JCC Supes Will Ask Voters for OK on $30M Stormwater Bonds

By Desiree Parker Thursday, May 06, 2010

James City County supervisors agreed unanimously at Wednesday’s budget work session to put together a bond referendum so voters can choose whether to fund $30 million in priority stormwater projects.

Democratic supervisors said at the work session they have received several communications from constituents in opposition to the proposed budget’s shift of $2 million each year from available money for land conservation to fund critical stormwater projects. Though the board is generally divisive and splits down party lines for votes, all five supervisors agreed that stormwater funding is critical and that taxpayers should have a say in whether to pay more tax to fund what needs to get done. They also agreed to keep the $2 million where it is to continue to purchase or maintain undeveloped land.

Currently, there are about $30 million in important stormwater projects that need funding. The proposed budget suggests moving at total of $4 million over two years from greenspace and Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) cash balances to help the division limp along for two years. This is not the same money that taxpayers voted to spend through a bond referendum years ago, though the cash on hand could have gone to service future greenspace and PDR debt.

The county used to charge a stormwater fee of about $60 per year to help pay for stormwater projects, but Republican supervisors voted to stop the fee in 2008. Read a more detailed WYDaily story on the $2 million per year transfer here. Right now, there is about $3 million available to pay for stormwater projects, and the county needs to find the remaining $27 million in the coming years.

Supervisors John McGlennon and Jim Icenhour argued that the current greenspace and PDR balance, which is about $6.5 million, was set aside to pay for preserving land. Though there is nothing that restricts supervisors from moving the money to another use, Icenhour and McGlennon said taxpayers expected the money to be used for that purpose.

There is money to service debt on greenspace and PDR purchases through the referendum, but McGlennon pointed out that once the cash balance is spent, any money to finance future debt will need to come from the county’s debt service funds.

“We might hamstring ourselves,” he said. “We might run out of debt service funds, and we could be in a bad position.” The county currently has about $12 million set aside to finance present and future debt, and if economic trends hold, the money will be nearly gone by 2015 (see page F11 of the proposed budget).

Chairman Jim Kennedy said there have been fewer opportunities to purchase land and development rights than he expected, and said he felt the county had done a good job acquiring land and rights though the greenspace and PDR balances. “We can’t say we’ve disappointed constituents,” he said. He argued that using the leftover cash is like a family planning a vacation. When the family car dies, he said, taking the vacation fund and paying for the car problem is reasonable.

Icenhour called the transfer “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” and said it was time to figure out just how the county would fund stormwater needs into the foreseeable future.

All the supervisors agreed that putting the issue up for a bond referendum vote was a good option. Staff will work on crafting the language to be approved by supervisors, which will include asking voters if they want to finance $30 million over an extended period to pay for stormwater projects. Also, staff will calculate how much in additional tax per taxpayer the debt would entail.

Kennedy didn’t want the $30 million to be used in dribs and drabs, though. If the division spends $2 million a year on projects, it would take 15 years to go through the $30 million. “This is unacceptable to me,” Kennedy said. “These are environmental necessities. I would like to see them done in five years.”

McGlennon agreed and suggested outsourcing some projects to others.
The referendum question needs to be submitted to the courts in the summer in order to come to a vote in the fall.