Brentsville District School Board member Gil Trenum revisited the issue of increasing school proffers at the Sept. 4 Prince William County School Board meeting, an issue he received unanimous support for last spring.
Trenum thought that the addition of 996 homes units to be built in the western end of the county warranted the revisiting of the issue, one that was suppose to be communicated to the Board of County Supervisors over the summer.
The new developments in question include Blackburn [otherwise known as Wheeler’s Grove, with 772 new homes near Balls Ford Road in Manassas], Pioneer Assemblage, and the new Heritage Hunt development in Gainesville, plus the possibility of 98 more homes as part of Birkwood at Braemar in Bristow.
Trenum began by saying that he is often asked by residents why Prince William County Schools cannot build its high schools back-to-back as Loudoun County does. Trenum said he tells people that the difference between Prince William and Loudoun counties is that Loudoun County receives bigger proffers for their schools.
“Well, Loundoun County’s are three times what ours are for the school proffers,” Trenum said.
Should Prince William County receive more in proffers [developers' contributions toward neighborhood development and services], the schools would be able to do a to better job keeping up new development in the county and essentially could build schools quicker, Trenum said.
Therefore, he again asked that the Board of County of Supervisors revisit their proffer agreement with developers.
According to Trenum, it's about time, as 2006 was the last time the Board of County Supervisors considered the issue of increasing proffers. At that time, the board decided against it because the housing market was beginning to show signs of its now infamous decline.
While the housing market has not completely rebounded, Trenum said he believes it has recovered enough to revisit the proffers issue.
Chairman-at-Large Milt Johns voiced his support of Trenum’s proposal.
“I certainly hope the board of supervisors gives serious consideration regarding where our proffers are and where surrounding jurisdictions' proffers are,” said Johns, who added, “It’s not to say we need to kill development in Prince William County.”
Johns said he felt that new development could benefit a community. However, when proffers are too low, county residents get stuck with the cost of services for new resident along with increased traffic, overcrowded schools and classrooms in their neighborhood.
Betty Covington, school board member from the Potomac District, said she believed it is more realistic and equitable to ask for higher proffers than to ask that the county stop developing, which is essentially what the school board has been asking year after year to no avail.
“I think to be realistic, we cannot stop development; we cannot stop growth. The issue is having the funding to keep up with it,” Covington said.
Woodbridge school board member Steven Keen said that beyond proffers, he believes that there are bigger differences between Prince William and Loudoun counties: their perspectives on education and county services.
“It is the fact that Board of County Supervisors understands and believes in their hearts that good education is at the heart of the communities they serve,” Keen said.
While Keen said he supports his counterpart in Woodbridge, Supervisor Frank Principi (D), he believe the board as a whole needs to think toward the future when it agrees to new development.
Answering questions about proffers, Associate Superintendent of Finance and Support Services David Cline explained there are set proffer amounts for single family homes, townhomes and apartment units regardless of the price point on those homes.
Cline said the school system uses a formula designed to estimate how many children attending public school generally come from a set amount of homes of each type, and the developers incur costs associated with helping to build schools and educate those students.
In addition to school proffers, developers also pay proffers toward roads, sidewalks, parks and recreation and services like police and fire and rescue.
Trenum clarified that a change in the current proffer agreements would not affect the 996 home units currently slated for development. However, it would help to bring in more funds with future development.
While the school board generally opposes new development, they are not naive enough to believe that new development will stop any time soon. Moreover, Trenum said increasing proffers this year could affect the 98 proposed home units in Braemar as they have not yet been approved for development.
School board member Alyson Satterwhite expressed her overall displeasure at new units going into her district in Gainesville. She explained that Sudley Elementary has just had an addition built, and there already are students in trailers. Likewise, elementary and middle schools in the Gainesville District had just been recently redistricted.
As a result of the discussion, the school board voted unanimously to draft a letter to the Board of County Supervisors voicing their disapproval of the three new developments on the western end of the county.
Because the board has already voted to ask the Board of County Supervisors to reevaluate proffers and the fact that it was discussed at the very first board meeting of the new school year, indicates the school board is going to make it one of its priorities.
Last spring, Brentsville District Supervisor Wally Covington had told Bristow Beat that he had been opposed to proffers because they are essentially a tax, since developers will pass on additional costs to the homebuyers, raising the total cost of the house. He said that citizens should be aware, higher proffers will ultimately hurt residents more than the developers.
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