Stafford County supervisors say something has to give for them to balance the county's needs with what their constituents can afford.
At a work session Thursday, supervisors bandied about ways to reduce the burden on taxpayers and still boost support of programs. They also will consider charging fees for rescue service to generate revenue.
The ideas tossed out would leave the school system with less money than County Administrator Steve Crosby proposed in his budget, but other groups would get more.
Crosby's spending plan for next fiscal year calls for a real estate tax rate of 68 cents per $100 of assessed value. That's 10 cents more than the effective rate--what it would take to generate the same revenue as previous years.
Supervisors argue that there is enough wiggle room to set the rate between 62 and 65 cents. But they have to cut $1.6 million from Crosby's budget for every cent the rate drops.
Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer, who joined the board in January, said he ran on a low-tax platform and has no intention of deviating from that.
"Whether we set it at 68 cents or $1.20, they can spend the money," he said. "We need to set a rate that, philosophically, we could live with."
Nothing is final yet. But Thursday's meeting was the supervisors' first attempt to reach a budget consensus.
Supervisor Paul Milde offered an analysis that would give the schools $117 million to $120 million. The higher figure is $5.5 million less than Crosby's proposed budget and $14.2 million less than the School Board's request. It's $400,000 more than the schools received last year.
The schools usually have a large surplus at the end of each fiscal year, Milde said.
So the board should budget based on the actual money spent in fiscal year 2005, until figures from the current budget year are available. The new fiscal year begins July 1.
Supervisors gave the schools $102.4 million in 2005, but just $96.6 million was spent. Milde calculated his 2007 proposed school transfer by adding 10 percent a year to the actual number. The student population's annual growth rate has slowed down recently, he said.
The board can then decide whether to transfer more money from reserves when the schools report the fiscal year 2006 surplus.
"Until we know how much they really needed in 2005-2006, it is difficult to know how much they will need this year," Milde said. "We just need to start looking at things differently around here."
Other county services, he said, need the money just as much as the schools do.
He asked that $800,000 be added to the Sheriff's Office budget to fund additional employees. State money partially funds just three new employees this year, but the sheriff has requested more.
Several other board members wanted the county to add $374,138 to the regional agencies' budget.
And Joe Brito suggested that $150,000 be set aside to start a conservation easement program.
Supervisors will receive a staff presentation on ambulance fees at their meeting Tuesday.
Spotsylvania County started collecting the medical transport dollars last October. The county bills insurance companies for ambulance transport. The program had generated $250,000 by March. It is expected to bring in $2.16 million for fiscal 2007.
To reach MEGHANN COTTER:
Email: mcotter@freelancestar.com