Editorial
The prolonged wrangling over approving a state budget is causing headaches for localities. The three Rockbridge area governing bodies have approved their budgets for the upcoming year with the caveat that they don’t really know what state funding to expect for the schools. They have used the latest, best available information about projected state funding in formulating their adopted budgets.
In Buena Vista, both City Council and the School Board are proceeding under the assumption that the state budget that’s eventually approved before the end of June will include a provision allowing local governments to hold referendums on whether to establish a 1 percent sales tax to fund local schools infrastructure projects.
The General Assembly this year approved legislation that will allow this provision to move forward with the adoption of the state budget. That being the case, there will likely be a referendum before Buena Vista voters on Nov. 3 in which voters will be asked to approve a 1 percent local sales tax to fund planned improvements at Parry McCluer High School to accommodate the addition of the city’s middle school students.
The School Board passed a resolution this past week related to the plans to proceed with a school construction project that has an estimated price tag of $17 million. Of this amount, $5.1 million is expected to come from the state’s School Construction Assistance program with the remaining $11.9 million to be borrowed through the Literary Loan, Virginia Public School Authority or another such source.
Critical to being able to afford this capital project is the optional local sales tax funding source. When the state budget finally gets approved – assuming it does – city and school officials will have a scant few months to go through the process of getting the referendum question on the ballot this fall and educating the city’s voters about the need to create and tap this funding source.
The century-old Parry McCluer Middle School has been closed for good with the conclusion of the just-completed school year. The city’s sixth- and seventh-grade students will be attending PMHS in the fall. PMHS is being reconfigured in such a way as to separate the middle school grades from those of the high school. This is intended to be an interim step before making the long-term capital improvements necessary to fully accommodate two separate schools in one building. That will entail making renovations that include building a new gymnasium-auditorium and a stand-alone wood shop.
We are hopeful that lawmakers in Richmond will come together shortly and approve a state budget. The holdup has been a disagreement on whether to continue with a tax break for data centers that are proliferating around the state. We urge members of the General Assembly to move quickly to resolve their differences.
A lot is riding on getting the state budget approved, including the plans for this merged school in Buena Vista. We hope the 1 percent sales tax for school capital improvements is an option for Buena Vista’s voters this fall and that they approve it.
