Citizens to county: Spend less

By Jane DeGeorge
Eagle Reporter
Published: June 19, 2008

With most Madison County taxpayers’ everyday expenses increasing, residents are pleading for county officials to cut spending during the coming fiscal year.

Officials hosted a second – and final – public hearing June 16 regarding the proposed 2008-2009 budget, which totals $37.9 million and includes a 12.5 percent increase of the equalized real estate tax rate – bringing it to 45 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Many of the almost 20 residents who spoke during the June 16 public hearing cited a need to “hold the line” on spending during the current economic downturn, which has most taxpayers tightening their own personal budgets.

“The taxpayer base is simply not able to sustain increased spending,” said Frank Stidman of Madison County.

“To go out and do new…projects in an environment like this is on the brink of budgetary insanity. I think we need to pull back for a year or two and wait until the economy is getting better,” he said.

Those who attended the meeting and spoke out against the proposed tax rate increases were backed up by a petition voicing the same feelings, which included 900 signatures and was supplied to the board by Madison County resident Bill Campbell.

Salary increases questioned

At the meeting, multiple Madison County residents – including Supervisors Vice Chairman James Arrington – questioned why the budget includes a two and a half percent “cost of living” salary increase for the majority of county employees while some are set to receive increases greater than the “cost of living” adjustment.

(Although the supervisors do not set employees’ salaries within the school system, school officials have said that the proposed budget, if approved, would allow them to increase employees’ salaries by about one percent.)

The proposed budget includes larger salary increases for about 20 employees, including the board of supervisors’ office assistant/secretary, the director of finance and the director of facilities (and recreation), according to the budget.

The larger salary increases for some of these positions were proposed in order to provide “uniform compensation for like service among county employees,” according to county budget documents. Higher raises are also included for some employees who have taken on additional job duties that they were previously not required to perform, the document states.

The salary increases for these employees account for an additional $38,000 within the budget beyond the standard “cost of living” salary adjustment.
Because of these larger salary increases, and other areas of spending Arrington opposes, the supervisors vice chairman told the audience he will vote against approval of the proposed budget as it stands.

Other areas of the budget Arrington raised concerns about included money for new vehicle purchases and about $100,000 set aside for the Hoover Ridge 11-athletic field complex project, which Arrington described as spending that could be delayed.

“For the county to spend lavishly on employee raises and purchasing vehicles…[while] asking our other offices to hold the line and curb spending is not only hypocritical, it’s counterproductive,” he said.

If the proposed tax increases are approved, some county residents will have to choose between paying their taxes and paying for necessities, including medicine and food, Arrington said.

Others who spoke also raised concerns about an additional $674,000 – funded by the proposed tax increases and fees – to be put in the county’s “contingency reserve” or “rainy day fund,” which is money set aside to pay for unexpected expenses that arise during the year. The most recent increase brings the reserve’s budget to $1.17 million.

“When there’s a slush fund, there’s always something to spend it on,” Madison County Planning Commission Vice Chairman Pete Elliott said of the “contingency reserve.”

Another resident noted that a “contingency fund” is something that should be developed in “good times” when extra money is available – not when most residents lack extra money due to increasing utility and fuel costs.

Final vote soon

As Supervisors Chairman Eddie Dean read through a list of proposed increases to the county’s tax rates and fees, he told the audience that officials may approve lower tax rates than currently proposed within its budget.

“I’m hoping that we might be able to do better than the 45-cent rate. I do not think we will be able to get to the 40-cent rate but I do hope we can get into that area,” Dean said.

The Madison County Board of Supervisors will vote to adopt its 2008-2009 fiscal year budget and tax rates and fees at its continued meeting set for 2 p.m. Thursday, June 26 at the county office at 302 Thrift Road (the old school board headquarters). Although the meeting — by law — is open to the public, there will be no time set aside for public comment.

Throughout the approximately two-hour meeting, several residents who spoke referenced the Hoover Ridge athletic fields complex project, which included the construction of 11 athletic fields paid for using funds in the current budget. Those who spoke criticized the supervisors large spending on the project, which many said produced unsatisfactory fields.

The county’s land use program was also raised regarding its role in the amount of money it supplies for Madison County’s budget. The program allows the county to tax certain pieces of property based on its “agricultural use value” – or the value of the crops that piece of land is able to produce – rather than its “fair market value” in order to help preserve agricultural lands by reducing participating property owners’ taxes, according to the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service Web site.

Some questioned the fairness of reducing the tax burden of “hobby farmers,” while others said it was a necessary and fair program for the majority of its participants.

A copy of the proposed 2008-2009 fiscal year budget and the ordinance regarding the proposed tax rates and fees is available for public inspection at the county office at 302 Thrift Road (the old school board headquarters) during normal hours, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

SUPERVISORS JUNE 10 MEETING WRAP-UP

At the Madison County Board of Supervisors regularly scheduled June 10 meeting, the board:

• Discussed a new county budget administration policy, which would establish formal practices that must be followed when county departments would like to add or remove money from a particular line item within its budget after the budget has already been approved and accepted by the board of supervisors. “A lot of [the policy’s required] practices we are already doing informally,” County Administrator Lisa Kelley told the board. “It will help with the few instances where there has been some resistance to complying with a line item budget when [a department representative] knows there are dollars elsewhere in the budget.” The board did not vote on this policy at this meeting.

• Mentioned that Good Hope Baptist Church has withdrawn its application for a special use permit to allow Cornerstone Christian School, formerly known as Madison Christian School, to amend their current special use permit to operate additional hours each school day.

• Went into closed session for the stated purpose of discussing the current status of the civil court case of Brightwood resident Leigh Purdum vs. Madison County Sheriff Erik Weaver and how it affects the county.