Budget committee led by residents upset over disbanding

Date published: 1/26/2008

By DAN TELVOCK

Members of a now-dissolved committee that scoured over Spotsylvania County's budgets for efficiency are upset that supervisors abruptly pulled the plug on them.

The Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 Tuesday to disband 11 committees, including the controversial Citizen Budget Advisory Committee. The committee was created in November 2005 to review the county and schools budgets and make recommendations on spending money wisely.

Supervisors said they disbanded the committees to save staff time and improve efficiency.

Stafford County supervisors made a similar controversial move recently when they dissolved their Transportation Commission.

Spotsylvania Supervisor Hap Connor's friendly amendment added the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee to the chopping block. That action surprised committee members, who thought they had the board's full support when members voted unanimously in November to give them a two-year charter.

Connors said this week he tried to be fair, and even disbanded the Transportation Committee, of which he was chairman. But he said the budget committee members, although intelligent people, were too critical of supervisors for not enacting all of their recommendations, chiefly to abolish a guideline that schools get 67 percent of the county budget.

"The genesis of that committee was brought about by a couple of supervisors on the last board who just wanted to go after the school budget," Connors said this week. "We are beyond that."

Greg Cebula, who was chairman of the budget committee, said members volunteered decades of budget experience to the county.

"Well, we certainly attacked the School Board budget because it needed attacking, and it still does," Cebula said. "Anytime anybody is given a percentage or a fixed figure for a budget, they will manage to that figure. They will not budget in the interest of the taxpayers."

Alfred King, who Connors appointed to the committee, said the committee combed budgets for savings and efficiency.

"In a time of fiscal stringency, to disband a group that was trying to help the county cut costs, which is what we were doing, is a bit surprising," he said. "I guess they didn't need our help."

Supervisor Gary Jackson was the lone vote against disbanding the committee.

"I think having citizens involved in the budget process and budget review is important," Jackson said.

He said although supervisors did have problems with some of the criticism, he thought they closed the chasm.

"If you don't like what the committee was doing then challenge them and direct them, and I thought we had done that," he said. "I don't like criticism any more than anybody else, but let's face it: The citizens who were serving on this committee were pretty high class and well qualified."

Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 1/26/2008

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