County Officials Hear FY-27 Budget Projections From Public Schools and Emergency Services

Not long after the brief February 10th Open Session approval of the hiring of Dr. David Martin as Interim County Administrator, the county’s elected officials and staff convened into a multi-faceted Fiscal Year-2027 budget work session. That 6 p.m. agenda began as a joint work session with the Warren County Public Schools Administration staff and School Board.

After that detailed presentation of the coming public school system’s projected needs and costs, the county supervisors and staff heard from the County’s Fire & Rescue Department on its pending staffing and budget request for the coming year.

And the final agenda item of the day was a discussion of a projected reinstatement of a countywide cigarette sales tax. We’ll have to wait and see when a final determination is announced on not only the smokers’ sales tax but all the discussed departmental needs and costs versus available revenues.

School Board numbers

Public School officials noted that their revenue estimates from the State and Federal governments are preliminary, based on early administrative comments and projections, with no final announcements having yet been received. When those State and Federal numbers are finalized, it will be determined how they impact the Public Schools’ request for County funding.

The joint Supervisors, School Board, and staff FY-27 Budget work session gets underway. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

Among the numbers presented to the County were the FY-27’s total Public Schools Operating Budget request, now cited at $82,627,213. That compares to the current FY-26 Operational Budget total of $76,232,624, an increase of $5,796,057.

It was also noted that the county public schools were hitting a required textbook update on several fronts. That projected cost for the coming Fiscal Year is $200,000.

On another request dictated by the school’s physical conditions, system-wide was a Capital Improvement Fund Request of $1,235,000.

The above numbers result in an FY-27 total funding increase from the County of $7,231,057 to keep its public schools in prime operational and physical condition.

The schools and county admin Finance Directors, Rob Ballentine and Alisa Scot,t were available to answer any specific questions on projected numbers related to the coming Fiscal Year budget

Another variable in the increased revenue needs was cited as Salary-Scaled based 4%-plus step increase, as well as Scale Adjustments and additional Positions and Position Enhancements to help keep the County competitive salary-wise to surrounding communities. The loss of staff to higher-paying localities has been a recurring problem over the years for Warren County.

“Key Points” cited in approaching the county school system’s coming Fiscal Year Budget were: “State Funding Decreases as ADM (Average Daily Membership) decreases.” ADM numbers over an 8-year period were cited at a 550 membership change, costing the WC School System a total of $3.3-million loss of State revenue over that period.

Other factors cited included “Student Needs Increase; Non-Labor Costs Increase” as well as “Increases in FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) Requests” and increases in “Litigious Trends”. The latter appears to reference legal costs related to litigation brought against the system, as in the case of the family whose child was bullied and punched by another student in a Special Needs gym class, if we are recalling details correctly.

The schools and county admin Finance Directors, Rob Ballentine and Alisa Scott, were available to answer any specific questions on projected numbers related to the coming Fiscal Year budget

Fire & Rescue Service

Following the departure of the Public School Board members and staff, County Fire & Rescue took its turn in presenting a staffing study and analysis of community concerns about adequate future service from the combined paid and volunteer Emergency Services staff. That presentation was made by a representative of Matrix Consulting Group, contracted to perform the system analysis and suggest budgetary needs. The agenda packet noted that the Matrix group has a 21-year history, with operational studies in 42 states, with over 400 Fire & Rescue studies performed with an Implementation Rate of 85%.

A combined 3-year analysis (2022 to 2024) indicated a 5% increase in calls from 7,086 in 2022 to 7,455 in 2024. Citizen concerns gathered from a Town Hall meeting included that, “… the current staffing and deployment are at a tipping point;” that the County commit to “ensuring adequate staffing to meet the service needs of the County;” a desire for increased public communications and outreach; concerns about mental health issues and their impact on the EMS system;” as well as the potential defunding of the Chester Gap station; and “that 911 calls are sometimes routed to the wrong Emergency Communications Center (ECC).”

The Matrix Group representative starts his ‘Fire Rescue Station and Staffing Review Study’ in the second budget work session, this one involving County Admin and Emergency Services personnel

Recommendations of the Matrix group included the establishment of a “6-minute-30-second travel time performance standard at 90% in Suburban-designated areas, and 10 minutes in Rural-designated areas,” as well as to “Re-evaluate the growth in Front Royal-Rural periodically to determine when an Urban standard is expected and plan future stations accordingly.”

And on that thoughtful look toward this community’s future, we will conclude this perspective on the work session discussions of that future, particularly its near-future in the coming Fiscal Year 2027, which begins July 1 of 2026.