The demands of an increasing population is driving a higher Stafford County budget next year

STAFFORD — Stafford County is being pulled closer into the Northern Virginia fold, and its proposed budget reflects its response to the needs of a growing community.

Transportation improvements, more money for schools, public safety, and the need to pay its employees a more competitive salary are all included in a proposed budget that was seen for the first time by the county’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The proposed budget does all of these things without raising the tax rate and would take effect July 1, the start of the fiscal year 2019.

Stafford County Administrator Tom Foley prepared the budget, giving the county’s school division $6.4 million more than the previous year, about half of what the school division requested for the upcoming fiscal year.

Increasing property assessment means more cash collected for county coffers. A total of 57% of the new monies generated over the past year will go to education, said Foley.

The county will also spend $2 million more on public safety, funding five new sheriff’s deputies and a new fire engine crew that will operate 24 hours a day. The new engine comes as fewer volunteers are stepping in to fill voids in fire coverage, added Foley.

The county will also add hazardous duty pay for its public safety personnel, a common retirement benefit and popular attraction and retention tool used by other Northern Virginia public safety agencies.

The county will also add six new social workers, a job each in the budget and IT offices. The new positions will be added in response to a growing workload for employees at the county government center.

The budget also calls for converting two contract employees in the office of economic development into full-time government employees.

County workers are also set to receive a 2% pay raise in this budget, and a 1% raise each following year for the next five years.

About $2 million in one-time funds will be used to replace county vehicles over 10 years old or with over 100,000 miles and to fund more internal projects that encourage efficiency and customer service.

“If we’re going to be pressured with [the number of] staff not growing too much, well, we’re going to have to get some better systems in place,” said Foley.

The proposed tax rate at $0.965 cents per every $100 of the assessed residential property is lower than last year’s $0.099 and has declined every year for past eight years. The average residential tax bill in Stafford County is estimated to be $2,907, about $145 less more than the previous year.

And at $583 million, the overall budget is set to increase by about five percent in 2019.

The higher budget is funded by an increase in residential property assessments which increased about two percent over the past year to $16.1 billion countywide.

The average assessed value for a home in Stafford County is $301,000, according to Scott Mauyausky, the commissioner of the revenue. The average home sales price in the county is higher at $337,500.

Today, the county’s population is nearly 144,600, up by more than eight percent since 2011. It’s estimated to top 160,000 in five years. 

On the school’s side, the biggest increases include $2.3 million more in funding for private day schools for special education students with special needs. The county is also preparing to fund the construction of a new $160 million high school, and a new elementary school in addition to the rebuild of Moncure Elementary in North Stafford.

Increased demands on roads, utilities, the 911 service, and courts are creating challenges for county officials so much so that Foley is working to set aside funds for a new $71 million courthouse replacement. He’s due to appear before the Board of Supervisors in August to present the capital improvement budget and to discuss funding the replacement courthouse.

The fiscal year 2019 will also bring new taxing districts to the Lake Carroll and Lake Arrowhead neighborhoods set up to repair and maintain existing dams in those communities. The rates for those districts are .144 and .031, respectively. 

Looking ahead, here is the schedule of budget meetings to be held at the county’s government center: 

• March 14 — Budget work session 2 p.m. 
• March 20 — Budget discussion 2 p.m., joint budget work session with School Board 5 p.m. 
• March 27 — Budget work session 2 p.m. 
• April 17 — Budget work session 1:30 pm.
• April 17 — Budget adoption 3 p.m. 

Originally, the Board of Supervisors was supposed to hold a public hearing on the proposed tax rate, budget, and capital improvement plan at 7 p.m. April 3. That hearing was postponed indefinitely late Tuesday.