04-08-2013 Adjourned Meeting - Budget Public HearingsPublic Hearings-School Safety Initiative, School and Annual Budget FY2013/14
April 8, 2013
Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors
Monday, April 8, 2013
Public Hearings for
School Safety Initiative,
FY2013/14 Pittsylvania County School
and
Annual County Budget
VIRGINIA: The Adjourned Meeting of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors
was held on Monday, April 8, 2013 in the Pittsylvania County School Educational and Cultural
auditorium located at 39 Banks Street in Chatham, Virginia. Marshall A. Ecker, Chairman, called
the meeting to order at 7:00p.m. The following members were present:
Tim Barber Tunstall District
Coy E. Harville Westover District
James Snead Dan River District
Jessie L. Barksdale Banister District
Jerry A. Hagerman Callands-Gretna District
Marshall Ecker Staunton River District
Ms. Brenda H. Bowman, Chatham-Blairs District, was absent from the meeting.
Mr. William D. Sleeper, County Administrator, Mr. J. Vaden Hunt, County Attorney,
Ms. Kimberly Van Der Hyde, Director of Finance, and Ms. Rebecca Flippen, Deputy Clerk to
the Board, were also present.
Also present were the members of the Pittsylvania County School Board.
Mr. Ecker led the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Motion was made by Mr. Harville, seconded by Mr. Snead, to approve the agenda,
which was unanimously approved by the Board with the exception of Ms. Bowman who was
absent.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
FY2013/14 SCHOOL SAFETY INITATIVE
Public hearing to receive citizen input on the proposed School Safety Initiative for fiscal year
2014. The County budget proposes an 8¢ increase on the real estate tax rate from 56¢ to 64¢ per
$100 of assessed value, 5¢ of which is needed to fund this initiative. Public meetings have been
held by Sheriff Mike Taylor to discuss this new school safety initiative. The public hearing will
allow the Board of Supervisors to receive citizen input on the inclusion of this safety initiative in
the County’s FY 2014 budget. Separate public hearings will be held for the proposed school
budget and the proposed County Budget.
Mr. Ecker opened the public hearing at 7:03pm. The following citizens signed up to
speak: Mr. Jim Jennings, a representative for the Safety Initiative, made comments concerning
the non-profit organization formed, “It’s All About the Kids, Inc.” that will be able to receive
contributions towards the Safety Initiative from private entities/businesses with the expressed
purpose of augmenting the County Budget to pay for this program. This non-profit has already
applied for its non-profit federal ID, set up a bank account, committees have formed and have
begun drawing up federal and state grant requests, and donations are already being received. Mr.
Jennings urged the Board to favorably consider this proposed initiative for the safety of the
school children.
Mr. Roger Williams, Chatham-Blairs District, supported the School Safety Initiative but
rather than a tax increase to fund it, he would like to see the Board re-visit the uranium mining
issue and possibly use revenues from mining to pay for the School Safety Initiative.
The following citizens supported the School Safety Initiative as presented, including the total
8% tax increase to fund it in the FY2013/14 budget, along with the School Budget and County
Budget: Sarah Collins, Dan River District and former public school teacher in the Danville
schools; Jamie Bethal, Dan River District; Willie Fitzgerald, Banister District and President of
the Pittsylvania County Chapter of the NAACP; Danny Hearp, Tunstall District; Richard Tate,
Dan River District. The Honorable Sheriff Michael Taylor also speak in favor of approving the
School Safety Initiative.
The following citizens spoke in support of having a School Safety Initiative, but with no tax
increase and instead of hiring more deputies, to use the existing 15 deputy positions whose salary
Public Hearings-School Safety Initiative, School and Annual Budget FY2013/14
April 8, 2013
is already funded by the County, and to alternative ways to fund the program rather than a tax
increase, and before a tax increase to fund this program occurred, to implement any possible
budget cuts and possible cuts to the safety initiative program, suspend funding industrial park
development, in particularly the further development of the Berry Hill Mega Park, until the
School Safety Initiative was well underway: Dave Hutcherson, Staunton River District; Donald
Gilbert, Chatham-Blairs District; B.J. Greene, Callands-Gretna District; Nancy Motley,
Chatham-Blairs District; Eugene Carter, Chatham-Blairs District; and George Stanhope,
Callands-Gretna District.
Mr. Joe Spence, Dan River District, stated he believed the parents of the children in schools
should bear the burden of the cost to implement this program and not a tax increase to the
general public to implement the program.
Mr. Harold Arthor of the Callands-Gretna District, felt this was a knee-jerk reaction to the
Sandy Hook incident, and there should be an emphasis on mental health issues, which has been
the root cause of all incidents like Ft. Hood and Sandy Hook, and therefore did not support the
School Safety Initiative proposal.
Mr. James Dehart, Westover District, felt the School Safety Initiative should be under the
control of the School Board and their staff, and does not agree with the proposed initiative as
presented.
This concluded citizen input and Mr. Ecker closed the hearing at 7:47pm.
FY2013/14 PROPOSED PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY SCHOOL BUDGET
Public hearing to hear citizen input on the proposed $89,773,058.00 school budget for fiscal year
2014. The School budget is part of the overall County budget which proposes an 8¢ increase on
the real estate tax rate from 56¢ to 64¢ per $100 of assessed value. Separate public hearings will
be held for the proposed County budget and the proposed school safety initiative.
Mr. Ecker opened the public hearing at 7:48pm.
2012-2013 2013-2014
REVENUES
From Sales Tax 9,065,767 9,411,495
From State Funds 45,781,292 46,915,949
From Federal Funds 8,372,272 8,620,468
From Local Funds 14,790,922 15,630,178
Cafeteria Receipts 4,957,312 5,071,523
From Other Funds 4,203,334 4,123,445
Total $ 87,170,899 $89,773,058
EXPENDITURES
Instruction 60,435,200 62,218,661
Admn./Attend & Health Svcs 3,296,594 3,136,135
Pupil Transportation 5,790,314 6,123,704
Operation & Maintenance 6,638,528 7,575,800
Non-Instructional Operations 2,877,459 3,075,922
Facilities 648,229 -
Technology 2,527,263 2,571,313
Cafeteria 4,957,312 5,071,523
Total $ 87,170,899 $89,773,058
The following citizens were not in favor of any tax increases at all and the Count y and School
Boards should find ways to cut expenditures: Darrel Burnett, Chatham-Blairs District; Joe
Spence, Dan River District; and Donald Gilbert, Chatham-Blairs District.
Willie Fitzgerald, Banister District and President of the Pittsylvania County Chapter of the
NAACP stated he felt the low turnout of citizens for the public hearing was d ue to citizens
believing the Board does not listen to their concerns. Mr. Fitzgerald stated he supports the
proposed school budget and believes the children of Pittsylvania County are the most important
economic development interest the County could invest in because the children are the County’s
future.
John Chaney, Chatham-Blairs District, believed the County should look at ways to increase its
revenues by supporting uranium mining in Pittsylvania County instead of raising taxes.
Nancy Smith, Tunstall District, stated the Board should only give the schools what the state
requires the County to give them, and the school administration should be more accountable,
commenting that a line item budget from the school isn’t even available for citizens t o view, and
Public Hearings-School Safety Initiative, School and Annual Budget FY2013/14
April 8, 2013
for that matter, isn’t even made available to the Board of Supervisors; the schools only provide
the eight (8) categories for funding. Ms. Smith also commented on while the new high school
renovations looked lovely, where was the thought of school safety when designing the high
school renovations to include all the walls of glass, and suggested a lock down procedure like
Stony Mill Elementary School has be implemented at all the schools.
This concluded comments by citizens and Mr. Ecker closed the hearing at 8:08pm.
FY2013/14 PROPOSED PITTYSLVANIA COUNTY BUDGET
Public hearing to hear citizen input on the proposed 2013-2014 County Budget. This budget will
not be considered for adoption until seven (7) days after the public hearing. This n otice is
published pursuant to Sections 15.2-2503, 15.2-2506, and 22.1-93 of the Code of Virginia, 1950,
as amended. The following is a brief synopsis of the budget, which does include the school
budget as well as the proposed school safety initiative. This budget proposes an 8¢ increase on
the real estate tax rate from 56¢ to 64¢ per $100 of assessed value in order to fund this budget.
Separate public hearings will be held to hear citizen input on the proposed school budget and the
proposed safety initiative.
Mr. Ecker opened the public hearing at 8:09pm.
Ms. Everlena Ross, Executive Director for the Pittsylvania County Community Action,
Inc.(PCCA), and citizen of the Chatham-Blairs District, thanked the Board for their continued
support over the years of the PCCA and asked the Board to favorably consider PCCA’s funding
request for FY 2013/14.
The following citizens were not in favor of any tax increases and felt the Board should
continue to find ways to cut expenditures to balance the proposed budget and stop wasteful
spending: Donald Gilbert, Chatham-Blairs District; James Dehart, Westover District; Jim
Scearce, Westover District; and George Stanhope-Callands-Gretna District. Mr. Stanhope did
comment favorably on how much effort the Finance Committee had done so far in cutting
expenditures from the 2013/14 budget and how the County had taken implemented suggestions
given from citizens to the County’s staff for areas to consider making cuts.
The following citizens asked the Board to look once more to at the proposed budget to
find ways to continue to cut wasteful spending before adopting a budget with an 8¢ increase and
Public Hearings-School Safety Initiative, School and Annual Budget FY2013/14
April 8, 2013
did not feel uranium mining was an option as a source of revenue for the County: Deborah Dix,
Chatham-Blairs District; Joe Spence, Dan River District; Phillip Lovelace, Callands-Gretna
District; and Nancy Smith, Tunstall District.
Willie Fitzgerald, Banister District and President of the Pittsylvania County Chapter of the
NAACP, stated he believed citizens needed to come together and support the proposed budget,
and he supported raising taxes when it’s to support a benefit for the citizens.
The following citizens were not in favor of a tax increase and believed the County should
support uranium mining as a revenue source: Bill McAninch, Callands-Gretna District; and Joe
Ayler of the Callands-Gretna District.
This concluded comments by the Citizens and Mr. Ecker closed the hearing at 8:47pm.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by Mr. Harville, seconded by Mr. Snead, to adjourn, which was
unanimously approved by the Board. The meeting adjourned at 8:48pm.
_______________________________________
Marshall A. Ecker, Chairman
Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors
_______________________________________
William D. Sleeper, Clerk
Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors