Editorial
With the ongoing chaotic cuts to federal funding for so many different programs that we depend upon, it’s probably a good idea to keep tabs on what’s going on at the local level. Budgets are now being formulated for next year by the three Rockbridge area local governments.
In Rockbridge County, a proposed $65,514,357 budget that calls for a 3-cent increase to the real estate tax is going to a public hearing this Monday, April 28, at 6 p.m., in the downstairs meeting room of the county administration building. The document includes 3 percent pay raises for county employees and an additional 10 percent pay hike for fire and rescue workers. The draft proposes taking $4,557,316 from reserves to be spent on capital projects.
Something that was proposed at one of the last budget work sessions was to eliminate all of the funding, $158,417, for the county’s preschool program. This proposal would eliminate a preschool program that the county has had for decades. Enrollment is down, with just 24 children being served at three different locations – Goshen, Fairfield and Effinger. These children attend preschool three days a week, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The program’s long-time director, Edwina Shafer, is retiring.
We’re not sure this is the best time to be eliminating a program that has served the county so well for so long. A recent study conducted by the county’s economic development office found there to be a shortage of day care options for working families in the Rockbridge area. Also, federal cuts being contemplated in Washington, D.C., include eliminating Head Start, a nationwide preschool program that serves economically disadvantaged families. Head Start has a strong presence in our area and we sure don’t want to be without it.
Something else to keep an eye on locally concerning government spending is the funding for extending broadband fiber to unserved parts of the county. The writer of a letter to the editor in today’s newspaper reports that a budget bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives did not include funding for a USDA grant that was to pay for extending broadband to the Effinger area. This is a matter of great concern because many residents in this part of the county have waited years to get reliable, fast internet service. We were under the impression that this USDA grant had been approved back in the fall but maybe it’s being clawed back.
That is apparently something that we at the local level have no control over, other than to let our congressional representatives know that we oppose these cuts in federal spending. We do feel that all of us to have more say in what goes on at the local level. That’s why it’s so important for us to be engaged with local government officials and to be aware of what’s happening with the budget planning process for next year.
Buena Vista’s budget and finance committee has been holding frequent meetings in which City Council members Steve Webb and Michelle Poluikis, along with Finance Director Steve Bolster and City Manager Jason Tyree, have been scrutinizing a draft budget, line item by line item. Their budget planning has been made especially difficult this year due to several factors – a 12 percent increase in health care premiums for city employees, the loss of funding for two school resource officers and the loss of revenues from Mountain Gateway Community College vacating the city-owned Rockbridge Center on Vista Links Drive.
In Lexington, meanwhile, City Council has been poring over a proposed $47.39 million budget that calls for making $3.47 million in capital investment expenditures. The draft includes provisions to prioritize bringing pay levels up for employees at the lower end of the scale to a living wage. Although water rates are not proposed to increase, the city is to begin collecting a recently adopted storm water utility fee and is switching to a master meter for Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University that will significantly increase what the two colleges pay to the city.
Lexington City Council is scheduled to adopt its budget next Thursday, May 1. Buena Vista’s public hearing on its proposed budget is slated to take place next Thursday, May 1, with adoption set for two weeks later, May 15.
We encourage everyone to be aware of the local budget planning process and to make your views known to our elected leaders.
