By Debbie Hall
The Patrick County Board of Supervisors on Monday deferred discussion of the proposed Fiscal Year 2019-20 budget until after they have more answers from the office of the state Auditor of Public Accounts.
Rickie Fulcher, chairman, said the budget committee held a conference call with Rachel Reamy, Local Government Auditor, and others in her office, to determine the impact of the governor’s proposed budget, “particularly the impact on our county.”
Reamy and another staff member held a follow-up conference call with county staff on April 4, and provided additional resources and contacts within the state Department of Education’s main budget office “that can hopefully clear up the confusion relative to the school board’s budget request including the proposed 5 percent pay raises and the local match if any that is required by the county,” Fulcher said.
“I’d rather wait until we have actual facts and the actual” amount of the county’s required match for the school system, Fulcher said. “We need that before we can make logical decisions.”
In the interim, “the budget committee is following up with that information” and will continue “to move forward with a view of additional cuts, if possible” and identifying additional potential revenue sources, he said.
Fulcher, of the Peters Creek District, noted that some of the cuts initially proposed by the budget committee – including cuts to the Patrick County Library and the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office – were placed back into the budget.
“However, the net result was still a decrease from the 2018-19 budget” mainly due to reductions in requests from the 19-20 budget, providing level funding and denying requests for additional increases, Fulcher said.
Jane Fulk, of the Dan River District and also a member of the budget committee, agreed.
“I think we should wait and see how much we have to give the school and we need to check on the raises to see if we’re doing the 50/50 match. We need to know that because that’s a lot of money,” Fulk said.
The school division is the reason the county “had to dip into the contingency fund,” said Lock Boyce, of the Mayo River District. The contingency fund was used to “pay the debt service for the school system twice. That stung. Student enrollment is a key part of determining” the amount of funds provided to the division, and enrollment has declined.
“If it comes down to it, and we want to extend the pay raise” proposed by the governor to cafeteria, maintenance, transportation and other personnel, “we ought to maintain control over it,” Boyce said.
Maintenance, janitorial and other positions are “key personnel as well, and it’s been a long time since they had a raise,” Boyce said.
He also noted the he had received new information about tourism funds which show that the Bob White Covered Bridge received $75,000, which is “obscene. The bridge isn’t there.”
Boyce also identified several other businesses as receiving tourism funds, “businesses belonging to the Stuart crowd while we raise your taxes.”
Fulk, Karl Weiss, of the Blue Ridge District, and Crystal Harris, of the Smith River District, defended funds spent by the Tourism Department, noting that the funds are reinvested back in the community.
