Public School Officials Bring Updated Operational Numbers, Priority Needs to Joint Budget Committee

The Warren County Board of Supervisors kicked off a heavy work agenda on Tuesday, March 12, with another Joint Budget Committee meeting with the Warren County School  Board. As projected revenue and expenditure numbers become more concrete county officials are getting a clearer picture on what will need to be done on the local government side to balance the public schools funding needs in the best interest of perhaps the county’s most valuable resource, its next generation of locally educated citizens.

While listing additional staffing requests, including some to help accommodate new Virginia Literacy Act standards on student achievement levels, Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Chris Ballenger observed, “We do have a need for an additional teacher to look at class size. And then of course another additional reading specialist as we work through this VLA, Virginia Literacy Act, getting the people in place to provide our students with services. Because really, when you look at the budget, it’s what’s best for students. So, we always need to keep that in mind.”

Schools Finance Director Rob Ballentine, left, and Superintendent Dr. Chris Ballenger present the newest numbers and priority needs for an optimum educational environment for the majority of this community’s students and their teachers and support staff. – Royal Examiner Photo Roger Bianchini

Ballenger’s reminder may be particularly important to a county board with a number of members with a political history of resistance to tax hikes to provide revenue for long-standing county services deemed essential, even during the past four years, cited as one of the nation’s most inflationary periods of the past century.

As the potential of the necessity of a tax hike to balance, not only the public schools, but the entire County budget, was discussed later in the work session, third-year Fork District Supervisor Vicky Cook queried County Administrator Ed Daley: “So, if I heard you correctly, so with all our reductions in the asks from all of the departments; and if we go with the low number here for the school board, we are still anticipating that we have to raise one-cent on real estate property, is that a tax increase?”

Daley, who had been discussing revenue aspects of several types of tax hikes, including Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes, replied: “One cent on real estate is $600,000,” leading Cook to exclaim, “Oh, so it would be more than one cent.”

Several Joint Committee members jumped in, observing that current school system numbers plugged into the County budget indicated a necessary 4.5-cent tax increase, it appeared to the Real Estate Tax rate.

“So, that’s what we’re looking at – Getting our arms around this, we’re looking at increasing taxes,” Cook replied, leading to a “Yes mam” response from the county administrator. Daley then offered some comparative county tax revenue numbers for perspective on a potential tax hike to balance the coming Fiscal-Year 2024/25 budget:

“We note just for everybody’s information, we happened to be looking at the 2007 audit. And at that time local taxes, real estate, personal property, etcetera, generated $55-million. Seventeen years later we’re generating just about the same amount.”

Facing a tax hike to cover the County budget, including public schools, County Administrator Ed Daley informed his board and joint committee members that the County is generating approximately the same $55-million revenue amount from all taxes as it did in 2007. Royal Examiner File Photo

And again for perspective on those numbers, on the current end they come in the wake of two to four years described as the most inflationary in nearly a century in hikes to costs to provide public services and capital improvement work, among other living essentials that impact citizens and municipalities nationwide.

On the numbers side presented by Superintendent Ballenger and schools Finance Director Rob Ballentine, with State Conference-approved numbers, the Warren County Public Schools total projected revenue from state, federal and local levels in coming Fiscal Year-2024/25 is $75,997,025. The schools finance director explained that the current County appropriation is $28,650,000, but that additional County funding of $2,625,917 in the coming Fiscal Year-2025 would be required to balance the schools budget proposal as it currently stands. That would appear to be where that real estate tax increase, which Daley specified as a 4.3-cent hike, would be required.

Personnel costs, including salaries, STEP increases, health care coverage adjustments, and a new Specialized Programs Coordinator position just added on February 7, totaled $65,384,170.

Non-labor costs, including capital improvements and facility repairs, were cited at a total of $13,238,772. That number is a $2,250,545 hike over the current Fiscal Year-2023/24 non-labor budget of $10,998,227. However, it is also a $1,377,321 reduction in the non-labor proposal presented at the March 7 joint budget committee work session.

As the March 12 joint budget committee work session drew to a close at 6:30 p.m., a half hour from the supervisor’s regular meeting time of 7 p.m., Board of Supervisors Chairman Cheryl Cullers thanked the school system and her board and staff for all their work on proceeding with school system revenue and expenditure numbers and operational needs: “I appreciate everyone being here … Mr. Ballentine, I appreciate your presentation, and another group of numbers to figure out in the box, that box is getting bigger and bigger,” Cullers said in reference to a schools budget summary agenda packet page.

In closing the joint committee meeting, Supervisors Chairman Cheryl Cullers, left-center, commended all involved for their efforts in working toward a doable countywide budget, hopefully including one that will provide an optimum educational environment for the community’s publicly educated children. – Royal Examiner File Photo

“But I do want to say that the item that Mr. (Buck) Smith talked about, we’ve talked about in the (joint) building committee and I said this before, but the LFK (CIP) project has gone so well – hopefully I won’t jinx it by saying that. But it has gone very well and on budget, even under budget,” Cullers added in congratulating the LFK administration and staff in working so well with the contractors.

And on that positive note, the Supervisors-School Board Joint Budget Committee adjourned at 6:31 p.m., giving the supervisors almost a half-hour break before facing their 13 public hearings regular meeting agenda.

Click here to see both the 5 p.m. Joint Budget Committee Work Session (00:00 video mark) and Supervisors 7 p.m. Special Meeting (1:30:00 video mark).