TRANSMITTAL TITLE LETTER February 18, 2014 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Board: On behalf of Prince William County staff, I am pleased to deliver the Prince William County Executive s Proposed FY 2015 Budget and the accompanying Five Year Plan. The presentation of the Proposed Budget fulfills my responsibilities to implement the Board of County Supervisors policy guidance and work toward the community s strategic vision and goals. It also meets my statutory and administrative obligations to prepare and present a balanced budget for your consideration. Your policy guidance, provided in December, was to prepare a balanced budget that allows for no more than a 2.5% increase in the average residential tax bill. One year ago, the County anticipated growth in residential properties to be 4.5% with commercial growing at 3%. Actual residential value growth came in higher than anticipated due to very positive growth in existing residential values. Commercial values also increased but not as high as anticipated at 2.5% vs. 3%. The County did see its best economic development year in 17 years in 2013 with over $1 billion of commercial investment in the county. When the Board s adopted tax policy to keep existing residential tax bills growth to 2.5% is applied, the tax rate must be decreased by six cents in FY 15. This tax rate change does reduce anticipated revenues in both the County and School budgets. The budget proposed today rebalances the Proposed Budget and the Five Year Plan at the lower revenue amount while maintaining the Board s adopted tax policy. The Proposed Budget is balanced at a tax rate of $1.126 per $100 of value and generates an average residential tax bill of $3,499, a 2.5% increase over the FY 14 average of $3,414. This generates an average tax bill increase of $85 annually or $7 per month. Within that financial framework, the Proposed Budget also supports the community s strategic vision: Prince William County is a community of choice with a strong, diverse economic base, where families and individuals choose to live and work and businesses choose to locate as well as the five strategic goals: Economic Development - The County will provide a robust, diverse economy with more quality jobs and an expanded commercial tax base. Education - The County will provide an educational environment rich in opportunities to increase educational attainment for workforce readiness, post-secondary education, and lifelong learning. v
Human Services - The County will provide human services to individuals and families most at risk, through innovative and effective leveraging of state and federal funds and community partnerships. Public Safety - The County will maintain safe neighborhoods and business areas and provide prompt response to emergencies. Transportation - The County will provide a multi-modal transportation network that supports County and regional connectivity. Budget Savings This proposed budget continues the practice of first finding savings before proposing new expenditures. Zero-based budget analysis was introduced in the FY 2011 budget. To date, this has reduced the County s base budget by $27 million. At the same time a capital debt team was formed to look for debt savings through just-in-time debt sales and restructuring. This has saved County taxpayers another $7.8 million. For over a decade, the Board of County Supervisors has used agency year end savings as a revenue source in the Five Year Plan in order to return these savings to the taxpayer and reduce the tax bill. Currently, over $13.2 million in agency savings support this practice. This Proposed Budget and Five Year Plan contain savings that allow the budget to come in rebalanced at lower revenues from the Board s adopted tax policy. These savings include: VRS Savings = $2.8 million in FY 15/$23.8 million Five Year Plan CIP Project Timing/Just-in-Time Debt Sales = $10.3 million in FY 15/$13.7 million Five Year Plan Health and Dental Insurance - $1.4 million in FY 15/$6.1 million Five Year Plan Remove one-time expenditures - $1.8 million in FY 15 Continued Zero-Based Budget Analysis - $1.7 million in FY 15 Development Fee Reimbursement - $0.5 million in FY 15/$2.6 million Five Year Plan TRIP Cost Recovery - $0.3 million in FY 15/$1.5 million Five Year Plan Proposed FY 2015 Budget Summary The Proposed Budget, including the transfer to Schools, increases by $13.3 million, or 1.38%, over FY 14. The County portion increases by $3.5 million, or 0.72%; the Schools transfer increases by $9.7 million, or 2.07%. General Fund Expenditures FY 14 FY 15 Dollar Percent Funding Area Adopted Proposed Change Change County Government $491,738,554 $495,279,856 $3,541,302 0.72% Transfer To Schools $470,827,490 $480,577,170 $9,749,680 2.07% Total General Fund $962,566,044 $975,857,026 $13,290,982 1.38% Revenues General fund revenues include general revenues, agency revenues and County resources, and are used to fund the County and Schools budgets. The Proposed Budget is based on total general fund revenues of $975,857,026; the adopted Five Year Plan anticipated $985,530,397. General revenues of $861,833,750 were projected; revenue projections have been adjusted to $846,734,460, a 1.8% decrease. vi
Agency revenues were anticipated to total $105,299,823, but have been adjusted to $111,166,900, a 5.6% increase. Other County resources needed to support the budget were anticipated at $18,396,824; the proposed budget requires $17,955,666, a 2.4% decrease. Of this total, $495,279,856 is devoted to County programs and services, a $993,131 (0.2%) decrease from anticipated revenues. Operating Budget Proposals Expenditures The Proposed Budget is organized into four functional areas Community Development, General Government, Human Services and Public Safety. The following are highlights of the proposed FY 15 operating investments. Community Development: Increases for fuel, utilities, streetlights and vehicle replacement - $1.1 million General Government: Four technology systems developers to support public safety and general government systems and applications - $0.5 million Human Services: At Risk Youth & Family Services support - $0.5 million Four Community Services staff for Department of Justice settlement - no County funds; 100% Medicaid reimbursed Birmingham Green - $0.8 million Public Safety: Five Police officers - $1.36 million. This is a reduction from the planned ten sworn officers anticipated in the Five Year Plan, One Basic Life Support Unit (4 uniform Fire & Rescue positions) - $0.5 million. This is a reduction from the planned 17 Fire & Rescue positions anticipated in the Five Year Plan Operating increases and 9.4 FTEs for Adult Detention Center - $1 million Line of Duty Act actuarial increases - $1.9 million ($0.45 million from fire levy) Compensation: Implements the Board of County Supervisor s adopted compensation plan alternating merit and pay plan increases for County staff. FY 15 proposes a 3% merit increase. Additionally, the Proposed Budget implements the County/Schools Revenue Sharing Agreement, with 57.23% of all general revenues (excluding the recordation tax that is dedicated to fund transportation) going to Prince William County Schools. The revenue split generates $480,577,170 for the Schools. Proposed FY 2015-2019 Five Year Plan County policy states that no expenditures shall be included in the annual budget unless they are affordable throughout the life of the Five Year Plan, and revenues and expenditures must balance in all five years of the plan. Major components of the Five Year Plan include capital improvements, staffing plans and employee compensation. Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Past investment decisions are beginning to come to fruition and the community will see new facilities opening soon Fuller Heights Park (2014), Gainesville and Montclair Libraries (2015), Central District Police Station (2016), Catharpin Park (2016) and Bacon Race Fire & Rescue Station (2017). We continue to make progress to ease traffic vii
congestion with $101.3 million in road projects Fuller Road/Fuller Heights Road, Logmill Road, Minnieville Road, Prince William Parkway, Purcell Road/Route 234, Route 1, Route 28, Telegraph Road, U.S. Marine Corps Heritage Center Parkway and Vint Hill Road. The new Northern Virginia Transportation Authority funding opens up a new chapter of transportation investment both regionally and locally. The County adopts a six year CIP, with the first five years included in the proposed Five Year Plan. Total investment in County projects in the CIP, FY 15 through FY 19, totals $327.5 million. The general fund Five Year Plan contribution is $78.4 million, with $5.0 million in cash and another $73.4 million dedicated to debt service payments. Staffing Plans The Board has encouraged the development of staffing plans in public service agencies, primarily Police and Fire & Rescue, to ensure the growth of sworn and uniform staff as the general population increases. The County s ability to fully implement the staffing plans is constrained by the tax policy, and the Proposed Budget increases staffing levels in Police, Fire & Rescue, and Adult Detention as highlighted in the FY 15 expenditure section above. Additionally, the out years of the Five Year Plan include additional public safety staff. Fire & Rescue - Bacon Race Station staffing of 13 uniform Fire & Rescue positions in FY 16 and 16 uniform positions in FY 17, and an additional 43 uniform positions FY 17 through FY 19 Police - Ten new sworn officers each year, FY 16 through FY 19 Employee Compensation The proposed Five Year Plan maintains the compensation adjustments first adopted in the FY 2013-2017 Five Year Plan - alternating 3% pay-for-performance with 2% market adjustment. The proposed Five Year Plan includes the 3% pay-for-performance adjustment in FY 15, 17 and 19, and the 2% market adjustment in FY 16 and 18. Outstanding Issues This proposed budget does not address the following outstanding issues: 2006 Park Bond The Park Bond was overwhelmingly supported by County voters in 2006 with 76% voting to support the bond expenditures to improve parks and recreation. The total bond authority was $27 million in debt, with $5 million in proffer expenditures, for a total investment of $32 million. To date, $13 million of bonds have been sold. Hellwig Park, Fuller Heights Park, Catharpin Park, Veterans Park, sports field improvements and trails construction have been completed or are underway. The County will request a time extension for the legally allowed ten years for the remaining $14 million but that will expire in November 2016. Jail Overcrowding - In FY 14, the Board of County Supervisors funded a Community Corrections Plan (CCP) to assess inmate capacity and overcrowding at the Regional Adult Detention Center (ADC). The CCP will be presented to the BOCS in March and will show that the Jail is currently 505 beds short to meet their needs, based on State rated capacity and CCP inmate forecasts. The report recommends construction of the next expansion, with 200 beds, to be opened by 2019. Net debt service and operating expenses are estimated to be $7.5 million per year. This is not funded in the Proposed CIP or the Five Year Plan. Even with a new 200 bed addition, the ADC will still be short by 507 State rated beds in FY 19 based on the CCP inmate forecast. Conclusion Through the County s Strategic Plan the community has identified the initiatives they believe will take us toward our vision. These choices directed the development of the Proposed FY 2015 Budget and 2015-2019 Five Year Plan, within the overall guidance provided by the BOCS. The upcoming public hearings provide the community with another opportunity to make their voices heard, and the BOCS will once again balance what the community desires in services with what they are willing to pay for those services to reach the adopted budget. County staff remains committed to our vision to do the right thing for our customers and the community every time. History shows that when this organization works together with the Board and the community to make tough decisions, our combined efforts move us toward our adopted vision. The most recent Community Survey showed that county residents appreciate the efforts to keep their tax burden the lowest in the region while providing exceptional viii
TRANSMITTAL TITLE LETTER customer service. That has been a guiding principle in producing the Proposed Budget for your consideration. I would also like to thank the Office of Management & Budget and agency staff for their tireless efforts to produce this budget in keeping with the Board s and community s choices. As an organization, we look forward to working with the Board and the community over the coming year and providing whatever support is requested. Sincerely, Melissa S. Peacor County Executive ix
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