Prince William leaders delay county budget approval

Will the Prince William County Board of Supervisors pass a budget for 2017?

The law requires that it approve a balanced budget, but so far there have been no signs that it will. The Board voted to delay the budget markup meeting until Tuesday where traditionally, the governing body goes line-by-line and keeps in or leaves out expenditures.

The move delays the approval of the final approval of the budget, which had been scheduled for April 19. The Board has until May 15 to meet its legal requirement to approve a budget.

Supervisors have been deadlocked on a how to proceed with the budget. Half of the Board of eight Supervisors advocates a residential tax bill increase of 3.88% consistent with the adopted five-year funding plan.

This would yield an average residential tax bill of $3,877, which is a 3.88% ($145 per year) increase over the FY16 average residential tax bill, and would add new firefighters, police officers, mental health therapists, and provide a 3 percent pay increase for county employees.

The other half wants to leave the tax rate as is at $1.122 per $100 of assessed home value. This would yield an average residential tax bill of $3,799, which is a 1.80% ($67 per year) increase over FY16 average residential tax bill.

Supporters of this plan said they would additional cuts in the form of hiring fewer police officers and not purchasing police-worn body cameras. Those, and discontinuing memberships at the Prince William Chamber of Commerce, Robert Trent Jones Golf Course, and Northern Virginia Regional Commission would save $6.5 million per year, according to Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland, who supports a flat tax.

Candland, however, came up short when he suggested county employees in the budget office go back to the drawing board and come up with a budget based on a flat tax. That proposed budget would differ from a proposal put forward by Acting County Executive Christopher Martino in February.

“Were to a point where we’re split as a board, and this thinking that we can trek through to get 3.88-percent increase, and that’s not going to happen,” said Candland.

“The window for the staff to bring us more info on the budget closed…
this is our responsibility now, not the staff’s resonpinsinilty,” said Coles District Supervisor Marty Nohe.

The Board of Supervisors will transfer just over half of its annual budget to the county school division. A total of $6.5 million in cuts to the county budget would also mean $8.7 million less going to the School Board.

That is something Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank Principi said he could not support.

“We have the most overcrowded classroms in the state, our roads are congested… we’re playing catchup, and we see it every day,” he said.

The Board will meet again at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 19 for budget markup. During that meeting, it is expected to choose a date to approve the final budget.