Our second consecutive evening of meeting as the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee opened with a joint meeting between the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission. This March 27, 2018 meeting between the two groups was to discuss the Mixed Use Development (MUD) areas in King George County and the ordinances and rules that would govern them. The Planning Commission has been working with the Berkley Group for several months to hash out a draft ordinance and this draft is what they brought to the Board of Supervisors. Overall, both groups felt like there was a solid start but there were still some minor details to work out and some feedback to gather from other groups in the County. After an hour or so of discussion, the Planning Commission adjourned and we took a short break.
After our break, we the citizens were able to get off the bench and join the Board at the table for a continuation of our budget work session. We dove headlong into the School Resource Officer (SRO) discussion from the previous meeting by hearing from Sheriff Dempsey and his opinions on the topic. He started by saying he was already looking to fill two vacancies for Deputies and that since the school shooting a month and a half ago in Florida, he has stepped up patrols at the elementary schools. He said when Deputies are not responding to a call, he has instructed them to patrol each elementary school four times a day, inside and out. In addition to this, he said he has instructed Deputies to do their paperwork in the school parking lot when possible just to have a visible presence.
Most interesting though was the time involved in actually getting an SRO position filled at an elementary school. He said it generally takes a year or two to hire a Deputy and train them to the point of operating on their own. He said once this happens, then a veteran Deputy would be take a two week training course to become an SRO. In other words, he said it would be Fall of 2019 at the earliest before an SRO could function at the elementary school.
There was also some discussion about the current SROs at King George Middle School (KGMS) and King George High School (KGHS). The Sheriff said those two positions were paid for out of his budget, not the School Board budget. This was brought up again because Ruby Brabo and Jeff Bueche both said that the School Board never mentioned SROs as a priority the previous night, even when asked. While Brabo and Bueche clearly had no hard feelings from their heated discussion from the previous evening, I personally had to call them out on their questions from that night. While they, and others, asked Dr. Benson, Superintendent of Schools, and the School Board if the budget presented was their priority and if they had any other priorities they needed, there was no mention of SROs. What I had to point out was that while questions were asked about priorities, at no time did anyone specifically ask the School Board or Dr. Benson if they wanted an SRO at the elementary schools. I tied this point to the fact that the school system doesn't pay for the SRO so asking for it in their budget wouldn't be correct. Brabo however did make a valid point that the previous SROs were asked for by the school system. I felt confident that we could have spent an entire evening talking about what the School Board cut from their budget and what they would want versus what they would need and all the money involved. Thankfully we all moved beyond that sticking point and continued the SRO discussion.
The Board also asked Sheriff Dempsey his opinion on using contracted or private security to provide armed resource officers at the elementary schools and he advised against this. He said it would be better to use a veteran officer from the existing staff of Deputies in the County as they would have a better opportunity to build a working relationship with students and staff and would be allowed to carry weapons on campus. According to Virginia State Law, Title 18.2, Chapter 7, only active and retired law enforcement are allowed to carry a gun on school grounds out in the open. There are exceptions for unloaded weapons in a vehicle and those with a concealed weapons permit in a vehicle, but otherwise, no guns are allowed. A bill was proposed last year to allow for armed security guards but it was never passed.
Dempsey also said that the two current SROs are frequently as busy as a regular patrol officer working cases in the schools. He also added that in the summer months and when school is out, they conduct patrols just like any other officer. As an example, he said that during the frequent storms, the SROs were responding to emergencies while school was not in session.
In the end, the Board advised the Sheriff to plan on having two SROs at Sealston Elementary School (SES) and Potomac Elementary School (PES) to fill with the new budget. While all parties involved agreed that a third SRO at King George Elementary School (KGES) would be ideal, the general feeling was that it was close enough to the Sheriff's Office to make it easier to have an increased presence. There was also some hope that a grant would help pay for one or more of the SROs, making it easier to add a third in the future.
Next to be discussed was the proposed zoning and building fee increases. After tabling the decision multiple times to gather more information, Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development, reported that he felt that the increased fees would not pose any undue burden on small businesses as they would likely not be looking to develop large parcels or multiple lots. He also said that a separate category could not be created for small businesses however a reimbursement or waiving of fees was always available on a case by case basis. Neiman Young, County Administrator, added that Orange County was looking at increasing their fees in the near future. With all of the new information and old data, the Board was comfortable moving forward with the increased rates.
With the two new SROs being added to the budget, the school getting the money they asked for, and the County added three new positions, the County's financial planner, Davenport & Company, had a smaller number to work with for debt mitigation and debt reduction. Even though the SROs were added just moments before he gave his presentation, he still had smaller numbers than before. As a whole though, we all agreed that any debt reduction payments made, regardless of how large or small, would be better than nothing. The previous presentation was in the range of a $9 million lump sum payment while the current figure was $7 million. On top of this, there was the a more refined timeline of making the payments in three batches. So instead of a big payment in four or five years, it would instead be three smaller payments made in 2019, 2021, and 2023. By making a smaller payment, it would free up cash and allow the County to have a surplus.
To bring back my previous home mortgage analogy, I saw this as a much better idea. So instead of paying everything available in the bank to pay down the debt and leaving us with very little money, we could still pay down the debt in large chunks but still keep money on hand in case a big bill came due unexpectedly. For example, if you make a large payment to pay off your credit card debt but then don't have money to pay for a new roof that was damaged in a storm, you end up back in debt by borrowing money. By paying smaller amounts when it's safer to do so allows you to have money to pay for that new roof but still leaves you a little bit extra to pay off some of your credit card debt.
At the end of the evening, I felt like we had made some serious progress in the budget process. While I still feel that the Smoot Library should have been fully funded instead of level funded, I think that so far the budget is fairly sound and that everyone else has gotten a fair shake. Our next meeting should be our last and hopefully I'll be able to give a concise summary of where we stand as a County.
After our break, we the citizens were able to get off the bench and join the Board at the table for a continuation of our budget work session. We dove headlong into the School Resource Officer (SRO) discussion from the previous meeting by hearing from Sheriff Dempsey and his opinions on the topic. He started by saying he was already looking to fill two vacancies for Deputies and that since the school shooting a month and a half ago in Florida, he has stepped up patrols at the elementary schools. He said when Deputies are not responding to a call, he has instructed them to patrol each elementary school four times a day, inside and out. In addition to this, he said he has instructed Deputies to do their paperwork in the school parking lot when possible just to have a visible presence.
Most interesting though was the time involved in actually getting an SRO position filled at an elementary school. He said it generally takes a year or two to hire a Deputy and train them to the point of operating on their own. He said once this happens, then a veteran Deputy would be take a two week training course to become an SRO. In other words, he said it would be Fall of 2019 at the earliest before an SRO could function at the elementary school.
There was also some discussion about the current SROs at King George Middle School (KGMS) and King George High School (KGHS). The Sheriff said those two positions were paid for out of his budget, not the School Board budget. This was brought up again because Ruby Brabo and Jeff Bueche both said that the School Board never mentioned SROs as a priority the previous night, even when asked. While Brabo and Bueche clearly had no hard feelings from their heated discussion from the previous evening, I personally had to call them out on their questions from that night. While they, and others, asked Dr. Benson, Superintendent of Schools, and the School Board if the budget presented was their priority and if they had any other priorities they needed, there was no mention of SROs. What I had to point out was that while questions were asked about priorities, at no time did anyone specifically ask the School Board or Dr. Benson if they wanted an SRO at the elementary schools. I tied this point to the fact that the school system doesn't pay for the SRO so asking for it in their budget wouldn't be correct. Brabo however did make a valid point that the previous SROs were asked for by the school system. I felt confident that we could have spent an entire evening talking about what the School Board cut from their budget and what they would want versus what they would need and all the money involved. Thankfully we all moved beyond that sticking point and continued the SRO discussion.
The Board also asked Sheriff Dempsey his opinion on using contracted or private security to provide armed resource officers at the elementary schools and he advised against this. He said it would be better to use a veteran officer from the existing staff of Deputies in the County as they would have a better opportunity to build a working relationship with students and staff and would be allowed to carry weapons on campus. According to Virginia State Law, Title 18.2, Chapter 7, only active and retired law enforcement are allowed to carry a gun on school grounds out in the open. There are exceptions for unloaded weapons in a vehicle and those with a concealed weapons permit in a vehicle, but otherwise, no guns are allowed. A bill was proposed last year to allow for armed security guards but it was never passed.
Dempsey also said that the two current SROs are frequently as busy as a regular patrol officer working cases in the schools. He also added that in the summer months and when school is out, they conduct patrols just like any other officer. As an example, he said that during the frequent storms, the SROs were responding to emergencies while school was not in session.
In the end, the Board advised the Sheriff to plan on having two SROs at Sealston Elementary School (SES) and Potomac Elementary School (PES) to fill with the new budget. While all parties involved agreed that a third SRO at King George Elementary School (KGES) would be ideal, the general feeling was that it was close enough to the Sheriff's Office to make it easier to have an increased presence. There was also some hope that a grant would help pay for one or more of the SROs, making it easier to add a third in the future.
Next to be discussed was the proposed zoning and building fee increases. After tabling the decision multiple times to gather more information, Ryan Gandy, Director of Economic Development, reported that he felt that the increased fees would not pose any undue burden on small businesses as they would likely not be looking to develop large parcels or multiple lots. He also said that a separate category could not be created for small businesses however a reimbursement or waiving of fees was always available on a case by case basis. Neiman Young, County Administrator, added that Orange County was looking at increasing their fees in the near future. With all of the new information and old data, the Board was comfortable moving forward with the increased rates.
With the two new SROs being added to the budget, the school getting the money they asked for, and the County added three new positions, the County's financial planner, Davenport & Company, had a smaller number to work with for debt mitigation and debt reduction. Even though the SROs were added just moments before he gave his presentation, he still had smaller numbers than before. As a whole though, we all agreed that any debt reduction payments made, regardless of how large or small, would be better than nothing. The previous presentation was in the range of a $9 million lump sum payment while the current figure was $7 million. On top of this, there was the a more refined timeline of making the payments in three batches. So instead of a big payment in four or five years, it would instead be three smaller payments made in 2019, 2021, and 2023. By making a smaller payment, it would free up cash and allow the County to have a surplus.
To bring back my previous home mortgage analogy, I saw this as a much better idea. So instead of paying everything available in the bank to pay down the debt and leaving us with very little money, we could still pay down the debt in large chunks but still keep money on hand in case a big bill came due unexpectedly. For example, if you make a large payment to pay off your credit card debt but then don't have money to pay for a new roof that was damaged in a storm, you end up back in debt by borrowing money. By paying smaller amounts when it's safer to do so allows you to have money to pay for that new roof but still leaves you a little bit extra to pay off some of your credit card debt.
At the end of the evening, I felt like we had made some serious progress in the budget process. While I still feel that the Smoot Library should have been fully funded instead of level funded, I think that so far the budget is fairly sound and that everyone else has gotten a fair shake. Our next meeting should be our last and hopefully I'll be able to give a concise summary of where we stand as a County.
No comments:
Post a Comment