Stafford, Va. — Residents got their first glimpse of the proposed Stafford County operating budget for 2013.
The $246.6 million proposed budget comes in at $5.5 million more the current budget, and takes into account increases in employee payments to the Virginia Retirement System, an increase in maintenance cost to the county’s new emergency radio communications system, and increased costs to house prisoners at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
The new proposed budget comes without any new tax increases, and it will include the largest investment to the county’s school system in Stafford’s history — $105.7 million, a $4 million increase over the current budget.
“Our community, our organization, and our finances are dynamic, and like America herself, Stafford’s experiment in democracy is unfinished,” said Stafford County Administrator Anthony Romanello.
Romenello’s budget holds the line on residential taxes, maintaining the $1.08 per $100 of assessed property value. For personal property, drivers with the same car will pay seven percent less in taxes than last year, said Romanello.
Adjusted for inflation, the average tax bill in Stafford County has decreased 11 percent in the past five years, he added.
Public safety in the county will see a $2 million increase as the sheriff’s department aims to hire two new deputies to staff the courthouse. Another portion of the budget, $456,000, will go to the jail.
“This increase is due partially of the inmate population went up, just slightly. We’re very aggressive in Stafford County in public safety, meaning the bad guys get arrested and put in jail, and this is one of the impacts of that,” said Romanello.
A portion of the increase in public education would go to fund a public day school which serves about 27 children with special needs.
Romanello said the budget would also support the 30 capital projects now underway in the county, including improvements to Garrisonville and Mountain View roads, and improvements to parks. The new budget would also provide a replacement for federal funds used to hire 14 firefighters in 2010 to staff a station in North Stafford.
A public hearing on the new budget will be held later this month, and a new budget is expected to be adopted April 17.
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