York County Interim Administrator Mark Carter unveiled his proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year Tuesday, asking the Board of Supervisors for a 2 percent pay increase for all county employees while maintaining current tax rates.
The proposed $133.4 million budget — which would cover spending between July 1 and June 2016 — comes with an additional $950,000 in new revenue, $361,000 of which is projected to go to the York County School Division.
The proposed $51.3 million contribution to the schools contained in the budget proposal falls $939,000 short of what YCSD Superintendent Victor Shandor has requested from the county in his proposed $130.2 million budget for the coming year.
After Carter presented highlights from the proposed budget to the supervisors during Tuesday’s board meeting, Supervisor Don Wiggins said he was “pleasantly surprised” the proposal seeks to keep tax rates level. Tom Shepperd, the chairman of the board, said he expects input from all the supervisors and the school board members in the weeks leading up to the adoption of the budget.
“[The budget] reflects the attitude that we are going to make things necessary for our citizens, we are going to pay for things that we need to and we are going to do it in a smart way,” he said.
Carter focused much of his presentation to the supervisors on school funding. He said he is optimistic that year-end funds from the current budget could be used as one-time expenditures to cover two of the school superintendent’s priorities: bus replacements and technology infrastructure updates.
Shandor’s proposed budget comes with a 3 percent increase in spending from last year the superintendent wants to use toward employee compensation, transportation upgrades and technology updates.
It also calls for more than $2.4 million for salary increases for division employees, including a step increase for all eligible employees and an additional step increase for those employees whose salaries have been frozen since 2010.
The school board is expecting some of the costs for Shandor’s three priorities to be covered by new state revenue and by more than $1.8 million in savings due to reductions in health insurance rates, lower required contributions to the Virginia Retirement System and attrition.
Carter and Shandor mutually agreed to hold funding for a year from the county’s capital improvement plan — which spells out long-term funding for infrastructure projects — for the new elementary school needed to solve the impending overcrowding problem in the Magruder and Yorktown zones.
About $23 million has been set aside for the engineering, design and construction of the school. Under this proposal, the county would begin allocating funds for the project in fiscal year 2017, and the new school would tentatively be open by 2019.
The new elementary school could be constructed on the campus of Yorktown Middle School or at the site of the Marquis Shopping Center, where developer Shawn Todd has offered land to the county to accommodate the expected increase in elementary-age children moving into the residential portion of the project
Carter said the location of the new school is partly dependent on how development of the shopping center and accompanying residential portion are coming along. He said his staff would continue to monitor the progression of the development.
The new school would provide space for an additional 500 students based on projected enrollment numbers for 2019.
Carter said he focused on the most important repair projects when looking at funding for the school division’s capital improvements plan, with roof repairs and replacements proposed at York High School, Bethel Manor Elementary School and Yorktown Elementary School as part of the $20.6 million in spending proposed in fiscal year 2016.
Last year’s budget planning was marked by disagreement between the York County School Board and the supervisors as to how much funding YCSD should receive. The schools wound up receiving an additional $880,000 of funding, slightly more than $2 million less than requested.
Part of the $950,000 in expected increased revenue would go toward giving all county employees a 2 percent raise and an increase of about $225,000 for health and dental insurance.
If the Board of Supervisors votes to maintain tax levels, the real estate tax — which makes up more than half of the county’s revenue — would remain at 75 cents per every $100 in assessed value.
The final budget is scheduled to be adopted May 5. A series of work sessions are scheduled in April for supervisors to analyze the budget, and a public hearing will be held for citizens wishing to comment on the proposed budget at 7 p.m. April 23 in York Hall.
A third joint work session between the school board and the Board of Supervisors is scheduled for 6 p.m. March 31.
After Carter’s budget presentation, Supervisor Walt Zaremba stressed the importance of citizens weighing in on the budget.
“It’s the citizen’s budget. The 67,000 or so people that live in York County,” he said. “We want your input.”
Citizens can find the proposed budget online starting today or at the York County public libraries. Those wishing to give feedback can email the board at [email protected] or call 890-3220.
Related Coverage:
- York Superintendent Unveils $130 Million Budget for 2016
- YCSD Superintendent’s Budget Asks for Increase in County Funding
- York Supervisors to School Board: ‘Soft’ Numbers Won’t Finish Budget Talks
- York Supervisors, School Board Talk County Growth at Joint Meeting
- York County School Board, Supervisors Look for Elementary Capacity Solution
- York Supervisors Approve Budget; Taxes Remain Level to Leave YCSD Short About $2 Million
