The York County proposed budget for fiscal 2017 went relatively unscathed Thursday night during a public hearing to address the Board of Supervisors, however, three residents raised some specific concerns with the $187.7 million budget that comes with no tax increase.
Resident David Forrest, whose children attend Yorktown Elementary School, pointed to the county’s six-year Capital Improvements Program, which comes with $22.1 million in cuts from the school’s CIP in the next six years if approved.
The elementary school has been the center of concern for overcrowding among the School Board. The York County School Division officials have said there is a need to look at rezoning division-wide in order to remedy the issue.
Forrest said the reductions have caused a number of projects to be deferred without a new school being completed yet, creating more costs such as more than $1 million for modular classrooms. Funding for a new elementary school is being proposed for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 in the CIP.
York County resident Robert Simmons shared his concerns with the Economic Development Authority, offering the opinion that it need to be disbanded and folded up because it allows private businesses to dip into the public treasury.
The EDA offers a variety of loans, grants and land discounts to businesses in target industries, such as defense contracting, software development, engineering and architectural services among others to attract more businesses to York County, according to the county website.
“That is not their role to take public funds and spend it on private enterprise,” Simmons said.
Resident David Allen briefly addressed the board, asking for clarification on his home’s property value reassessment, which he said has gone up about 14 percent this past year.
Chairman Jeffrey Wassmer said the county has a process specifically in place to address his concern and assured him they would follow up soon.
The proposed budget comes with pay raises for all county employees on some level and consists of $135.4 million for county and York County School Division operations.
The county is anticipating about $2 million in revenue growth in the next fiscal year, primarily from real estate tax, which includes about $1 million from new developments and assessment growth.
To read more about Morgan’s budget proposal, click here.
The budget for fiscal 2017, which begins July 1, is slated for adoption May 3.
The full text of the proposed budget and a video highlighting the budget are available on the county website.
Related Coverage:
- Budget Looks to Address Pay, Insurance Costs for York County Employees
- York County School Board Approves Budget with Potential Shortfall
- York County Supes Review Future Budget Challenges
- Surplus Could Fuel Capital Projects for York County Schools
- York County Proposes Cuts to Capital Funds; School Division Concerned
- Proposed Capital Improvement Plan Defers Needed Projects for York County Schools
- York County Staff Proposes Budget with No Tax Increases
