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The Galax Gazette
By BEN BOMBERGER
Published 05-19-2009
INDEPENDENCE — After months of meetings and
talks between the Grayson Board of Supervisors and county school board, the
school division may get exactly what it requested for the 2009-10 budget.
But, additional cuts may still be needed.
The school board submitted a request to the supervisors for
level funding — no increase or decrease — for the 2009-10 school budget, in the
amount of $4.65 million.
In the past several months, the amount supervisors expected
to provide has ranged anywhere from $3.9 million — the minimum required to get
full state funding — to the entire $4.65 million.
Now, the supervisors are looking at giving the school
system $4.61 million, with only one cut — taking $41,500 out of the school
board's budget to pay for a school resource officer and placing that cost in
the sheriff's budget.
This would essentially give the school system exactly what
it wanted.
There is downside to the proposal, however. The school
system's $4.65 million spending plan budgeted only $377,000 to be returned to
the county, the result of savings from closing two schools.
The supervisors now plan to hold the school system
responsible for $634,000, a figure supervisors claim they agreed to before the
long-range facilities plan was ever adopted.
In other words, the school system will get its $4.6
million, but will have to return to the county $257,000 more than it budgeted
for.
Supervisors' Chairman Mike Maynard suggested giving the
school board an opportunity to return a large portion of that money in the
current year's budget instead.
Maynard said if the school system could return $257,000
after next month's closeout at the end of the current fiscal year, it would not
be required to come up with that money in the 2009-10 budget and would have
everything it requested.
The problem with the idea is that, if the school system
gives back $257,000 at the end of this fiscal year, it could put the county's
share of school spending below the required contribution to obtain full state
funding.
According to numbers provided during the meeting, the
school system could potentially return $180,000 this year and keep the county's
share above the minimum requirement.
If the school system returns a portion of the $257,000 next
month, they would only be required to provide the difference during the 2009-10
budget.
If they return no money to the county before July 1, the entire
$257,000 will be due next year.
Maynard added that the board should also look at a
different way of appropriating the school's money.
The county currently appropriates half the budget in
October and the other half around May.
The board is considering appropriating the school's budget
in only two categories, one that would be solely the money the school must
return to the county — the $634,000 — and the other a lump sum that the school
board could spend as it sees fit.
Currently, the school budget is appropriated in seven
categories.
Although supervisors left the meeting last Tuesday night
declaring the expense side of the budget was complete, no decisions are final
until the school board's budget is approved at a May 26 meeting, scheduled to
begin at 5 p.m. with a VDOT public hearing, followed by adoption of the school
board's budget.
In other budget news, Grayson Sheriff Richard Vaughan also
spoke with the board during the meeting to explain his request.
Vaughan said his budget may appear a lot
larger than last year's total, but only includes an additional $45,000 in
funding from the county. Of that, Vaughan
said $41,500 is salary for a school resource officer, a line item that will be
moved from the school board budget to the sheriff's budget.
Vaughan said the additional couple
thousand dollars were minor increases that resulted in having more deputies
this year. Those increases are in education, technology, telecommunications,
ammunition and travel.
Vaughan added that $36,615 had to be
included in the automobile line item, as well, as the department had signed an
agreement on the lease-purchase of five new Dodge Chargers last year. The
agreement included three payments of $36,615.
If the county provides no additional funding, the
department would not be able to purchase any new vehicles this year.
Vaughan said the increases were offset
with decreases in other areas of the budget, as well as some increases in
revenue.
The department has also provided the county with an
additional $20,000 this year from the traffic fees. Vaughan asked the board to consider giving
him part of that money to close the $45,000 gap, but supervisors had other
ideas.
The drug forfeiture and assets account has roughly $109,000
in it, but the supervisors can't use that money in the budget.
They could only provide the sheriff with the same amount as
last year and Vaughan
would have to come up with a way to pay for the additional position. One option
is to request to use money from the drug fund to pay for the school resource
officer position.
The county is allowed to use the fund to pay for the first
year of employment.
Vaughan noted that he would rather that
money be used to increase what the department has to spend, instead of relying
on it to supplement something in the budget.
The other option discussed was to take the $41,500 out of
the school board's budget and place it in the sheriff's budget, essentially
canceling the two figures out.
Maynard, however, said he would rather use that $41,500
from the school's budget to close the $1.1 million gap the county is facing
between its revenue and expenses and “entertain” any ideas the sheriff had to
pay for the additional position.
• Supervisors will meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to begin
working on the revenue side of the budget.
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