By Heather Michon’
Correspondent
The Fluvanna County School Board presented their proposed $43.3 million budget to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday (Feb. 19).
Superintendent Chuck Winkler gave an overview of the proposal, which was passed by the school board on Feb. 12 by a vote of 3-2.
The Fluvanna County school system serves around 3,400 students ranging in age from 2 to 21. Per pupil expenditures were expected to rise from $11,177 in 2019 to $12,183 in 2020, a 9 percent increase.
Some of the challenges for FY21 include replacement of aging school buses, a mandated increase in contributions to the state retirement fund, the need for additional teaching and coaching staff, and potential increases in health insurance rates.
The school system’s funding comes from a mosaic of local, state, and federal sources–but how much they stand to receive is usually not known at budget time, requiring a lot of guesswork on the part of school officials.
Winkler said Governor Ralph Northam’s budget “is probably one of the best budgets, from an educational standpoint, that I’ve seen come out of the state in over a decade.” However, that budget could be altered by the legislature before it passes, either upward or downward.
Some of the drags on school finances over the next year stem from a mandated 1 percent increase in mandated contributions to the Virginia Retirement System. Winkler said that contribution would have a bigger impact on their budget than originally anticipated. “We don’t have any choice,” Winkler said. Health insurance costs are another unknown.
“We spent a great number of weeks going through this with a fine-tooth comb, finding opportunities for savings and finding sort of a common ground amongst the board in terms of what’s important,” said Winkler.
School Board chair Perrie Johnson said she hoped the supervisors would accept the budget as presented, because she and her fellow board members had already battled over the numbers. “This is the budget that we passed, and we think will do the best job under all circumstances to meet our needs,” she said.
Convenience center fees
Finance Director Mary Anna Twisdale presented a revised schedule of fees for the Fluvanna County Convenience Center in an effort to meet the increase costs of hauling trash and hazardous materials from the West River Road facility.
Most fees would increase by just a few dollars, with the cost for dumping household waste, construction debris, yard waste, and scrap metal rising from $57 per ton to $60 per ton.
Mattresses and box springs would see the biggest jump. Previously, the cost for dropping those items was $0. Twisdale suggested an increase to $15 each.
Supervisors balked at increasing the cost of dropping off refrigerators and air conditioners from $10 to $35 each. They recommended capping the price of refrigerators at $25 and AC units to $20.
With those amendments, the motion passed 5-0. Rate increases could go into effect in early April.
FUSD
Rates for customers of the Fork Union Sanitary District (FUSD) could also see some increases later this year.
County Administrator Eric Dahl said FUSD had seen some real improvements in recent years but had not seen any rate increases since 2014. Currently, FUSD customers pay a minimum of $21 a month for fees and up to 2,000 gallons of usage. Dahl proposed raising the minimum to $21.42 a month.
Those who use between 5,000 and 500,000 gallons per month would also see price increases ranging from $1.10 to $110 over current rates.
This was a preliminary report, and no action was taken by supervisors at this time.
Remembering Minnie McGeehee
Supervisors also passed a resolution honoring Minne McGeehee, the longtime Fluvanna County historian who passed away in November. The resolution noted her work in designating the Rivanna as the first Virginia Scenic River and the 57 publications she wrote on Fluvanna and Virginia history over 57 years. Several members of Mrs. McGeehee’s family were on hand to accept the plaque recognizing her contributions.
