by Neil Richard
In 2018, I was appointed as a member of the inaugural Citizen Budget Advisory Committee. Over the course of eight months, I went to multiple meetings and learned more than I ever expected about how the County's budget is crafted, the hard work staff puts into how money is spent, and the challenging questions everyone faces. Instead of covering these Committee meetings as a member this year, I will be covering them from the outside as a member of the public. I was asked if my participation last year was why I wasn't selected this year but I feel that isn't the case. If it were, I wouldn't have been appointed to the Service Authority's Citizen Budget Advisory Committee.
The citizens serving on the 2019 Committee are Harry Pendleton, Joseph Gaborow, Jeff Stonehill, Gillian Woodring, and Carrie Cleveland. At their first meeting on January 24, 2019, the Committee met with four of the five Supervisors as well as Wilma Ward, the County's Finance Director, and Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator. John Jenkins was out sick.
Randy Jones, Treasurer, was in the audience during the first presentation from Public Financial Management (PFM) employee Kathleen Bowe who gave the audience an overview of the County's financial investments. Although this falls under the control of the Treasurer, the Supervisors asked for the presentation to get a better idea of the financial standing of the County's money. Bowe told everyone that the three guiding objectives were safety, liquidity, and the rate of return. Going through the presentation, she covered market outlook, the basics of the policies that control the investments, and the portfolio.
Dr. Neiman Young then gave his State of the County Briefing. Not to belittle Young's efforts but much of the briefing was similar to last year. There were a few important differences to note such as the eight major retail and industrial projects that resulted in $12 million dollars being invested in the County in 2018. Additionally, Capital Improvement Programs (CIPs) were cash funded to the tune of $2.4 million dollars in 2018. Young noted that the Emergency Services departments generally save more property than they lose, the bean sprout factory fire resulted in an abnormally large loss in 2018. Young listed numerous capital projects that were completed and other major initiatives that helped the County, including a new nuisance or unsafe building ordinance that has already resulted in one prosecution and School Resource Officers at elementary schools.
Another big project that was started in 2018 was the debt mitigation policy. With the first payment being made in December 2018, Young said the County has saved $2.7 million in principle and $1.067 million in interest over the life of the debt owed. This also impacts the revenue side of funding by un-leveraging an additional $600,000 form the expected landfill revenue. He said the landfill is a finite source of revenue for the capital fund and saves residents roughly 28 cents per dollar in taxes. He gave an example of his own mortgage payment, saying the net result would be an increase in roughly $75 per month he would have to pay if the landfill revenue wasn't there to fund capital improvements. Ruby Brabo added that because past leadership decided to borrow against the expected landfill revenue instead of cash funding major projects with the funds already on hand, 18 of the 27 years left at the landfill are already leveraged. In other words, the landfill has a life span that is expected to last another 27 years. Of those 27 years, the revenue for 18 years has already been borrowed against. Brabo said that the current leadership has cash funded projects for the last three years now. These numbers do differ from last year but the ratio didn't change much.
Dr. Young continued his report by noting that the upcoming Nice Bridge replacement on Route 301 will result in increased traffic. He also said that before the bridge is built, traffic is expected to double due to major construction projects on Interstate 95. He called King George the "eye of traffic congestion" and said our community could effectively be split into two pieces, one east of Route 301 and one west. Young did say that looking into the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) revenue sharing program was a great idea for future projects but cautioned it would require the County to fund half of the money.
At the end of his State of the County report, Young again reminded everyone of the two major capital projects that would need to be discussed; the Courthouse and a new accounting system. These are not the only CIPs to be considered, just the more pressing ones. Young finished by listing out the next meeting dates as well as asking the Supervisors which departments they wanted to review line by line. The Supervisors decided to review the IT, Parks and Recreation, and Social Services departments.
Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, then gave a presentation that was also similar to last year where she covered the basics of how a budget was developed for each department. She gave an overview of how each department head creates the budget, reviews it, and presents it to herself and Dr. Young before submitting it to the Supervisors. Ward also repeated that the Courthouse and accounting system were on the list for CIPs as well as new fire stations, new school buses, and decommissioning the Purkins Corner and Oakland Park Waste Water Treatment Plants. She gave preliminary cost estimates for each project but cautioned that every time a project is delayed, the cost estimate rises.
Overall, the evening was almost an exact replica of last year's presentations but with updated figures and with a clearly stated list of accomplishments. Seeing that progress has been made made me feel good but seeing the cost of potential capital projects rise didn't. Learning how the County handles investments made me feel confident that our reserves are being invested wisely. I hope last year's bumpy road for the Committee is much smoother this year and thank the citizens for agreeing to serve.
Future work sessions:
For further reading, here are the articles on the 2018 Citizen Budget Advisory Committee meetings and associated Capital Improvement Program meetings.
2019-01-30 - CORRECTION: The amount of interest saved over the life of the loan from the debt mitigation payment was incorrectly reported as "$1.76 million." The correct figure is $1.067 million.
In 2018, I was appointed as a member of the inaugural Citizen Budget Advisory Committee. Over the course of eight months, I went to multiple meetings and learned more than I ever expected about how the County's budget is crafted, the hard work staff puts into how money is spent, and the challenging questions everyone faces. Instead of covering these Committee meetings as a member this year, I will be covering them from the outside as a member of the public. I was asked if my participation last year was why I wasn't selected this year but I feel that isn't the case. If it were, I wouldn't have been appointed to the Service Authority's Citizen Budget Advisory Committee.
The citizens serving on the 2019 Committee are Harry Pendleton, Joseph Gaborow, Jeff Stonehill, Gillian Woodring, and Carrie Cleveland. At their first meeting on January 24, 2019, the Committee met with four of the five Supervisors as well as Wilma Ward, the County's Finance Director, and Dr. Neiman Young, County Administrator. John Jenkins was out sick.
Randy Jones, Treasurer, was in the audience during the first presentation from Public Financial Management (PFM) employee Kathleen Bowe who gave the audience an overview of the County's financial investments. Although this falls under the control of the Treasurer, the Supervisors asked for the presentation to get a better idea of the financial standing of the County's money. Bowe told everyone that the three guiding objectives were safety, liquidity, and the rate of return. Going through the presentation, she covered market outlook, the basics of the policies that control the investments, and the portfolio.
Dr. Neiman Young then gave his State of the County Briefing. Not to belittle Young's efforts but much of the briefing was similar to last year. There were a few important differences to note such as the eight major retail and industrial projects that resulted in $12 million dollars being invested in the County in 2018. Additionally, Capital Improvement Programs (CIPs) were cash funded to the tune of $2.4 million dollars in 2018. Young noted that the Emergency Services departments generally save more property than they lose, the bean sprout factory fire resulted in an abnormally large loss in 2018. Young listed numerous capital projects that were completed and other major initiatives that helped the County, including a new nuisance or unsafe building ordinance that has already resulted in one prosecution and School Resource Officers at elementary schools.
Another big project that was started in 2018 was the debt mitigation policy. With the first payment being made in December 2018, Young said the County has saved $2.7 million in principle and $1.067 million in interest over the life of the debt owed. This also impacts the revenue side of funding by un-leveraging an additional $600,000 form the expected landfill revenue. He said the landfill is a finite source of revenue for the capital fund and saves residents roughly 28 cents per dollar in taxes. He gave an example of his own mortgage payment, saying the net result would be an increase in roughly $75 per month he would have to pay if the landfill revenue wasn't there to fund capital improvements. Ruby Brabo added that because past leadership decided to borrow against the expected landfill revenue instead of cash funding major projects with the funds already on hand, 18 of the 27 years left at the landfill are already leveraged. In other words, the landfill has a life span that is expected to last another 27 years. Of those 27 years, the revenue for 18 years has already been borrowed against. Brabo said that the current leadership has cash funded projects for the last three years now. These numbers do differ from last year but the ratio didn't change much.
Dr. Young continued his report by noting that the upcoming Nice Bridge replacement on Route 301 will result in increased traffic. He also said that before the bridge is built, traffic is expected to double due to major construction projects on Interstate 95. He called King George the "eye of traffic congestion" and said our community could effectively be split into two pieces, one east of Route 301 and one west. Young did say that looking into the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) revenue sharing program was a great idea for future projects but cautioned it would require the County to fund half of the money.
At the end of his State of the County report, Young again reminded everyone of the two major capital projects that would need to be discussed; the Courthouse and a new accounting system. These are not the only CIPs to be considered, just the more pressing ones. Young finished by listing out the next meeting dates as well as asking the Supervisors which departments they wanted to review line by line. The Supervisors decided to review the IT, Parks and Recreation, and Social Services departments.
Wilma Ward, Director of Finance, then gave a presentation that was also similar to last year where she covered the basics of how a budget was developed for each department. She gave an overview of how each department head creates the budget, reviews it, and presents it to herself and Dr. Young before submitting it to the Supervisors. Ward also repeated that the Courthouse and accounting system were on the list for CIPs as well as new fire stations, new school buses, and decommissioning the Purkins Corner and Oakland Park Waste Water Treatment Plants. She gave preliminary cost estimates for each project but cautioned that every time a project is delayed, the cost estimate rises.
Overall, the evening was almost an exact replica of last year's presentations but with updated figures and with a clearly stated list of accomplishments. Seeing that progress has been made made me feel good but seeing the cost of potential capital projects rise didn't. Learning how the County handles investments made me feel confident that our reserves are being invested wisely. I hope last year's bumpy road for the Committee is much smoother this year and thank the citizens for agreeing to serve.
Future work sessions:
- Work Session #2 - January 31, 2019 at 6:30pm in the Board Room
- Work Session #3 - February 13, 2019 at 6:30pm in the Board Room
- Work Session #4 - February 26, 2019 at 6:30pm Company One
For further reading, here are the articles on the 2018 Citizen Budget Advisory Committee meetings and associated Capital Improvement Program meetings.
- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee - Part 1
- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee - Part 2
- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee - Part 3
- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee - Part 4
- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee - Part 5
- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee - Part 6
- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee - Part 7
- Citizen Budget Advisory Committee - Part 8
- Capital Improvement Program - Part 1
- Capital Improvement Program - Part 2
- Capital Improvement Program - Part 3
2019-01-30 - CORRECTION: The amount of interest saved over the life of the loan from the debt mitigation payment was incorrectly reported as "$1.76 million." The correct figure is $1.067 million.
I've asked the County if they utilize the Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund Storm Water Loan Program. I don't think they actually knew what it is. The likes of Alexandria used over 1 million dollars from the funding this year. I think we should check into this program and not say, "Funding is not the issue". We need low interest funding and a grand plan to correct everything, so we do not piece meal it and just end up paying more interest.
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