Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 18, 1994 TAG: 9403180218
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The good: Because of General Assembly action, the county may get another $290,000 in state revenue next year.
The bad: Because budget planners last year used an incorrect estimate of the number of children in county schools, Montgomery may be facing a $793,000 shortfall in the current budget year.
And a county budget official has suggested the school system return at least $515,000 of that to the Board of Supervisors.
The situation on the school budget, which accounts for more than two-thirds of county spending, didn't sit well with several supervisors.
"This is a negative impact on our budget planning?" asked Supervisor Joe Gorman.
"Big time," replied school Superintendent Herman Bartlett.
The supervisors have advertised an 8-cent increase in the real estate tax rate and a 25-cent increase in the personal property tax rate. They will hear from the public beginning at 7 p.m. Monday at Blacksburg High School.
After two more budget work sessions this week, the supervisors made little progress on finding further cuts that could be used to avoid a tax increase. They reviewed options for across-the-board cuts in school and county spending without coming to a consensus Wednesday night.
If anything, the board got a more refined view of why a series of decisions already made - including library and health building bond issues approved by voters last fall, and opening a new elementary school in September - are all but dictating the county's first tax increase in three years.
The bad news about the inflated pupil estimates came up as Bartlett answered a series of specific questions about the school budget.
After his explanations Thursday and one Wednesday by county fiscal management director Jeff Lunsford, the issue remained unresolved.
From Bartlett's perspective, the county's use of the incorrect estimate of an average daily membership of 9,030 students made the state's contribution look higher and the local one look lower when the Board of Supervisors passed the current budget last spring.
Because those students never materialized and the county thus will not receive the state money, Montgomery now must make up that difference with local tax money.
School officials claim they urged the county to use a lower average daily membership figure of 8,731 pupils. The actual average last fall was 8,750.
The problem is that the state uses one criteria - average daily membership - to decide revenues, while the county spends based on enrollments, which are typically higher than the average. Several supervisors viewed this as a way for the state to shift educational expenses onto local governments.
From Lunsford's view, the county used the higher estimate of 9,030 students only after running it by former Superintendent Harold Dodge in three memos, the last of which he never answered.
Bartlett replaced Dodge last summer.
According to Lunsford's draft budget, the county cannot take back its share of the per pupil expense based on the 9,030 students figure. That accounts for about $280,000.
But the supervisors can ask that the School Board send the balance of $515,000 back to them. Otherwise, the county will have to dip into cash flow reserves.
by CNB