3/30/2004 - Special
March 30, 2004
265
Roanoke County Administration Center
5204 Bernard Drive
Roanoke, Virginia 24018
March 30, 2004
The Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia met this day at the
Roanoke County Administration Center, this being an adjourned meeting from March
th
23, 2004, for the purpose of a budget work session at 4:00 p.m. in the 4 Floor
Conference Room and to hear funding requests from cultural and tourism agencies at
7:00 p.m. in the Board Meeting Room.
IN RE: CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Flora called the meeting to order for the County of Roanoke at
4:03 p.m. The roll call was taken.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Chairman Richard C. Flora, Vice-Chairman Michael W.
Altizer, Supervisors Joseph McNamara, Michael A. Wray
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Supervisor Joseph B. “Butch” Church,
STAFF PRESENT:
Elmer C. Hodge, County Administrator; John M. Chambliss,
Assistant County Administrator; Dan O’Donnell, Assistant
County Administrator; Diane S. Childers, Clerk to the Board;
Teresa Hamilton Hall, Public Information Officer; Diane D.
Hyatt, Chief Financial Officer; Brent Robertson, Director of
Management and Budget; Anne Marie Green, Director of
General Services
IN RE: WORK SESSION
1. Work session to present overview of fiscal year 2004-2005
proposed budget. (Elmer Hodge, County Administrator)
(a) Discussion of Capital Improvements Program (CIP) projects
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as submitted by the CIP Advisory Committee
(b) Increases in operating expenditures
(c) Current and projected 2004-2005 revenues
(d) Funding for vehicle purchases
The work session was held from 4:03 p.m. until 5:15 p.m. Mr. Hodge
advised that the following information would be presented: (1) an overview of the fiscal
year (FY) 2004-2005 budget development process; (2) capital programming needs; (3)
uses of new revenue; (4) unfunded requests; and (5) revenue summary. He advised
that the budget has been developed with no increases in fees, taxes, or staffing. Salary
increases are currently projected at 2% but once additional information is available from
the state, the objective is to fund a 3% increase. He stated that funding for capital
projects will be phased-in.
Mr. Robertson advised that the County is strategically positioned for the
future and is financially stable with a 7.69% general fund balance reserve. He stated
that significant challenges facing the County include the following: (1) no significant
capital needs have been addressed in the last 14 years; (2) the continuing growth in
public safety concerns; (3) management of growth and development; (4) ability to offer
competitive employee benefits; (5) Roanoke County is a suburban tax base but offers
urban services; and (6) demographic and societal changes in the areas of social
services; parks, recreation, and tourism; and libraries. He advised that the Level 1
capital program priorities are as follows: fire and rescue paging system, public safety
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800 MHz radio system upgrade, HP migration, remittance processing system for the
Treasurer’s Office, fire and rescue EMS data reporting system, public safety center –
option 2, information technology network infrastructure upgrade, and regional storm
water management/flood control.
Ms. Hyatt presented cost estimates and proposed funding sources for the
following capital projects: (1) Paging System ($796,000) - implementation: FY04-05.
Proposed funding sources: FY02-03 fire and rescue fees ($396,000); FY03-04 fire and
rescue fees ($400,000). (2) Public safety building ($20 million) – implementation:
FY04-05 through FY06-07. Proposed funding sources: capital balance ($8,000,000);
E-911 reserves - CAD ($800,000); economic development incentives payback
($1,000,000 per year). This will allow a down payment of $8.8 million; $11.2 million will
be borrowed. (3) Public safety radio upgrades ($10 million) – implementation: FY05-06
through FY06-07. Proposed funding sources: capital balance ($3,000,000); fire and
rescue fees FY04 forward ($400,000 per year). This will allow a down payment of $3.4
million; $6.6 million will be borrowed. (4) Vinton fire and rescue station ($400,000) –
implementation FY04-05 through FY05-06. Proposed funding sources: capital balance
($119,600); year-end revenue balance ($280,400). (5) Valleypointe – Phase II
($3,000,000) – implementation: FY04-05 through FY09-10. Proposed funding sources:
public/private partnership balance ($500,000); reallocation of funding for the Center for
Research and Technology (CRT) ($500,000 per year). (6) Regional jail ($15 million) –
implementation: FY05-06 through FY07-08. Proposed funding sources: completion of
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the HP migration project ($750,000 per year); borrow $15 million. This project is not
fully funded.
Ms. Hyatt presented a comparison of outstanding debt for the County and
Schools which illustrated that the County’s outstanding debt is approximately $20 million
compared with the School’s outstanding debt of approximately $80 million. The annual
debt service payments for the School’s debt are approximately $10 million, compared
with $2 million for the County. This is a result of the recent focus on improvements to
the schools which has resulted in a lack of funding for County capital projects.
Following discussion by the Board, there was a consensus that a more balanced
approach to funding capital needs for both the County and Schools was needed.
Mr. Robertson advised that new revenues are anticipated to total
approximately $6.7 million and he outlined the following proposed uses: (1) Virginia
Retirement System (VRS) increase - $2,000,000; (2) Health insurance increase –
$251,237; (3) Employee salary increase of 2% - $760,000; (4) Deferred compensation
match - $185,000; (5) Increased operating transfer to Schools - $415,910; (6) Bulk and
brush collection - $90,000; (7) Drainage maintenance - $257,700; (8) Decrease in utility
transfers - $316,000; (9) Cortran increases - $78,000; (10) Community Policy
Management Team (CPMT) mandated cases - $1,000,000; (11) HP migration -
$230,463; (12) Fuel cost increases - $50,000; (13) Tipping fees for increased tonnages
- $65,000; (14) IT infrastructure and licensing - $120,000; (15) Outsourcing jail inmates -
$150,000; (16) Capital maintenance - $150,000.
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Ms. Green advised that the Vehicle Replacement Committee has
reviewed mileage, maintenance costs, and use requirements to determine vehicle
replacement needs. A vehicle step-down procedure is being utilized, and the following
funding mechanisms have been identified: capital replacement funds - $233,885 and
departmental budgets - $393,474. Mr. Robertson presented an overview of the vehicle
replacement requests.
Mr. Robertson reviewed the new position requests and operating
increases which were unfunded. The total unfunded operational requests for fiscal
year 2004-2005 are $2,191,949. Projected new revenues for 2004-2005 are
$6,785,266 assuming a projected growth rate of 2%. Total dedicated revenues are
$7,839,112 which includes economic development incentives, rescue transport fees,
new social service program reimbursements, and discretionary revenues.
Supervisor McNamara requested that Ms. Hyatt obtain current information
on the following debt ratios prior to the joint meeting with the School Board tomorrow:
net debt per capita, net debt to assessments, and debt service to general fund
expenditures. He also expressed concern that the reallocation of economic
development incentive funds to County capital projects will provide an incentive for the
County to offer more economic development incentives to businesses. He also noted
that this budget reflects a change in the philosophy regarding the division of revenues
between the County and Schools. He recommended that a capital funding source could
be identified by increasing the projected revenue estimates and accruing these funds to
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a capital account to be spent at year-end. He also advised that all requests for new
personnel should be evaluated carefully.
Supervisor Altizer stated that the reason the schools are receiving a
disproportionate share of capital funding is due to the fact that their capital needs had
been neglected in the past and needed to be brought up to standards. He advised that
needs currently exist for the County, and the balance needs to be equalized between
the County and Schools. He stated that funds must be allocated for capital needs in
each budget year.
Supervisor Flora stated that a revenue source must be identified for both
County and School capital needs. He voiced support for using economic development
incentive funds for a one-time project, but not on a recurring basis. He indicated that
once the County’s current capital needs are met, the needs of both the County and
Schools should be funded on a more equal basis.
Mr. Hodge advised that each of the capital projects presented at the
meeting will be brought to the Board for funding approval prior to implementation. He
stated that careful planning and prudent spending have allowed the County to do many
of these projects. It is anticipated that a budget work session will be held at the April 13
meeting to review any information that may become available from the state.
Mr. Mahoney advised that Pete Giesen, Roanoke County’s Special
Assistant for Legislative Relations, advised that House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith
introduced a bill in the General Assembly today that would adopt a one-year budget
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totaling $13.1 billion. The bill goes to the House Appropriations Committee tonight and
to the Senate on Friday.
IN RE: BOARD RECESS
Chairman Flora declared that the Board would be in recess from 5:15 p.m.
until 7:00 p.m.
IN RE: OPEN SESSION
At 7:03 p.m., the Board returned to open session.
IN RE: FUNDING REQUESTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004-2005 BUDGET
1. Cultural and Tourism Agencies
Chairman Flora advised that this time has been set aside for cultural and
tourism agencies to submit funding requests to the Board for the 2004-2005 budget. He
noted that agencies will be called upon to speak in alphabetical order and requests had
been received from 24 agencies. The following representatives spoke on behalf of their
agencies: (1) Kim Williamson, Art Museum of Western Virginia - $2,500; (2) Will Davis,
Arts Council of the Blue Ridge - $3,000; (3) Don Harrison, Center in the Square -
$45,000; (4) Charlie Hamill, Downtown Music Lab - $5,000; (5) Aletha Bolden, Harrison
Museum of African American Culture - $2,500; (6) Kent Chrisman, History Museum and
Historical Society of Western Virginia - $10,000; O. Winston Link Museum - $5,000; (7)
James Arend, Jefferson Center Foundation - $45,000; (8) Sue Taylor, Julian Stanley
Wise Museum - $35,000; (9) Jere Hodgin, Mill Mountain Theatre - $8,500; (10) Beth
Poff, Mill Mountain Zoo - $8,000; (11) Lisa Ison, New Century Venture Center - $10,000;
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(12) G. Ronald Kastner, Opera Roanoke - $2,500; (13) Thomas McKeon, Roanoke
Higher Education Center - $20,000; (14) Beth Doughty and Will Andrews, Roanoke
Regional Chamber of Commerce - $10,000; (15) John Hans, Roanoke Symphony -
$7,000; (16) Debbie Kavitz, Salem/Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce - $6,000;
(17) Stewart Hill, Science Museum of Western Virginia - $25,000; (18) Peter Lampman,
Virginia Amateur Sports - $50,000; (19) Robert Dills, Virginia Museum of Transportation
- $10,000; (20) Roger Holnback, Western Virginia Land Trust - $10,000; (21) Ron
Crawford, Western Virginia Land Trust/Read Mountain Alliance - $1,000; (22) Warren
G. Via, Williamson Road Area Business Association - $10,000; (23) Judith Clark and
Michael Quinn, Young Audiences of Virginia, Inc. - $10,440; (24) Ellen Brown, Total
Action Against Poverty (TAP) - $31,500; TAP Transitional Living Center - $21,000.
IN RE: REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS
Supervisor McNamara: He expressed appreciation to the representatives
of the agencies who had spoken regarding funding requests at tonight’s meeting and
the meeting on March 23. He advised that the Board has some tough decisions to
make, and noted that the state funding reductions have had a major impact on these
organizations and the County needs to carefully consider ways to assist them.
Supervisor Flora: He concurred with Supervisor McNamara and also
expressed appreciation to the speakers for their presentations to the Board.
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IN RE: ADJOURNMENT
At 8:18 p.m., Chairman Flora adjourned the Roanoke County Board of
Supervisors meeting to March 31, 2004, at 5:30 p.m. for the purpose of a joint budget
work session with the Roanoke County School Board.
Submitted by: Approved by:
________________________ ________________________
Diane S. Childers Richard C. Flora
Clerk to the Board Chairman
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