Our final Citizens Budget Advisory Committee Meeting took place on April 2, 2018. The County Administrator, Neiman Young, was kind enough to supply us with a salad and pizza dinner along with beverages. This was likely our shortest meeting in the series and was a general recap of things as they stood. Dr. Young also gave us a brief overview of the revenue coming into the County coffers.
We saw a nice spreadsheet giving details on how King George measured up with surrounding counties in regards to real estate tax rates, business tax rates, and other items. Dr. Young also reminded us of two things. First, this was Wilma Ward's (Director of Finance) and his first time going through the budget for the County and as a result, he didn't have enough time to dive as deep as he would like into the revenue sources. Second, he reminded everyone that the County had various sources of revenue and because they were not always set in stone, or sometimes unknown when the County budget is prepared, they were often hard to predict. Prime among these are Federal and State funds that vary based on their respective budgets. Young also gave a word of caution that he tried to inject as much science as he could into predicting revenue by reviewing data from previous years but that sometimes things change, such as the number of houses built or students in school.
One topic that was discussed was equalization. But it was fairly brief. As we had all agreed to where we were with the expenditures thus far in the process, we didn't really object to the option of not equalizing tax rates. Although we all agreed, Dr. Young did give us the three options we had on the table. First, we could equalize tax rates down to 67 cents per $100 of assessed value. Second, we could not equalize and keep tax rates at 70 cents per $100. Third, we could adjust the tax rate to some amount between 67 and 70 cents per $100. At no time during the evening, or even during the entire budget work session process, was anyone discussing raising the tax rate above 70 cents per $100.
Aside from the general summaries given for revenue and expenditures for the County, there was some discussion about prior topics. The fact that there would be no tax increase by definition but a de facto increase because of no equalization was surprisingly not much of a sticking point. The general impression among us was that even though none of us wanted a tax increase, we also felt that equalizing tax rates would put the County under unnecessary financial stress. In other words, to get the services we need, we need to pay for them.
And in the end, I think many of us were in the same boat. We, both the Board of Supervisors and the citizens on the Advisory Committee, were happy with where the budget ended up but we still had a few things that we wanted, or didn't want, to see funded. It really did feel like a compromise where we all had to give something up that we were passionate about for the greater good of the community. So while we may not get that third School Resource Officer (SRO) I and many others want, getting two is still better than getting none. It's a very fine balancing act but I feel like we, as citizens, have gotten the best deal we could ask for.
By the end of the night, we weren't quite finished. We scheduled another meeting down the road to work on the second year of the two year budget as well as get more information on business and real estate taxes in the area.
One final thought about the process as a whole. I felt that this was an incredibly educational experience and even though things certainly got more heated than expected at times, everyone was professional and brought their best to the table. Every meeting I went to I learned more about the County I live in, about the people that work there, and about my neighbors that live here. I also learned that it truly does make a difference when the public speaks up but it needs to be done early and often. This was a hard lesson for me to learn as I felt that with more lead time, we the public could have had more influence on the budget process. So my advice to my neighbors and fellow citizens of King George County is that if you care about anything at all related to the budget, you have six months to gather your thoughts. Because if you wait until next year's budget work sessions, you'll be too late.
We saw a nice spreadsheet giving details on how King George measured up with surrounding counties in regards to real estate tax rates, business tax rates, and other items. Dr. Young also reminded us of two things. First, this was Wilma Ward's (Director of Finance) and his first time going through the budget for the County and as a result, he didn't have enough time to dive as deep as he would like into the revenue sources. Second, he reminded everyone that the County had various sources of revenue and because they were not always set in stone, or sometimes unknown when the County budget is prepared, they were often hard to predict. Prime among these are Federal and State funds that vary based on their respective budgets. Young also gave a word of caution that he tried to inject as much science as he could into predicting revenue by reviewing data from previous years but that sometimes things change, such as the number of houses built or students in school.
One topic that was discussed was equalization. But it was fairly brief. As we had all agreed to where we were with the expenditures thus far in the process, we didn't really object to the option of not equalizing tax rates. Although we all agreed, Dr. Young did give us the three options we had on the table. First, we could equalize tax rates down to 67 cents per $100 of assessed value. Second, we could not equalize and keep tax rates at 70 cents per $100. Third, we could adjust the tax rate to some amount between 67 and 70 cents per $100. At no time during the evening, or even during the entire budget work session process, was anyone discussing raising the tax rate above 70 cents per $100.
Aside from the general summaries given for revenue and expenditures for the County, there was some discussion about prior topics. The fact that there would be no tax increase by definition but a de facto increase because of no equalization was surprisingly not much of a sticking point. The general impression among us was that even though none of us wanted a tax increase, we also felt that equalizing tax rates would put the County under unnecessary financial stress. In other words, to get the services we need, we need to pay for them.
And in the end, I think many of us were in the same boat. We, both the Board of Supervisors and the citizens on the Advisory Committee, were happy with where the budget ended up but we still had a few things that we wanted, or didn't want, to see funded. It really did feel like a compromise where we all had to give something up that we were passionate about for the greater good of the community. So while we may not get that third School Resource Officer (SRO) I and many others want, getting two is still better than getting none. It's a very fine balancing act but I feel like we, as citizens, have gotten the best deal we could ask for.
By the end of the night, we weren't quite finished. We scheduled another meeting down the road to work on the second year of the two year budget as well as get more information on business and real estate taxes in the area.
One final thought about the process as a whole. I felt that this was an incredibly educational experience and even though things certainly got more heated than expected at times, everyone was professional and brought their best to the table. Every meeting I went to I learned more about the County I live in, about the people that work there, and about my neighbors that live here. I also learned that it truly does make a difference when the public speaks up but it needs to be done early and often. This was a hard lesson for me to learn as I felt that with more lead time, we the public could have had more influence on the budget process. So my advice to my neighbors and fellow citizens of King George County is that if you care about anything at all related to the budget, you have six months to gather your thoughts. Because if you wait until next year's budget work sessions, you'll be too late.
No comments:
Post a Comment