MC may tap ‘rainy day’ fund

By Jane DeGeorge
Eagle Reporter
Published: October 23, 2008

Officials may dip into the county’s “rainy day” fund to cover cuts in state money.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine released a laundry list of items this month to be cut from the state’s current budget. Items on the chopping block include a previously promised two percent salary increase for county employees whose salaries are partly paid for by the state.

Madison County’s current budget includes the previously expected Dec. 1 salary increases for these employees, which covers some positions in the offices of the sheriff, treasurer, social services, commissioner of revenue and others, according to officials.

“So if we continue on our [salary] schedule, we are probably committing some of our contingency money to maintain those salaries,” Supervisors Chairman Eddie Dean said at the board’s Oct. 14 meeting.

Officials are working to figure out how much money the county will need to take out of its $1 million “contingency” fund to cover where the state falls short. The board did not have definite numbers at its meeting although Madison County Social Services Director Nan Coppedge told the board that her office would be receiving about $4,000 less from the state than expected.

“I think we should operate as to continue to meet those [salary] obligations,” Dean said.

In August, the governor first announced that the state’s income estimates were much lower than expected, requiring budget reductions, according to news reports. Kaine had asked state departments to look at decreasing spending by up to 15 percent.

Following this request, the county asked its own departments to “voluntarily reduce their budgets,” County Administrator Lisa Kelley told The Eagle earlier this month.

“If [county departments’] can achieve 15 percent that would be great but not all departments can do that,” she had said in early October.

Local offices were asked to avoid spending money on new contracts for anything “not essential” and to try and keep funds paid to employees for overtime down, according to the county administrator.

“[I asked departments to] be creative in the way you manage your money so the dollars you pay out are as low as possible,” Kelley told the board of supervisors at its regularly scheduled Oct. 14 meeting.

These budget reductions are “not mandatory at this time,” according to Kelley.

“We haven’t asked anyone specific to lay people off or cut salaries,” she said.

However, at least one county office has cut some employees in response to this request. In an effort to reduce its budget, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office laid off three part-time employees earlier this month, Sheriff Erik Weaver told the board.

The sheriff’s office has also extended its vehicles’ regular maintenance schedules and reduced patrol, including turning deputies’ cars off for about 15 minutes every hour to cut down on fuel expenses, he said. 

County officials expect to receive more specific state budget information for the current fiscal year and the 2009-2010 fiscal year in early December, according to Kelley. 

“We don’t want to go too overboard until we see where we are half way through the year,” she said. “Right now we haven’t taken any drastic measures, there’s no hiring freeze.”

Madison County Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Tanner told the school board at its regularly scheduled Oct. 13 meeting that the governor’s revisions would likely not affect the school’s current budget.

“At this time it doesn’t appear our basic aid will be impacted this fiscal year but hopefully we’ll get more information by mid-December so we know what to expect for next year,” she said, adding that state funding will likely be decreased for Virginia’s kindergarten-12th grade public schools during the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

In other matters at the Madison County Board of Supervisors regularly scheduled Oct. 14 meeting, the board:

• Adopted a 2009-2010 fiscal year budget planning calendar. The calendar has the supervisors scheduled to approve the coming year’s budget and tax rates in mid-April 2009, about two months earlier than usual. The supervisors decided to bump up the schedule so they aren’t stuck approving the county’s budget at the last minute and to allow officials to possibly start issuing semi-annual tax bills in June and December in 2009, Supervisors Chairman Eddie Dean said at the meeting. (The board would still need to pass an ordinance changing its tax collection procedures in order to make the official switch.)

• Voted 4-1 to approve amendments to its zoning and subdivision ordinances allowing the intermittent use of non-conventional sewage systems if both the manufacturer and an engineer verify that the system will not become biologically inactive. Supervisors Vice Chairman James Arrington cast the lone no vote. The planning commission had voted 8-2 recommending approval of the amendment, with Commissioners Jacki Eisenberg and Pete Elliott voting against, according to the county administrator.

• Heard an update regarding the county’s current courthouse renovation project. County Administrator Lisa Kelley told the board that the county had received preliminary approval of its application for a $5 million loan through a commercial paper loan program offered by the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Municipal League finance program. Dean mentioned that asbestos removal at the courthouse has tacked an additional $20,000 onto the project’s cost.

• Listened to a report by Sheriff Erik Weaver that the office’s 911 calls, criminal arrests and number of days in court were up in September. Weaver said that his office has seen an increase in issues related to writing bad checks and domestic fights and arguments.

• Heard a report from Roy Tate of the Virginia Department of Transportation regarding state budget cuts for local roadwork projects. The state will likely cut its funding for road projects included in Madison County’s six year road plan by about 30 percent for the coming fiscal year, Tate said.