York's Shepperd Says County Needs to Reset Priorities

By Kimberly Lenz Thursday, March 04, 2010

The York County budget needs a good scrubbing.

That’s what District 5 Supervisor Tom Shepperd suggested Tuesday as the board went through their budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1 amid lots of uncertainty over how much the state will contribute. Shepperd represents the southern end of York.

As County Administrator James McReynolds and Finance Director Marycarol White explained the General Assembly’s budget approval timeline, Shepperd said the board would have to reconsider its priorities. Education and law enforcement were core services of government, he said, not funding Meals on Wheels or the Lackey Free Clinic, although those programs were valuable to certain county residents.

“I’m having trouble with the idea of education being short,” Shepperd said. “I appreciate the fact that the schools have stepped up. They are cutting teachers and increasing the classroom size. What is more important?”

Supervisor Walt Zaremba, who represents the northernmost part of the county, urged Shepperd to step up himself and identify potential cuts. But Zaremba warned that the things Shepperd suggests be cut might be what drew residents to the county in the first place.

“The budget is the product of an evolution,” Zaremba said, explaining that nonprofits that are funded have garnered county support over time.   “I think for the most part people come into the county who are come heres because of the programs and services that York County provides its citizens.” The school division, he agreed, is at the top of that heap.

Although Shepperd said he believes there’s “a million or two” in “things we could squeeze a little more,” reductions of that size would have to consider more than just the county’s contribution to traditional, social service nonprofits.

The proposed contributions to nonprofits in the next fiscal year is $306,870, down about 2 percent from the current year. Agencies on the receiving end of those funds include the Lackey Free Clinic, Child Development Resources, Housing Partnerships, Transitions Family Violence, Avalon and the Historic Triangle Senior Center, among others. Click here and scroll to page 238 for the full list.

But the county also contributes significant dollars to other nonprofits, like the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance ($380,470), the Historic Triangle Collaborative ($7,000) and the Regional Air Service Enhancement Fund ($20,000), which is what the county kicks in to attract air travel business like the recent Frontier Airlines nonstop flights to Denver from Newport News/Williamsburg Regional Airport . See the full list of what the county contributes to other agencies here.

One of the problems in removing any of the county’s contributions to nonprofits, said Supervisor George Hrichak, is a lack of performance measures. “How do citizens benefit from this?” he asked.

The board will continue its budget talks and wants citizen input. The budget is available in paper form at the county offices as well as county libraries. It’s available online by clicking here.

Opportunities for the public to comment will be on the following dates:

• March 9, 6 p.m. - Work session, York Hall East Room

• March 18, 7 p.m. - Public hearings on the budget and proposed tax rates, York Hall Board Room

• March 23, 6 p.m. - Work session, York Hall East Room

• March 30, 6 p.m. - Work session, York Hall East Room (tentative)

• April 6, 6 p.m. - Regular meeting, York Hall East Room, budget adoption

The public may also submit comments online (click here) or by phoning in at 890-3320 during a public hearing March 18 that begins at 7 p.m.