Once again, attending a budget meeting has proved incredibly educational. Just as the first meeting of the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee helped me understand the County's budget as a whole, the second meeting on February 13, 2018 helped me understand some of the finer details of how not only the budget process works, but also some of the mindset of the Board of Supervisors.
At this meeting, the main focus was Outside Agencies and how much money they would be allocated from the County. This is just a fancy way of saying how much money the County is going to give to groups outside of the County. According to Ruby Brabo, there was a big shift about two years ago to not fund any, or at least very few, of the agencies seeking funding from the County. Prior to that, it sounded like the previous Boards would approve many requests. Maybe even all of them. From my point of view, it looks like the current Board will continue the new way of thinking by not funding any agency unless it is required. And as with any rule, there will be a small number of exceptions.
Even before we got into the meeting, I had questions. Having spent years in the accounting and tax industry, I know my way around a tax form and love to dabble in spreadsheets. So when I was emailed a list of the agencies that were funded in the past, or had asked for funding in the past, I went on the hunt for more information about them. As with any charitable organization, their tax forms (IRS Form 990) are public information and are easily found online. Deciphering those tax forms can be a little more complicated but if you know what you're looking for, you can find out how charitable an organization really is. As an example, but without falling into a deep, deep rabbit hole, some organizations spend an incredibly large amount of their money on director's salaries instead of spending on their charitable mission. In other words, if you give a charity $100 and they spend $95 of it to pay for their Chairman, well, they really aren't that charitable.
I heartily went down that deep, deep rabbit hole and researched each organization as best as I could. I tallied up their income, their expenses, and began comparing them to each other. I shared my findings and quickly learned that thinking of these agencies as charities was my first mistake. I went and made an assumption about that list and sure enough, I made a mule of myself. But at least I was an educated mule. The agencies asking the County for money are not always charities. And the County doesn't always have a choice in who they give money to or how much money they give. Thankfully part of the meeting included a great break-down of how money was being spent in the past and what it would look like for the future.
So thinking of about every agency as a charity was my first mistake. Not realizing that the County was required to pay certain agencies was my next mistake. I wasn't aware of this before being part of the Committee but I now have a better understanding of how things work. Due to various State or regional requirements, the County is required to pay into certain coffers. Rappahannock Community College (RCC) is required by the state to be funded because it is the designated community college for King George County. However, we're also served by Germanna Community College. But the County isn't required to fund it. Speaking of RCC, even though we are required to pay them money, they sent their Vice President out to give us a report on how much they wanted and why they wanted that amount.
Other agencies we participate in by choice, but this is because it is providing a service at a greatly reduced cost when compared to shouldering the burden alone. For example the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance. We aren't required to participate but doing everything on our own would cost too much. In other words, it's simply a cost sharing, and thus a cost saving, plan.
The County's shift to not spend my tax dollars on a charity, or several charities, is admirable but painful. Hearing a passionate but blunt plea from Legal Aid Works for funds hurt when I knew the Board wouldn't fund them. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn't financially responsible to fund every group that asks for money. Even more so when I realized that was my money they would be giving away. And in the end, I had to agree with the Board. It really should be left up to me, the individual, when and where I give my money away. Having done the research on the various charities, I know which ones are operating more charitably than others. Not to say they don't do good work and contribute to those in need, but personally, there were other charities I would have put in front of Legal Aid Works based solely on their tax forms. So not giving money to those in need, regardless of how well they run their charity, still hurts, but that's the policy the Board has adopted.
Regarding the long list of those asking for money, County Administrator Neiman Young said he and his staff have not removed or censored anyone from the list before the Board reviews it. In other words, the decision to fund or not fund lies solely on the shoulders of the Board. I think this is a great policy because not only can the Board speak for, or against, a specific agency but they can also have the opportunity to research them to see which ones are more charitable or which ones have a better return on their investment.
In the end, the Board seemed to be in agreement that the County would only fund those agencies that it is required to with the exception of three Outside Agencies that are optionally funded; disAbility Resource Center, Fredericksburg Area Food Bank, and Thurman Brisben Homeless Shelter.
One final note about the Outside Agencies before moving on. For many of these agencies and groups, we have a Board member that sits on the Board of the agency that gets County funds. Essentially, this ensures King George County gets a seat at the table in not only making overall decisions to their mission but also keeping an eye on the financials of the agency. Even though each group has a different formula for determining how much each contributing county needs to pay into the group pot, we have representation and none of the amounts each group asks for should be a surprise.
While the Board stuck to a fiscally responsible path, the proverbial bad news came when Dr. Young presented his short list of funds that he wanted for County programs. Just like before, some of the programs are mandatory, like health insurance, the regional jail, and the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). His optional programs did generate some discussion. Dr. Young asked for a handful of new County employee positions to be funded and another handful of positions to be converted from Part-Time to Full-Time. Generally speaking, once the discussions were hashed out, everyone seemed to agree that they were necessary to help the County meet the existing and future work load. He also clarified that none of the positions were those being back-filled and they were all either new positions or an effort to retain existing staff.
The Board has also reviewed various County departments in the past, going through their budget line by line. Last year, the Community Development Department, the Smoot Library, and the Fire and Rescue Department were reviewed. This year, the Administration of the Board, General Properties, and Treasurer's Office will be reviewed at a future meeting.
We closed with another short presentation by Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development and Tourism. As with the past meeting, we reviewed the County's Mission Statement and took another look at the proposed Vision Statement. In the end, it was decided to go with "A vibrant and connected community that fosters diverse economic development with a visionary growth while honoring its rural landscape." I know it seems like just a bunch of fancy words on paper but it will be the guiding words behind the Board and the County as we move into the future.
In the end, it was yet another well-spent portion of my time. I learned a lot about how the County spends money and what it spends it on. Our next meeting will be on February 28, 2018 at 6:30pm in the Board Room and we'll hear from Davenport as well as hear more about potential equalization.
At this meeting, the main focus was Outside Agencies and how much money they would be allocated from the County. This is just a fancy way of saying how much money the County is going to give to groups outside of the County. According to Ruby Brabo, there was a big shift about two years ago to not fund any, or at least very few, of the agencies seeking funding from the County. Prior to that, it sounded like the previous Boards would approve many requests. Maybe even all of them. From my point of view, it looks like the current Board will continue the new way of thinking by not funding any agency unless it is required. And as with any rule, there will be a small number of exceptions.
Even before we got into the meeting, I had questions. Having spent years in the accounting and tax industry, I know my way around a tax form and love to dabble in spreadsheets. So when I was emailed a list of the agencies that were funded in the past, or had asked for funding in the past, I went on the hunt for more information about them. As with any charitable organization, their tax forms (IRS Form 990) are public information and are easily found online. Deciphering those tax forms can be a little more complicated but if you know what you're looking for, you can find out how charitable an organization really is. As an example, but without falling into a deep, deep rabbit hole, some organizations spend an incredibly large amount of their money on director's salaries instead of spending on their charitable mission. In other words, if you give a charity $100 and they spend $95 of it to pay for their Chairman, well, they really aren't that charitable.
I heartily went down that deep, deep rabbit hole and researched each organization as best as I could. I tallied up their income, their expenses, and began comparing them to each other. I shared my findings and quickly learned that thinking of these agencies as charities was my first mistake. I went and made an assumption about that list and sure enough, I made a mule of myself. But at least I was an educated mule. The agencies asking the County for money are not always charities. And the County doesn't always have a choice in who they give money to or how much money they give. Thankfully part of the meeting included a great break-down of how money was being spent in the past and what it would look like for the future.
So thinking of about every agency as a charity was my first mistake. Not realizing that the County was required to pay certain agencies was my next mistake. I wasn't aware of this before being part of the Committee but I now have a better understanding of how things work. Due to various State or regional requirements, the County is required to pay into certain coffers. Rappahannock Community College (RCC) is required by the state to be funded because it is the designated community college for King George County. However, we're also served by Germanna Community College. But the County isn't required to fund it. Speaking of RCC, even though we are required to pay them money, they sent their Vice President out to give us a report on how much they wanted and why they wanted that amount.
Other agencies we participate in by choice, but this is because it is providing a service at a greatly reduced cost when compared to shouldering the burden alone. For example the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance. We aren't required to participate but doing everything on our own would cost too much. In other words, it's simply a cost sharing, and thus a cost saving, plan.
The County's shift to not spend my tax dollars on a charity, or several charities, is admirable but painful. Hearing a passionate but blunt plea from Legal Aid Works for funds hurt when I knew the Board wouldn't fund them. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn't financially responsible to fund every group that asks for money. Even more so when I realized that was my money they would be giving away. And in the end, I had to agree with the Board. It really should be left up to me, the individual, when and where I give my money away. Having done the research on the various charities, I know which ones are operating more charitably than others. Not to say they don't do good work and contribute to those in need, but personally, there were other charities I would have put in front of Legal Aid Works based solely on their tax forms. So not giving money to those in need, regardless of how well they run their charity, still hurts, but that's the policy the Board has adopted.
Regarding the long list of those asking for money, County Administrator Neiman Young said he and his staff have not removed or censored anyone from the list before the Board reviews it. In other words, the decision to fund or not fund lies solely on the shoulders of the Board. I think this is a great policy because not only can the Board speak for, or against, a specific agency but they can also have the opportunity to research them to see which ones are more charitable or which ones have a better return on their investment.
In the end, the Board seemed to be in agreement that the County would only fund those agencies that it is required to with the exception of three Outside Agencies that are optionally funded; disAbility Resource Center, Fredericksburg Area Food Bank, and Thurman Brisben Homeless Shelter.
One final note about the Outside Agencies before moving on. For many of these agencies and groups, we have a Board member that sits on the Board of the agency that gets County funds. Essentially, this ensures King George County gets a seat at the table in not only making overall decisions to their mission but also keeping an eye on the financials of the agency. Even though each group has a different formula for determining how much each contributing county needs to pay into the group pot, we have representation and none of the amounts each group asks for should be a surprise.
While the Board stuck to a fiscally responsible path, the proverbial bad news came when Dr. Young presented his short list of funds that he wanted for County programs. Just like before, some of the programs are mandatory, like health insurance, the regional jail, and the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). His optional programs did generate some discussion. Dr. Young asked for a handful of new County employee positions to be funded and another handful of positions to be converted from Part-Time to Full-Time. Generally speaking, once the discussions were hashed out, everyone seemed to agree that they were necessary to help the County meet the existing and future work load. He also clarified that none of the positions were those being back-filled and they were all either new positions or an effort to retain existing staff.
The Board has also reviewed various County departments in the past, going through their budget line by line. Last year, the Community Development Department, the Smoot Library, and the Fire and Rescue Department were reviewed. This year, the Administration of the Board, General Properties, and Treasurer's Office will be reviewed at a future meeting.
We closed with another short presentation by Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development and Tourism. As with the past meeting, we reviewed the County's Mission Statement and took another look at the proposed Vision Statement. In the end, it was decided to go with "A vibrant and connected community that fosters diverse economic development with a visionary growth while honoring its rural landscape." I know it seems like just a bunch of fancy words on paper but it will be the guiding words behind the Board and the County as we move into the future.
In the end, it was yet another well-spent portion of my time. I learned a lot about how the County spends money and what it spends it on. Our next meeting will be on February 28, 2018 at 6:30pm in the Board Room and we'll hear from Davenport as well as hear more about potential equalization.
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