Chesterfield County Administrator Joe Casey (center) with Deputy County Administrator for Finance Matt Harris and Budget Director Meghan Coates, briefs media representatives on the proposed fiscal year 2020 budget. (Photo by Sarah King)
The proposed Chesterfield County fiscal year 2020 budget focuses on the basics — schools, public safety and infrastructure — heading into an uncertain financial future as the country, and county, has enjoyed almost 10 years of economic expansion.
“This budget ensures that the underlying assumptions in this plan are conservative, realistic and mindful of many topics in recent headlines that suggest the law of gravity will start to play out in the not-too-distant future,” County Administrator Joe Casey said in a statement.
Casey, alongside Deputy Administrator for Finance Matt Harris and Budget Director Meghan Coates, presented highlights from the $733.5 million proposed budget, 76 percent of which is dedicated to schools, public safety and infrastructure, to media representatives on Friday morning, prefacing the formal presentation to the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors at a scheduled five-hour work session on March 13.
“We don't design budgets by saying, 'Here's what the total expenses are, now let's determine what the tax rate is,’ ” Casey told reporters, referencing the real estate tax. “We put the tax rate in a big fund, and it's 95 cents and it's staying 95 cents.” (Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s proposal on Wednesday to raise the city’s tax rate by 9 cents to $1.29 per $100 of assessed value drew a heated reaction from one council member.)
At the same time, Chesterfield County is proposing a $1.3 million increase from last year to the elderly and disabled tax relief program, totaling more than $9 million in dedicated revenues to the program.
“So while the revenues are going up because tax bills will be going up by that inflationary amount — we are mindful that we have a very strong tax relief for the elderly and disabled program,” Casey said.
In total, schools unequivocally account for the largest chunk of, and proposed increase to, the county budget — with more than 40 percent of the fiscal year 2020 budget carved out for schools. Overall, the school budget has increased by $150 million since fiscal year 2012, with local sources up $70 million in the same period.
The proposed budget additionally accounts for the opening of a new Old Hundred Elementary School and increased resources to accommodate student population growth of more than 500.
“This budget is unique in the fact that we'll be opening a brand new school and a brand new fire station in the same year,” Coates added, “and it's not very often that you see that happening.”
The new Magnolia Green Fire Station will be only the third new fire station since 2005 — a period within which the county population increased by 60,000 residents. The new fire station is slated to open in fiscal year 2020 and will serve the most dense areas of the county, with more than 8,000 parcels zoned residential in its “first due response zone,” or primary service area.
Another priority, Casey said, was law enforcement recruitment and retention — a two-fold issue affecting police departments across the region.
“We have a hard time filling the academy slots, that's a new police recruit class, with the standards of our profession in Chesterfield County,” Casey said. “You don't fill your slots, I don't have to tell you, it's harder to staff the beats that are assigned; and that's a public safety strategy — the number of beats you have 24/7.”
The latter shortfall coincides with the second part of the problem, Casey continued, noting that many of the county’s police officers have been with the department for two decades or more, and the force can’t contend with high attrition rates of experienced officers, either.
“We've seen it this last year, we're losing such a talented pool of people – highly skilled, highly trained people — great mentors to the newer and younger generation of police officers,” Casey explained, noting a new “interim” strategy the proposed budget employs. “There's a finite nature to anyone's career, but I'd rather just, for a nominal amount of money, say, 'Hey I've got you for the next three years — maybe five years’ — so we can hopefully get through, as a nation, this dilemma we have in recruiting good police officers.”
Casey noted that the pay increases for veteran police officers is not an “end-all, solve-all problem,” but reflects a budgetary strategy aimed at addressing the issue in the short-term. Another initiative aimed at recruitment, he noted, is the $1,500 sign-on bonus for new recruits that rolled out last year.
“We got some great responses back from prospective recruits that said, 'We came to Chesterfield County because of such signing bonuses,' ” Casey said, noting the program is continuing into next year, which will follow a 4.1 percent decrease in overall crime in the county as well as, for the first time in five years, a down-trending line representing opioid overdose fatalities.
“The new recruitment strategies are working,” Coates added. “We're seeing results and we do believe we're going to have to have two spring police academies because of the number of people interested now.”
Other topics the county administrators touched on included beginning the permitting process for a fourth water supply for the county via a portion of the Rappahannock River.
An additional $1.5 million in vehicle registration fees is dedicated to transportation projects in the county, including the revitalization of the Jefferson Davis Corridor special area plan and contracting a vendor to conduct surveys about increased transportation options along the U.S. 1 corridor; representatives will be attending two of the community budget meetings along the corridor to collect responses from residents there, too.
Community meetings on the fiscal year 2020 proposed budget, cohosted by the county and Chesterfield County Public Schools, will be held from March 14-26. A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held on March 27, and adoption of the budget is scheduled for April 10.
Community Meeting Schedule
● Thursday, March 14, 7 p.m., Dale District, Central Library, 7051 Lucy Corr Blvd.
● Monday, March 18, 1 p.m., Bermuda District, Bensley Recreation Center, 2900 Drewrys Bluff Road
● Monday, March 18, 7 p.m., Bermuda District, Enon Elementary School, 2001 E. Hundred Road
● Wednesday, March 20, 7 p.m., Midlothian District, John Tyler Community College Hamel Hall, 800 Charter Colony Parkway
● Thursday, March 21, 1 p.m., Dale District, Meadowdale Library, 4301 Meadowdale Library
● Thursday, March 21, 6 p.m., Spanish presentation of proposed fiscal year 2020 budget, Meadowdale Library, 4301 Meadowdale Library
● Monday, March 25, 7 p.m., Clover Hill and Matoaca Districts, Chesterfield Career and Technical Center at Hull, 13900 Hull Street Road
● Tuesday, March 26, 1 p.m., Matoaca District, Swift Creek Baptist Church, 7511 North Spring Run Road
● Tuesday, March 26, 7 p.m., Matoaca District, Shiloh Baptist Church, 6711 Hickory Road
