Pete Candland speaks with first responders.Thursday evening Supervisors Pete Candland (R) and Jeanine Lawson (R) will present their budget proposal to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, which will include cuts to the overall budget, but protection for the school budget.
Candland, the Gainesville Supervisor, and Lawson, the Brentsville Supervisors, are proposing a reduction in the proposed county real estate tax increase for FY16 from 3.88 percent to a 2.5 percent. They are however, proposing the board of county supervisors fully fund the school budget.
Additionally, they are proposing reallocating the recordation tax to provide Prince William County Schools an additional $2 million this year to be increased by $2 million annually for a total of $30 million over the next five years.
According to Candland, this plan is not dependent on getting the votes to reduce the tax bill, but it will have to be accepted by the board.
Recordation Tax to Fund Class Size Reductions
Currently the recordation tax, a tax issued when someone purchases or otherwise acquires a home in the county, is used to fund transportation projects. The recordation tax has been used to fund education in the past.
Before 2006, county public schools received just above 56 percent of the recordation tax. However, because the nation was at the peek of an economic boom then, the school board agreed to yield those funds back to the county. The county then allocated them towards transportation projects, which were a priority at the time.
When the recession hit, the schools were severely hurt by not having the recordation tax and much of the effects were felt in growing class sizes. However, it was not easy to transfer monies back to the school division, as transportation projects need to remain funded at current rates in order for the jurisdiction to receive state aid.
However, Candland and Lawson have found some flexibility in the general fund. They are thus are proposing using general funds to fund transportation, and returning much of the recordation tax to the schools.
Candland believes it will serve as a dedicated source for the schools. Additionally, they plan to keep a buffer of funds on hand in case one year they fall short.
“It’s money that’s protected. It doesn’t go with the tax rate. We don’t have to question whether it’s going to be there every year,” he said.
Candland believes funding class size reduction is a priority for the county. He believes having the highest-class sizes in the Commonwealth is responsible for students’ lack of achievement on SOL and SAT tests in comparison to students attending schools in neighboring jurisdictions. He also believes the problems cannot be solved by raising taxes, because unless monies are prioritized towards class sizes, raising taxes will not make much of a difference.
And while the school board has begun to prioritize reductions in class sizes, Candland said they have not made any “bold moves” in that direction, because they are funding so many other priorities that perhaps should not have become priorities like expensive facilities such as a school pool.
Keeping the School Budget Whole
Along with earmarking funds specifically for class size reductions, the two supervisors also hope to pass a fully funded budget for PWCS so the school division will not need to make any additional cuts. To do this, they have found savings within the budget on the county side. Of course, the challenge will be to convince the other supervisors to support this approval.
“We are really prioritizes education over a lot of other things. We might have supervisors that don’t agree with that,” he said.
Cuts to the County Budget
In order to pass a tax increase of 2.5 percent rather than 3.88, cuts would have to be made.
Candland and Lawson are proposing cuts to a third of county vacancies, eliminating the Hylton Performing Arts subsidy, eliminating membership to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, moving $1 million from the revenue stabilization fund, dropping membership in the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC), cutting county agency budgets by 3 percent across the board and reductions in line item spending that seem to wildly fluctuate over the years.
“I think it’s very reasonable. If we were humming right along and there were no issues Candland said.
He defense his cuts saying that the county already pays debt service on the Hylton Center, and the RTJ membership has not yielded any measurable economic advantage for the county.
“There are plenty of nice places in the county, restaurants and country clubs, where we can take people for lunch and wine and dine them and talk about Prince William County.”
In addition to dropping the supervisors’ prestigious golf membership, Candland is also suggesting raising the green fees for golf at the county run course, saying right now the fees are very low at $24-27 per round.
Candland also wants to look more closely at line item expenses, because he believes this is where the county budget hides its extra padding.
Funding Priorities for Western Prince William
According to Candland, even with most of the board willing to fund a higher tax rate than he would like to support, his district is still not getting amenities he considers essentials.
One such item is a line sewer out to Long Park. Currently, water at Long Park fields and the Gainesville Community Library is considered unsafe for consumption and thus water fountains and sinks are blocked. Candland says this it has been an on-going problem, and that the water is contaminated with chloroform, a precursor to e-coli. While, pipes get disinfected every so often, the problem persistently resurfaces, proving that it requires a more permanent solution.
“Let’s take care of this. This is a health issue. This isn’t a nice to have,” Candland said.
But rather than spend the money to provide safe drinking water on Gainesville fields, Candland said the board is more in favor of spending money on a traffic fix in the Occoquan district.
“I think it’s a misguided prioritization when we prioritize small traffic fixes over health concerns for parks,” noting tens of thousands of citizens use the park.
He also notes that there are no fields on the western end of the county currently within the budget.
“The western end takes it on the chin,” he said.
Candland said this might be a punishment for his not agreeing to a larger budget.
“That has been my experience in the past. That is what happened with Catharpin Park. It seems like we’re seeing it again and with Supervisor Lawson too,” Candland said.
Cooperation on the Budget
Candland notes that he has not created the budget proposal on his own.
“ has been a critical component. She has been absolutely dedicated to reducing class sizes.”
He notes that every year taxes have risen more than he would like to see, and still Prince William County has found itself in the same boat of not reducing class sizes or making reason progress. So, he asks, has raising taxes fixed anything?
“The budget pass has been causing this problem and has done nothing to address it,” Candland said.
However, Candland is concerned that there may be a lack of support for the proposal. He said supervisors may say it is too late in the game to make such a proposal and may want to simply want stick with what they have established.
The budget mark-up session will take place in the supervisor's chambers at the McCoart Building, April 16 at 7:30 p.m.
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