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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-04-10 adjApril 10, 1989 (Afternoon Adjourned Meeting) (Page 1) 471 An adjourned meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Albemarle County, Virginia, was held on April 10, 1989, at 4:00 P.M., Meeting Room 7, County Office Building, McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. This meeting was adjourned from April 6, 1989. PRESENT: Messrs. Edward H. Bain, Jr. and F. R. Bowie, Mrs. Patricia H. Cooke, Messrs. C. Timothy Lindstrom, Walter F. Perkins and Peter T. Way. ABSENT: None. OFFICERS PRESENT: County Executive, Mr. Guy B. Agnor, Jr.; Deputy County Executives, Mr. Ray B. Jones and Mr. Robert W; Tucker, Jr. Agenda Item No. 1. The meeting was called to order at 4:02 P.M. by the Chairman, Mr. Way. Agenda Item No. 2. Finalize 1989-90 County Budget. The Chairman presented the following proposal: "Revised allocation (Agnor Proposal) School/Park Reserve School Carry Over General Government Carry Over Subtotal Redirect Items in Current School Budget Total $ 720,000 185,000 400,000 300~000 $1,880,000 300~000 $2,180,000 Allocation to Schools Instructional and Operations: and Facilities Refurbishment Accommodate Growth Additional Needs Equipment $ 905,000 960,000 215,000 Allocation to General Government $ 200,000 Funds to be reserved for 1) Region Ten Community Service, 2) the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, 3) the police, and 4) etc. This proposal provides two million dollars for school needs over that provided by the original balanced budget. The proposal also provides for the additions requested for the fire and rescue service, an additional planner for the Planning Department, additional staff for the Police Department and the other needs described in Mr. Agnor's memorandum of March 29, 1989. The proposal also gives General Government an additional $200,000 as shown above. The Board would also have a reserve of $100,000. According to the proposal, $1,000,000 would continue to be placed in the Capital Improvements Program." Mr. Way said the School Board has not had the chance to examine its budget with the idea of redirecting funds toward items that will meet the needs of the growing enrollment. He said he thinks this measure could realize $300,000, which is included in his funding proposal. Mr. Way asked Mr. Agnor to comment on the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for next year. Mr. Agnor said next year's CIP contains $2,615,000 in projects, excluding $9,756,000 for the four S~hool projects that will be funded by bonds, $1,300,000 for the Avon/Rout~ 20 Connector, which the Board may not wish to proceed with until the question of an interchange at Avon Street/Interstate 64 has been settled, and $361,000 from deferring other highway projects discussed by the Board. $2,740,000 has been allocated to the CIP, $125,000 in excess of the projects currently approved for the CIP, excepting the projects mentioned in this paragraph. Mr. Agnor also recom- mended that any carryover funds realized abov~ $500,000 be allocated to the CIP. 472 April 10, 1989 (Afternoon Adjourned Meeting) (Page 2) Mr. Lindstrom asked if other projects will have to be deleted from the CIP next year in order to pay for the projects deferred this year. Mr. Agnor said he thinks the CIP for the years 1990 and beyond will be completely restructured and he assumes taxes will be adjusted accordingly. Mr. Lindstrom added that the cost of building will not decrease, so the County is not really saving money by deferring projects. Mr. Bain asked if some funding for the Avon Street/Route 20 Connector should be left in the CIP so the County can move ahead on this project once the problem with Interstate 64 has been resolved. Mr. Agnor said funds may be needed next year for preliminary surveying and design. If the State can participate in the project, he thinks they will fund theidesign and surveying. Mr. Lindstrom asked if Mr. Agnor would recommend using the carryover balance for operating expenses if he knew there would not be enough money to pay next year's budget. Mr. Agnor said he would then recommend using only a portion of the carryover balance. Mr. Lindstrom asked Mr. Way if he believed that there is $300,000 in the School budget that can be used to fund growth. Mr. Way said "yes"; he be- lieves that the School Board can re-examine its budget and redirect money from less essential items to the needs caused by growing enrollment. Mrs. Cooke asked Mr. Way to explain the basis for this opinion. Mr. Way said he cannot suggest specific items that are not essential, but he can of a few areas that could be changed. He said he is conderned about the number of meetings that take place among administrators and teachers. Every time the Board has asked the School Board to reduce its budget, Mrs. Cooke said, the reductions occur in areas directly related to classroom instructions which creates a volatile political issue. She said she thinks the Board should pinpoint the areas of concern and specifk that the do not impact upon instruction in the classroom. Mr. Bain said his proposal is similar to the one presented by Mr. Way, except, in place of the $300,000 realized from asking thei School Board to redirect its resources, Mr. Bain shows $300,000 in revenuers to come from increasing the cost of automobile decals to $20 and $25. ii!Mr. Bain said there were other minor differences and he then presented his prbposal. Revenues totaling $2.15 million would be gathered as follows: $720,000 from Mr. Agnor's revised allocation $500,000 from the reserve for opening new schools an~ parks $185,000 from the debt service $300,000 from the School carryover balance $145,000 from the General Government carryover $300,000 from increasing the decal tax Mr. Bain proposed that $2.0 million be allocated to ~he Schools system and $150,000 to General Government. Mr. Way said he estimated the. School system's carryover balance higher than the $300,000 projected by Mr. Bain to give the School Board and staff an incentive to manage their money. Mr. Lindstrom said he thinks the School Board will have to redirect resources to handle the reductions already made to the budget, without having to redirect the additional $300,000 recommended by Mr. Way. Mr. Lindstrom said he is willing to compromise. He said Mr. Bain's proposal would reduce the amount of funding available for the CIP, but not by as much as in other proposals. He thinks the Board should be realistic about the amount of money the School system will realize in carryover fund~. He said increas- ing the cost of automobile decals seems to be a good way ~o raise the revenue~ needed without robbing the CIP. He supports Mr. Bain's p~oposal. Mr. Bowie said he agrees with Mr. Lindstrom that theiireport on the long-range needs of the Schools system will probably demonstrate a need for more schools and more money than are currently provided f~r in the CIP. He said he knows the Board will have to face a possible shortage of funds in the future. He said he has a problem with increasing the cos{ of automobile decals and then spending the money on the operating budge~, because he thinks this would encourage next year's operating budget to be egen higher. If the April 10, 1989 (Afternoon Adjourned Meeting) 473 (Page 3) costs of decals is increased, he believes the revenue should be allocated to the CIP. Before the Board asks citizens to fund future needs of the CIP, he thinks the Board should show citizens that the County can manage the resources it has. He thinks the School Board should show some effort to redirect their funds to real priorities and he thinks $300,000 can be realized in this manner. Mr. Lindstrom said he thinks the issue is whether to allocate an addi- tional $2.0 or $1.7 million to the Schools system. He said he can support allocating $2.0 million to the Schools system, but he thinks this is about $500,000 less than he personally believes th~ Schools system needs this year. He said he has compromised enough. He thinks the members of the Board who refuse to support any new taxes should take a good look at the School Board's budget andhow far this Board is from funding items the staff considers justi- fiable. Motion was then offered by Mr. Bain to advertise for public hearing for the 1989-90 County budget an additional $2,150,000 from the following sources: "Revised allocation (from Mr. Agnor's proposal School/Park Reserve Debt Service Reserve Schools' Carry Over Balance from 1988-89 General Govt.'s Carry Over Balance from 1988-89 Increase in Decal Tax from $15 to $20/$25 based on weight Total 720,000 500,000 185,000 300,000 145,000 300,000 $2,150,000 with the same real estate tax rate; $150,000 of that amount to go to the General Government and an additional $292,000 from Mr. Agnor's memorandum, or $440,000 for new General Government funds and $2,000,000 for additional school funds." Mr. Bowie asked what happens if the SchOol division's carryover balance is more than $300,000. Mr. Bain said any excess over $300,000 in the School carryover balance will come back to the General Fund. Anything over $145,000 in the carryover balance of the General Government will go into the CIP for 1989-90. Mr. Agnor noted that this would leave $875,000 for the debt service reserve and $100,000 for the Board's contingency fund. Mr. Bain said "yes". Mr. Lindstrom seconded the motion. Mr. Perkins said he cannot support any ~ind of tax increase and he considers an increase in the cost of automobile decals to be a tax increase. Mr. Perkins said he supports the budget originally recommended by the County Executive. He said he does not want to see ~11 the revenues garnered by reassessing property spent this year, becauseI he does not think there will ~_~ be enough money next year. Mr. Bowie said he believes the School Board must redirect some of its funding. He said he will not support the motion, because he thinks any revenues raised from increasing the cost of automobile decals should be allocated to the CIP. Mr. Way said Mr. Bain's proposal is a compromise. Mr. Way said he is not enthusiastic about this proposal, but he thinks the Board must finish with the budget so it can move on to other business in the County. Roll was called and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Mr. Bain, Mrs. Cooke, Messrs. Lindstrom and Way. NAYS: Messrs. Bowie and Perkins. With six members of the Board, Mr. Lindstrom said, the budget adopted by the Board is always less than what some members of the Board would like and more than what others would prefer to see~ He said no one on the Board is happy with the budget just approved for publi~ hearing. He asked Mr. St. John what would be entailed in increasing the number of members on the Board from six to seven. He said the possibility of an impasse is too great with a Board of six members. He also thinks the increasing workload of the Board justifies 474 April 10, 1989 (Afternoon Adjourned Meeting) (Page 4) an additional member. He said he realizes that the Board will have to remain as it is until after the 1990 U. S. census has been taken and the redistricting decided, but he wants to know if the Board has the authority to amend its size or if this is a matter to be decided by the State. He said he is not proposing an at-large Supervisor who would act as a tiebreaker, but the addition of another magisterial district. Mr. Bowie said he would have no objection to adding another magisterial district if it were warranted by the size of the population, but he thinks good political decisions generally make no one person happy. He said he thinks the current political system works: no one dominated the decision just made. Agenda Item No. 3. Set Tax Rates for 1989. Agenda Item No. 4. Order Advertisement of Public Hearing on 1989-90 County Budget. Motion was offered by Mr. Lindstrom and seconded by Mr. Perkins to set the public hearing on the budget for April 20, 1989, and to set the following tax rates for hearing purposes for 1989: a real estate and mobile home tax rate of $0.72 per $100.00 of assessed value; machinery and tools of $4.40 per $100 of assessed value; and Public Service Corporations of $0.72 per $100.00 of assessed value. Roll was called and the motion carried by the following recorded vote: AYES: Messrs. Bain and Bowie, Mrs. Cooke, Messrs. Lindstrom, Perkins and Way. NAYS: None. Agenda Item No. 5. Other Matters Not Listed on the~Agenda from the Boar~ and Public. No matters were brought forth for discussion. Agenda Item No. 6. At 5:20 P.M., with no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned. .~