budget – Page 2 – Notes n Letters

Museum gets one more chance

The Loudoun Museum has been given one last chance to get its financial house in order.

The Board of Supervisors on July 21 approved an agreement with the museum that will provide $156,000 in funding to keep it operating through June, by a 7-1-1 vote. Ron A. Meyer (R-Broad Run) opposed the plan, and Tony R. Buffington Jr. (R-Blue Ridge) was absent.

The agreement spells out quarterly milestones the museum must meet to receive the funds, and requires each member of the museum’s board of trustees to contribute or raise at least $3,000 annually.

Loudoun supervisors adopt budget

Torn between the competing goals of fully funding the school board’s budget request and avoiding a tax increase, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors settled on a compromise spending plan Tuesday for fiscal 2017.

Three Republican supervisors joined three Democrats to approve a $2.46 billion budget that slightly raises the real property tax rate but falls about $16.9 million short of the school board’s request. The school board is now considering options for closing the gap.

School board asks for $1.07 billion

In a meeting with the Board of Supervisors on Monday, the Loudoun County School Board presented its case for full funding of a $1.07 billion budget it is seeking for fiscal 2017.

Schools Superintendent Eric Williams outlined a plan that would add hundreds of teachers and other school-based staff members to keep pace with enrollment growth, give employees a pay increase and more than double the number of students in full-day kindergarten.

County Administrator recommends tax hike

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — County Administrator Tim Hemstreet

Loudoun County Administrator Tim Hemstreet followed the Board of Supervisors’ instructions and delivered a budget plan for the county government and school system for fiscal 2017 that would hold the property tax rate steady at $1.135 per $100 of assessed value.

But Hemstreet stopped short of recommending the $2.5 billion spending plan, which he presented Feb. 10, saying that it was “not adequate to protect the current level of service in many areas.”

Full story…

Washington Post, February 21, 2016

Education Center at landfill

Prince William County officials last week unveiled plans for a STEM Education Center at the county’s sanitary landfill on Dumfries Road near Independent Hill.

Billed as an interpretative education center for science, technology, engineering and math, the facility would be used to teach students and the public about environmental issues and challenges.

Washington Post, February 1, 2015

Creative financing in Loudoun

Loudoun County officials say a strategic decision that the Board of Supervisors made two years ago has shaped the county’s financing of several major transportation projects and provided a means to help attract businesses to the county.

Washington Post, February 1, 2015

Pacific Boulevard construction

Budget vision scaled back

Less than eight months after approving a spending plan for the next five years that envisioned increasing residential property tax bills by an average of 4 percent annually, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors signaled that it might be changing course.

Washington Post, January 4, 2015

Supervisors nix pay raises

A proposal to increase the salaries of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors apparently died with barely a whisper.

Washington Post, November 10, 2014

Tom Jackman of the Post weighs in.

Committee favors pay raises

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors’ Finance, Government Services and Operations Committee recently voted, 3 to 2, to recommend pay increases for board members.

Washington Post, October 29, 2014

The Post’s Tom Jackman comments.

Revenue shortfall for Prince William

The Prince William County government is facing a revenue shortfall of $5.9 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Washington Post, August 31, 2014