and CFO Dennis Jarrett to discuss the budget without any luck. Both supervisors said they had not seen the results of a study from an independent consulting firm that recommended YCSD implement a salary scale with a sharper increase in pay for teachers who stay on the job for more than nine years.
Zaremba said he would try to revisit the YCSD funding issue with the supervisors at their April 29 work session. The supervisors have another work session May 1 before they are scheduled to adopt their budget for the upcoming fiscal year May 6.
Two speakers addressed other issues during the hearing. William Griffin, the president of the board of directors of the Lackey Free Clinic, urged the supervisors to increase their funding contribution. He said LFC’s work is “not just a Band-Aid, it’s comprehensive care” for many York County citizens.
“We hope you will consider the possibility that a greater share of tax dollars will go toward maintaining and improving the health of more York County residents,” Griffin said.
John McElroy, the president of Colonial Court Appointed Special Advocates — a group that helps children who are victims of abuse navigate the court system and get help from the community — asked the supervisors for more money. He noted his group handles 100 percent of cases involving abused children in all three Historic Triangle localities, saying York County contributes $560 while James City County gives $17,000 and Williamsburg gives around $6,000.
Related Coverage:
- York Supervisors: No Tax Rate Increase; Schools Need to Prioritize
- Parents, Teachers Talk YCSD Budget Issues at Community Meeting
- York Supervisors Face Impending Deadline on Whether to Consider Tax Rate Increase
- York School Board to Supervisors: Fund Our ‘Needs-Based’ Budget
- Proposed York Budget Keeps Taxes Level, Offers 3 Percent Raise for Employees
- York School Board Continues Work on Budget Despite Uncertainty About Local, State Funding Contributions
- York Superintendent’s Proposed Budget Asks County for 5.8 Percent Funding Increase
