Prince William projects millions in losses, plans for next year uncertain

The Prince William County Government is facing a major revenue shortfall in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Businesses have been forced to close, and life for residents has been upended, leading to a projected $2.4 million revenue shortfall.

Dramatic changes in lifestyle, mandated by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, such as the avoidance of the gathering in groups of more than 10 people, have resulted in large decreases in the county’s general revenue sources.

There’s been a projected $4.6 million decrease in sales tax revenues. As for Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) taxes, the county projects a $2.6 million reduction in these revenues.

Prince William County Executive Christopher Martino briefed the Board of County Supervisors on the projected revenue shortfall on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, and provided this rundown:

Martino expressed to the Board that County Staff has taken the following actions to conserve cash and maintain the county’s budget capacity:

• Implemented a hiring freeze for the remainder of 2020, until further notice, except for mission-essential positions
• Shifting focus on providing only core services
• Suspending all capital projects not currently under contract.
• The county will continue to move forward with projects funded by non-local sources, such as transportation projects, like the diverging diamond interchange to be built at the intersection of Balls Ford Road and Prince William Parkway, which was funded by the developers of the Interstate 66 E-ZPass Express Lanes project.
• No new capital project approvals until further notice.

Given these cuts, Martino believes he’ll be able to keep the county’s government up and running for the remainder of the current fiscal year ending on June 30.

“Moving on to Fiscal Year 2021… it gets complicated,” said Martino.

On February 18, Martino stood before the Board of County Supervisors and proposed a $1.3 billion budget to fund the county’s government over the coming year. It would have meant the average property owners would have received a $4,432 tax bill in the mail — about $255 more than what the average taxpayer paid last year.

Martino and the Board of County Supervisors must still decide if they’re going to keep the proposed rate.

Late last month, Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland was joined by fellow Supervisors Jeanine Lawson and Yesli Vega, of the Brentsville and Coles districts, respectively, to keep taxes flat in the coming year.

Meanwhile, Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler argued for keeping the proposed budget as is, so that the county may continue with its plan to provide more funding for schools, to the tune of $39 million more in the next year, provide over a million more to Northern Virginia Community College, hire new police officers, as well as continue with a $13 million plan to provide a 3% pay raise for employees in the coming year.

Those budget drivers, and others, are outlined starting on page seven of Martino’s budget presentation.

On Tuesday, Martino proposed cuts to some of those budget drivers, including pay raises, increasing the number of police officers and fire and paid career fire and rescue crews, cutting back on field maintenance in county parks, and keeping county swimming pools closed for the summer season.

He proposed increasing the county’s computer tax, which is largely paid by data centers located in the western portion of the county, to bring in an additional $800,000.

The county’s five-year financial plan, outlined here on page five of this PDF, will also need to be revised, said Martino.

Also on Tuesday, the Board of County Supervisors voted to suspend in-person public comment during its sessions, due to the coronavirus outbreak, until June 10 — the date in which Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s latest executive order mandating Virginians stay at home, expires.

Residents are encouraged to use the county’s “Speak Up Prince William” service to make comments about the budget proposals. Supervisor Lawson also urged the county to implement a call-in session during Board of Supervisors meetings where residents can call in and speak to their elected officials. Of course, there’s always email, as all Supervisors have their contact information listed on the county’s website.

Officials will continue their deliberations on the budget on the following dates:

• April 14- Budget Recap (Afternoon Meeting)
• April 14- Public hearing (Evening, Required)
• Apri 21- Budget Markup (a final review of the budget by the Board of County Supervisors, planned during its evening session). 

The final budget is expected to be adopted on April 28.

*This story has been corrected: An earlier version incorrectly stated three Prince William County Supervisors proposed a flat tax rate prior to the coronavirus outbreak.