JCC Supes Get Preview of Expected Budget Woes

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

James City County supervisors had a relatively uneventful meeting Tuesday evening, but they did get a quick rundown of bad news expected relating to the state budget, mainly that revenues won’t increase and localities can expect more economic pain.

Icenhour reported that the state’s revenues aren't expected to rebound for another two to four years.

Also, the “rainy-day fund” increase that voters barely approved last week means more extra money will need to be diverted from state revenues to pad the fund until it reaches the new amount, which means less money available to share with strapped counties.

The Virginia Retirement System contributions, which the state forced localities to hold payment on for the current fiscal year, will need to be paid back, which could also stress localities, Icenhour said. Localities and school systems in the Triangle have been worried about the VRS contributions since the state made its decision last year.

Another looming trouble could also be the current state legislation known as the “Line of Duty” Act, which is a disability benefit for first responders such as police and fire fighters. Icenhour said he learned at the conference that the state may consider pulling funding for the legislation while still enforcing it, meaning the benefit payments would fall to localities.

The last concern on his list was the loss of stimulus funding which localities have used as a stop-gap in their trimmed-down budgets. He said the state isn’t expected to offer additional support to fill in the loss of federal money.

While the state has yet to hand down any new rounds of cuts or budget changes, the York County school board heard Monday that, due in part to expected low state revenues and VRS payback, the school division could see a budget shortfall of $1.9 million. York schools are the first to share concerns or rough projections on the upcoming fiscal year. Read a previous WYDaily story here.

Icenhour also shared some interesting state statistics he gleaned from the conference: Virginia is ranked number 12 in the nation based on population, ranked number seven in income, number 39 based on tax rate, and number 47 based on Medicaid spending.

So, out of 50 states, Virginia has lots of people who are relatively wealthy, yet it has a significantly lower tax rate and nearly the lowest spending on health programs for the poor.

“You can reflect on the figures, and come to your own conclusions,” he said.

Other business

The Board unanimously approved all the applications it reviewed Tuesday evening, including an RV park expansion in the county’s newly established EO zone (though supervisors cut out amendments to the plan that were too restrictive); the special use permit for Charlie’s Antiques at the current home of Pumpkinville; an addition of 17 psychiatric beds to Williamsburg Place; and the application to repair Cranston’s Mill Pond Dam to its original depth (at a cost of more than $1 million to the property owners).

Supervisors also unanimously agreed to enter into a cost-sharing agreement again with York County to replace outdated 911 equipment used at the shared call center. This will cost James City County about $1.8 million, and it will cost York $2.7 million. The funds will be built into the debt service budget.