Bailouts, deficits, and recession have been top news stories for weeks now. Having plagued the federal and state government recently, budgetary problems are trickling down into many Virginia localities. The Chesterfield budget department is assessing the county’s position and will report to the Board of Supervisors at their October 22 meeting.

Budget and finance director Alan Carmody, who asked all county departments to trim 3 percent from their budgets last year, says his staff is working diligently to compile data for the board. “We watch everything that is going on. We look at [revenue and expense] activities month to month and quarterly and we do year-end projections. It’s all coming together for us so we can do our report to the board on the 22nd.”

The financial crunch that required a $700 billion bailout and resulted in a $3 billion state budget shortfall has already taken its toll. According to Hampton’s Daily Press, “by mid-October, state officials will announce a 5 percent to 15 percent budget reduction which could change the amount of money available for schools, police, sheriffs’ offices, constitutional offices that collect taxes and maintain court records, and the administrating of social services for things such as food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and energy assistance programs.”

As the county assessor’s office prepares property assessments and tax bills to be mailed in December, it is likely that Chesterfield will see a downturn in revenues from real estate taxes because they are supposed to be based on fair-market value and real estate values in Chesterfield have remained somewhat flat through this year.

Property taxes for automobiles are also down due to the escalated depreciation of SUVs due to the dropping value of gas guzzlers.

Chesterfield County Administrator James J.L. “Jay” Stegmaier said during his opening statement to the board last month that while some counties, such as Fairfax, were looking at budget deficit in the range of $400 million, Chesterfield is not looking at anything to that extent.

“I have told the board in the past that we have taken a much more conservative approach to the budget than that that was taken by the Commonwealth of Virginia. It’s clear that the economic situation is deteriorating and it’s worse than anyone could have anticipated a year ago. We’re still in very good shape, but I can’t tell you that we won’t come back asking for some budgetary cuts,” Stegmaier said. “The single item that bothers me the most right now is what is going to happen at the state level, especially if we have to take our share of the state cut.”

With Chesterfield Public Schools accounting for about 50 percent of the total county budget, any budget adjustment would also affect them.

In Fairfax County, the school board and county administration began holding public meetings last month to discuss budget cuts. According to the Washington Times,  “Officials increased class sizes, reduced central-office support to schools, and were forced to set aside an additional $5.3 million because of rising fuel costs – measures that may be necessary again next year.”

Chesterfield does have a rainy-day fund according to Carmody, and to date, the fund, labeled “fund balance,” is maintained at 7.3 percent of the total budget as part of Chesterfield’s budget policy. “We set aside reserves because we know tough times may come along. And we have consistently exceeded the fund balance,” Carmody said.

mfausz@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421

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