The Proposed Chesterfield Meals Tax is all about funding pensions

Despite talk from the chattering class, the proposed meals tax in Chesterfield County is really all about funding pensions.

Sure they like to talk about rundown schools and the need for new communication equipment; however, both elected officials and the County Budget folks have said that they can fund all of their needs through existing revenue streams. The only thing that changes is the timeframe. It Is the difference between 11 year program and a seven-year program.  

The following article further highlights the pension liability issues at the state level and supports our methodology of looking at the annual CAFR report. The last CAFR report shows that there is $645 million worth of unfunded liability at the local level. Add an additional $80 Billion at the State level and you will see the full "need" beyond schools and public safety.

 

It’s no secret that most state pension plans across the country are deep in the red. However, a study by the nonpartisan group  State Budget Solutions, Promises Made, Promises Broken: The Betrayal of Pensioners and Taxpayers, reveals that defined-benefit public government pension plans face a cumulative $4.1 trillion funding gap. Moreover, the study shows that combined, state pension plans are only 39 percent funded. In order for states to keep their pension promises to retirees and taxpayers, reform is crucial.

The Taxpayer wants two things:

1. Pension Reform to limit the Taxpayer's exposure to unfunded liabilities
2. Budget transparency where the County and CCPS checkbook and budget tools are online and geared towards the Taxpayer asking questions and finding answers to things yet to be uncovered.

 

 

Until the Taxpayer sees progress, the protest continues... Vote NO in NOVEMBER

 

School Budget should be closer to $500M, not $600M

So should our school budget be closer to $500M instead of last year's $623M? 

The Taxpayer has some evidence to suggest that by looking at some tables in the back of this year's annual budget.

We indexed the number of students, teachers, schools, total budget, student teacher ratio, and cost per pupil back to the year 2000 (so for 2000 everything equaled 1.0 as a baseline). 

Remember how nice it was in 2000? Only the fear of Y2k and everything was still peaceful in the world.  The Taxpayer would argue we had a pretty good school system back then too. 

Well what happened??  Students grew by 15%. The number of schools grew by 12%. The number of teachers grew by 23% causing the student teacher ratio to shrink by 7%.  The Chesterfield County Public School budget??  Well take a look for yourself:

For those that don't like silly graphs.  The budget grew by 81% and the cost per pupil grew by 57%.  Adjusting for annual inflation over time, we see that the dollar has 29% less buying power than in 2000. 

The bottomline calculation is that if we just kept pace with inflation and student growth, The Taxpayer would have seen a stable, sustainable budget of about $500M for FY2009 and no belt tightening required.  Instead the discussion is "oh it hurts to get to $575M!!".  We had about $123,000,000 worth of bloat in 2009 alone.  I bet if our school system were funded today at $500M, we would be in a stronger position with our commerical and residential development AND the results of key student performance indicators would have been similar. Instead, we have wasted a decade.

The Taxpayer encourages you to speak out at the upcoming Board of Supervisor meeting at 6PM on Wednesday March 24th.  Many will arrive with their hand out.  Tell them to keep walking and that we need to tighten our local government's finances.

The Taxpayer Thought of the Day:  What would happen if Chesterfield County twittered every expenditure online for the public to see. Just saying...

Three whistles before the graveyard swallows us whole

Our fearless "leaders" continue to whistle past the graveyard related to their past and future budget decisions.

Whistle #1: Robbing the Virginia Retirement System to avoid painful cuts

Virginia is taking away more than $620 million that would have been paid toward state employee and teacher pensions, but the state is leaving an IOU.

“The relief provided by the lowering of retirement system contributions provides a short-term solution to the continued ravaging of public services,“

And those counting on these supposed retirement guarantees?  (It is as close as you get to an early grave...)

At the end of June, the state employee plan was funded at 84 percent but declined to below 62 percent in 2013, based on current rates. The teacher plan stood at 76 percent last year but declined about 59 percent in 2013.

Whistle #2: Using a 9.7% revenue growth rate for the second year of the state biennial budget.

Unfortunately, projections are not nearly as restrained in the second year of the biennium, with the House banking on nearly 8.5% revenue growth and the Senate anticipating 9.7% growth. Did you get that? I'll say it again -- we are projecting that Virginia's tax revenues will grow by almost 10% in the second year of the biennium.

Really?  Wow!  Remind me to buy some stocks!! What this really means is there will be more cutting and bleeding to do next year at the state level when the double dip part of the recession hits again or all those optional ARM foreclosures happen next year.  Real smart work folks. A+

Whistle #3: Using federal stimulus in FY10 and one time savings in FY11 to prop up the bloated school operating budget.

Local funding for schools, which makes up about half the budget, will dip by 1.7 percent with the inclusion of the $12 million in prior year savings. Without it, the reduction would be closer to 7 percent.

“Chesterfield [also] got $19.5 million of federal stimulus money out of the state’s total of $365 million. Chesterfield chose to spend it on operating expenses this year.”

The Taxpayer notices a disturbing trend.  The County prefers to put off tough decisions; instead of creating a stable, sustainable budget platform to deliver only the essential county services necessary in a prolonged recession.  The County should be growing the private sector by shrinking the size and scope of the local government until it is actually smaller than it needs to be.

Well, we could end up like California counties and schools in short order if we don't force our "leaders" to get their act together.

A quick, unscientific look around the Golden State suggests that California's collective deficit may be double the state government's $20 billion budget gap. San Francisco must trim $522 million from its budget. San Jose's upcoming balance sheet is $116.2 million in the red. The Los Angeles Unified School District is staring at a $640 million shortfall.

But... it can't happen here.  We can (and will) save the tough decisions for somebody else next year (or later) as the graveyard swallows us whole like a giant boa eating its prey.  We will pay double for these mistakes.

Durfee and Jaeckle fight bloated and mismanaged public schools

The Chesterfield Observer had these nuggets this week...

Citing concerns about the cost of debt service, Matoaca Supervisor Marleen Durfee and Bermuda Supervisor Dorothy Jaeckle last week cautioned against some items in the capital improvements plan (CIP) for Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS).

It looks like TWO Taxpayer Hero Awards are in order...

Durfee continued to focus on whether additional classroom space is needed when overcrowding can be remedied by redistricting. While Robious Middle is over capacity, there are vacant seats in adjacent districts at Providence and Midlothian middle schools.

Durfee hits it on the head

“We should not only consider deferring some projects but not having some projects,”

They went on to list the poor choices

• $13 M to Midlothian High with new gym, larger band room, and more office space
• $5.8M to Watkins Elementary 150 more seats, office renovations, and a new bus loop
• $9 M Clover Hill High HVAC replacement project

Remember that old Clover Hill is closing?  Nice!

“Is fixing [the HVAC at Clover Hill] and having the school sit empty for a year a wise use of [taxpayers’] money?” asked Durfee.

The Taxpayer has already covered the expensive technology plan; but, it is nice to see that these two supervisors ask the tough questions... They must know The Taxpayer

The supervisors also questioned whether the school system should spend $12.3 million on new technology upgrades over the next five years, asking whether CCPS can afford to keep up in today’s economic times.

Unfortunately, it appears the bloaters were hard at work.  First up Wyman.

“We have to maintain our competitiveness in technology... perhaps at the expense of something else.”

Then Rajah

“We’re stripping our kids of the opportunity to improve their horizons.  That’s going down a dangerous road…if kids fall behind in technology.”

The Taxpayer knows plenty of kids that can dance technological circles around their grown-up counterparts without spending $12.3M that should be returned to the private sector.  We know technology is fine; when there are jobs in the private sector to use them in.  Look at this fancy quote from Sunny Reed, VP of Friends of the CC Public Libraries.

“There are a lot of kids who don’t own computers and use the computers at the library to work on school projects. If you limit the amount of time the libraries are open, you limit students’ access to computers and other resources. That creates an uneven playing field,”

A noble organization with a noble cause; however, how many kids do you see playing games on those library computers?  So now they cannot PLAY GAMES on Thursdays.  Time are tough in Chesterfield.  Keep those scissors at the ready.

It really isn't a $1,200,000,000 Chesterfield County Budget

From this week's Chesterfield Observer...

Expenditures (excluding schools) for FY11 for county services are projected to be $1,526 per person. “On par, we’re back to the 1996 level,” said County Administrator Jay Stegmaier.

But add schools in... $2,500 more per person that the government spends on The Taxpayer's behalf. 

Multiple times nearly 300,000 people and you wind up with $1,200,000,000.  (But it is just $1,526 per person.  No need to look behind the curtain. )

UPDATE: The Taxpayer did some digging.  In 1996, there were 244,800 citizens in Chesterfield x $1,526 per person.  Yields a $373M budget. Today there are 307,594 citizens.  Those extra 62,794 follows allow Chesterfield to "justify" spending an extra $95.8M on "providing services".  The Taxpayer just thought you would like to know the story behind the numbers.  That is $95.8M more than 1996 or as the bloater-in-chief would say "On par".


Board Chairman Dan Gecker of Bloat...

“There have also been significant reductions in capital improvements that the public doesn’t see,” 

So what!! We are all tightening our belts.  He is certainly not speaking about the reduction of The Taxpayer's own capital improvements that have to be put on hold. 

We can assure the chairman that we see what it means to our own finances around the kitchen table.  To think The Taxpayer doesn't understand the economic conditions in their own house is typically of bloat-centric public officials.  They should be ashamed for taking even $1 more in these tough times and they should be apologizing for not cutting more.  What a refreshing perspective that would be!!

Marshall Trammell gets the question all wrong...

“The question is: What level of service will be acceptable to the public?”

The correct question is "How much can we afford?" or "What is a wanted service versus a needed service?"  or "What can we return to The Taxpayer in these tough times?"

Newsome / Stegmaier propose postponing tough decisions, continue shell game

From this morning's RTD....

Local funding for schools, which makes up about half the budget, will dip by 1.7 percent with the inclusion of the $12 million in prior year savings. Without it, the reduction would be closer to 7 percent.

The county plans to partially offset a $35.4 million revenue shortfall from the current year by returning $12 million in prior-year savings to the school system.

The budget man tells you all you need to know...

"It's important to note that the 2.1 percent reduction would have been higher had it not been for the use of those one-time revenues,"

Why are these pro-bloated government folks given a pass? First, they use federal "stimulus" dollars to support an unsustainable budget.  Now, they are using another one time budget fix.  These folks simple do not have long term forecasts in their vocabulary.  If it doesn't get fixed this year, the bloat lives on...

And The Taxpayer will be there to fight it....

Robbing Virginia's Retirement Funds to put off tough decisions

From today's Chesterfield Observer and here...

One of the school board’s last remaining hopes for a budget bailout was dashed 

So now the bloat has to deflate??  Not so fast according to BOS Art Warren...

“There are still options available to us.”

Huh? Or this quote from Dorothy Jaeckle...

“If we had a revenue neutral tax rate all along, I could support revenue neutral."

What does that mean? Obviously the hole in the bucket has a fix and The Taxpayer hopes it isn't The Taxpayer's heiney.  The CO reminds us that the property tax is only 45% of the revenue stream.

We interrupt this program for some bad bloat karoake sung by:
Tenor School Board Chairman David Wyman:

“Obviously, I’m disappointed that they didn’t consider the tax rate increase,”
“I remain uncomfortable about what kind of funding we’re going to get from the state,”
“It’s been a rough couple of months."
"We have tried to work through the issues to help people understand the difficult straights we are in."

Bass Vice-Chairman Marshall Trammell

“It means we’re going back to our second list of cuts and potentially look at some additional things as well"
“They are already taking a hit, and we don’t want to add to that,”

Alto  BOS Marleen Durfee

“The state has not stepped up to the plate and done its job,”

That sound of fingernails on the chalkboard... Yes... we have a bad case of Chesterfield Idol.

The Taxpayer needs something soothing... Jaeckle recovers nicely with a tune about fighting the bloat

“more scrutiny of expenses.” CCPS has “too many people and programs” and should be “giving back responsibilities to parents and students…We’ll come away stronger for it,”

Jim Holland hits the chorus in perfect pitch

“reductions are difficult to make…but we can maintain our core services.”

Art Warren takes us to the bridge and drives it home...

“We have to be realistic about what the future might bring…Families are cutting back, [so] this is the time to take a deep breath and become more fiscally responsible.”

Now to the heart of the problem...

The state is considering giving school divisions a “holiday” from paying into the Virginia Retirement System. If approved, that measure would save the school system $16 million for FY11. But the holiday would not be a long-term solution to the school system’s budget problems since it would only be in effect for one or two years.

The School Board is only planning for the short term bandaid fix.  Last year it was the "stimulus" funds that went right into school operations.  This year they are plugging the gap with funding that should be reserved for retirement funds.  Do you see a trend?  Instead of strategic cuts that will get us to a sustainable budget.  we get a bunch of bandaids and we are convinced it is merely a flesh wound.  We need a tourniquet stat, it just might save our life and surely we will bleed to death without it.

Chesterfield will spend your money whether you watch or not...

The RTD has a new tool out...

The Virginia Department of Education collects data every two years to create a formula to determine how much money the state provides for local education.

The composite index is based on a locality's income levels, state tax revenue and real estate taxes, and school enrollment and local population, compared to the whole state. The result is an index that determines a locality's ability to pay for its schools. A low index indicates less ability to pay.

Here is a fascinating tidbit when you use this source plus a Chesterfield County Budget presentation.

In 2010, Chesterfield County has $35.6B in assessed property (that is what all The Chesterfield Taxpayers own in real property).  It had $9.1B in adjusted gross income (that is what all The Chesterfield Taxpayers make in a year).  Chesterfield County and the Chesterfield County Public Schools took $1.2B of what we earned or 13.5% and spent it.  Each of the 298,850 taxpayers that reside in Chesterfield, let their local government decide where $4,000 was spent.  If one had a $4,000 claim in an organization, wouldn't one pay more attention to decisions made on your behalf?  A simple family of four has a $16,000 claim.  The Taxpayer is asking you to stake your claim and get involved.

Now for the scary part...  The United States has a $12.4 Trillion Dollar debt bill that will come due for your children and grandchildren.  According to the RTD tool, all of Virginia's assessed property is equal to $1.15 Trillion.  It would take 10 Virginias to pay off our national debt. Virginia's annual adjusted gross income is $227B.  If every Virginian worked solely to pay off the national debt, it would take 54 years to pay it off.

The Taxpayer feels the noose tightening while others are still thinking of it as a brand new tie.

UPDATE: Here is link to a map that explains reverting back to the Dept. of Education  formula for state funding.

Fun Fun Fun... Until Daddy Takes the Money Away...

From the evening edition of the Richmond News Leader...(RTD) minus the timeless school board member quotes...

The Chesterfield County School Board gave initial approval tonight to a revised school budget that saves about 100 jobs and lowers employee pay cuts from what first was proposed.

Is this really planning for the future or just marking time until the next trough fills up? Where is the belt tightening?

The $548.3 million plan for 2010-2011 still includes $26.5 million in cuts

By The Taxpayer's calculator, that is a whopping 4.8%. AND we just established that the largest private sector corporation, Dupont, reduced staff by 14%. I believe you are halfway home CCPS. Find another $26.5M and I'll believe you are preparing for the long haul.

The school district faces a $42 million budget shortfall, but Newsome and the board have asked the county to contribute an additional $16.2 million to help close the gap. If the county doesn't come through, more cuts would be made, school officials say.

Here is some advice to the School Board from The Taxpayer. If your shortfall is $42M, make $42M in cuts. The RTD should call it the same way and stop playing the CCPS game.

In other business, the School Board approved the 2010 redistricting boundaries for Carver and Elizabeth Davis middle schools. Sixththrough eighth-grade students who would have gone to Chester Middle School in the fall will be split between Carver and Elizabeth Davis.

How much money did building two unnecessary middle schools in the Bermuda District save again? Hope the Bermuda kids love the inside of the bus, because they will be sitting about 1.5 hours a day in one. Quality time with the bus driver; instead of Mom and Dad.

Fees are taxes and a Taxpayer Challenge

The second half of today's RTD article was just as fascinating...

Let's all repeat "Fees are taxes"...

An average bill would see a $1.29 increase monthly on their water and wastewater bill.
Connection fees for typical residential meters are proposed to increase in water from $4,025 to $4,400 and in wastewater from $3,140 to $3,455. The connection fees for larger meters will increase proportionately based on size.

Then there is this IT nugget…

A code change also is proposed that would allow the county to collect all delinquent property taxes before issuing a business license. The change would come ahead of implementation of a new tax assessment, billing and collection system.

So how much did this new system cost?

First, it looks like a Reston based firm, Avenity, has the contract for a new revenue management system.

RESTON, Virginia December 9, 2008 -

Avenity is pleased to announce Chesterfield County, VA signed a contract to purchase Avenity’s revenue management system, RevenueOne®. RevenueOne® will allow the County to replace its existing legacy tax systems and will intelligently integrate with the County's many applications.

Avenity is excited to welcome Chesterfield County as our newest client.

RevenueOne®
RevenueOne® is a revenue management system built from the ground up, specifically for Virginia’s Commissioners of the Revenue, Treasurers, and Finance Directors. Built on Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia, RevenueOne® offers tax assessment, collection, billing, and compliance features in one user-friendly package. RevenueOne® is an integrated taxpayer-centric system that can be implemented by Counties, Cities, and Towns to greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your revenue management and collection processes.

From the 2009-10 Biennial Financial Plan with 2010 Amendments

In partnership with the Chesterfield County Treasurer’s Office, the Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office is purchasing and implementing a new tax assessment and collections customer service system known as the Taxation Customer Service System (TCSS). It is expected to be completed in the next in 12 to 18 months and will bring increased efficiencies and greater ease for providing customer service to the county’s residents and county administration regarding taxation.

Isn't a Taxation Customer Service System an oxymoron?

The Taxpayer Challenge medal of honor will be awarded to the first taxpayer who can tell the Taxpayer how much the system cost.  If we had a transparent budget online, the Taxpayer would have found the answer within 5 minutes.  Since we don't, the Challenge is issued.

Showdown this Wednesday... Belt Tighteners v. Big Spenders

This Wednesday February 24th beginning at 6:30PM, there will be a showdown at the Board of Supervisors meeting.

The Main Event at the Public Meeting Room...

Big Spenders versus the Belt Tighteners



It will be between those that diet by eating less or those that diet by loosening their belt and eating more.


From today's RTD...

Board of Supervisors Chairman Daniel A. Gecker was the only supervisor who last year sought to advertise a higher tax rate in case state budget changes worsened the county's revenue outlook.

"I still believe we ought to give ourselves that flexibility," he said.

“Flexibility” is code for we are not going to tighten our belts like families do. “Flexibility” means we are going to eat into your wallet instead of our bottomline. “Flexibility” means our government services are more important than your family’s economic choices. “Flexibility” means growth in government. (And yes growth in a recession means “revenue neutral” .)

School leaders have asked the supervisors to raise the rate to at least 99 cents to help offset its own shortfall.

“School Leaders” would not ask for more in these tough economic times. They would figure out the best course of action and execute it. “School Leaders” let the budget get to unsustainable levels during the good days instead of applying restraint. Now it is raining. Time to cut and remember the lesson of sustainable budgets when times are good again.

The Chesterfield Business Council issued a statement Friday supporting a rate adjustment, but no higher than the revenue-neutral $1, so most homeowners would not see higher tax bills.

We have businesses in Chesterfield? Who is on this council? Our largest employer is the school system. Are they on this council?

The Chesterfield Business Council (CBC) was the first of four advisory councils established by the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce in 1980. The CBC promotes the objectives of the Chamber and addresses issues of importance to Chesterfield County businesses. Members serve on committees and task forces under the Council’s Board of Directors. The CBC meets monthly.  

The CBC website is hosted by the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce here . The CBC chair is currently John R Easter. 

Why does Mr. Easter, as CBC Chairman, want to raise our taxes through a “revenue neutral” rate hike? The Taxpayer wants to know.

Here is the CBC press release.

Here is how the CBC phrases our current budget situation in Chesterfield…

"the challenging budget decisions..."
"significant impacts on levels of service..."
"extraordinary budgetary cuts..."
"prevent the significant deterioration of essential services..."
"the extreme budget expenditure reductions..."

Sounds like a real crisis. We better raise that tax rate!!!!  But wait a minute...What about the families and their own personal economic strife? Who is their voice? Certainly not the CBC!?

Yet the CBC uses language that sounds so soothing to the ear of the uninitated:

"that taxes paid by most residents would not exceed the amount paid last fiscal year"
"net change in taxes due to the combination of assessed values and rate should be, at most, revenue-neutral"

Why not give it a chance??

The Taxpayer would argue that the County has not fulfilled the CBC’s own itemized requests:

"encourage County officials to give thoughtful consideration as funds are allocated to ensure that every dollar spent improves government and schools..."
"that expense reductions drive efficiency and minimize waste..."
"ask our County leaders to protect Chesterfield County’s economic, civic and educational reputation by making fiscally sound decisions..."

Until such time that we have wise, frugal stewards of our tax dollars, we would respectfully ask that Mr. Easter and the CBC withhold their support for a rate hike that takes away from families’ bottomline.

To add to the confusion, check out this letter sent to Superintendent Newsome by the CBC just three months ago!  It is interesting and confusing to the Taxpayer that the same CBC that wants to give additional funding to the county is also seeking additional transparency from the School System. One would think it would be required that transparency comes first and funding second. Perhaps the CBC just may have forgotten their December 2009 letter to Superintendent Newsome. Maybe the CBC can clarify the matter.

The Taxpayer urges you to show up this Wednesday night and voice your opinion. Be a part of this important community decision. We can no longer afford to leave these decisions to others.

Stegmaier loves the meals tax

A Valentine's Day hangover with love from the Times Dispatch... Va. counties again seek authority to levy meals tax without referendum

Chesterfield County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier said the county supports the idea on principle,

Shouldn't the government size shrink as much as the private citizens it represents? Maybe if pay raises of our administrators were tied to their ability to deliver smaller government, the taxpayer would be offering a better incentive and a clearer message.

In every parade a little rain must fall...

Today's Times Dispatch has a lovely place with a positive spin...

Chesterfield rising on Training magazine’s list of employers

For the second year in a row, Chesterfield is the only local government on a list of the best training providers in the U.S.

Chesterfield was 52nd in 2007, 43rd in 2008 and 38th in 2009, and it reached the 12th spot for 2010, just behind software giant Sun Microsystems Inc. and insurance giant Aetna Inc.

The county has nearly 4,500 employees and a total training budget of $5.2 million.

By the Taxpayer's Calculator, could you believe we spend... wait for it... an average of $1155 per employee. Applying a normal distribution, some employees may receive none and some would receive well over $2,000 per year.

In lean times, time to cut back. Instead our leaders say...

"The emphasis that our organization puts on employee development and training is a major factor in enabling us to adjust positively to the dramatic reductions in revenue that we're experiencing,"

Huh?

I'll ask a rhetorical taxpayer question, how many small businesses would love to have $1100 or $2,000 back? And what would they do with it?

An opportunity to trim fat...

According to an RTD Article January 24, 2009

Here are some reasons for Chesterfield's "budget crisis":

•A heavy reliance on state money for educational funding, which accounted for nearly 71 percent of the minimum required to finance the Standards of Quality in this budget year, compared with about 63 percent in Henrico. "As the state struggles, we struggle," said school spokesman Tim W. Bullis.

Some would say that "heavy reliance" leaves our local destiny to others and over extends the local government's position based upon the promises of others. Heavy reliance is a failure of all levels of governance: local, state, and federal. The government closest to the taxpayer should govern the best. Why should we accept higher levels of governance and its resulting interference on a local education issue. Many would argue that those strings attached at the state and federal level should never occur as our money should never be sent there in the first place.

•Slowing enrollment after years of four-digit increases in student population, which follows a similar trend in Henrico and Hanover. Stegmaier called the decrease "a precipitous drop in the rate of growth that did catch some people by surprise." Chesterfield Supervisor Marleen K. Durfee countered that enrollment declines "shouldn't have taken anyone by surprise."

Non-scientists and non-mathematicians live in the world of linear growth based upon the historic values. The real world operates on S-curves and slowing growth after the "linear explosion". Durfee gets it right here.

•Greater investment in the school system, including construction of five schools as part of a bond referendum approved in 2004. "We, as a growing community, had to look after the growing needs of the schools," Wyman said. In 2002-03, Chesterfield lagged Henrico in per-pupil spending by about $400 per student. By the 2007-08 year, Chesterfield was spending $9,344 per student, compared with $8,913 in Henrico.

This is the key! The evidence mounts that our "leaders" (followers) over-extended our position in Chesterfield county based upon watching other "leaders". 59,000 students x $400 = $23.6M

$23M is another good place to serve as a starting point for this manufactured "budget crisis".

This "budget crisis" is defined by government officials from there perspective. A taxpayer would see it as an opportunity to regain control of their dollar. Each time the taxpayer spends as they see fit and on what is most important to them, it will always be better allocated than an over-reaching government that has grown too big. An excellent opportunity to trim fat...

Kudos to our local Athletic Directors

These Leaders are looking at budget issues from a new and refreshing way. Check out a recent article from the Progress Index

"Once the budgets are finalized we can determine what plan will work the best. Right now it is wait and see. I will say that everyone I have talked to is open-minded and knows adjustments will need to be made."

Knowles said he has surveyed the district athletic directors and coaches to get their input.

"I polled my coaches asking for ideas and suggestions," Knowles said. "I received some creative feedback, but the most important feedback was that every coach I spoke with had an open mind and was mentally prepared to make adjustment.

"The Central District athletic directors have already started to look at alternative ways to run district events to reduce cost and help with revenue. When possible, the district has looked for outside sponsorship. The district has also changed the format of the basketball tournaments. We are running them at just two locations and having the finals at one central location."

In the past, the first-round games took place at the site of the higher seed. This year, the first and second rounds will all be run at one host school, with the finals at one location. Therefore, it was also necessary to eliminate one first-round game using this format. This will cut down on the number of workers, site directors and security necessary at four different locations. It is the district's hope that using central locations will increase attendance as well.

Another very creative idea.

The district is also looking at a spring jamboree format for soccer, baseball and softball. All of these tournaments would be held at one central location. This would have the same effect of minimizing tournament expenses and increase attendance. With the purchase of one ticket, a spectator could have access to four games in three different sports.

Let's hope that other end users of the taxpayers' money are paying attention and being just as creative.

If Chesterfield...

According to state Auditor of Public Accounts data:

If Chesterfield County managed our schools like Henrico County, we could save up to $69.5 Million. $1433 per capita in Henrico vs $1669.

If Chesterfield County managed our Jail spending like Fairfax County, we could save up to $17.6 Million. $64 per capita in Fairfax vs $124.

If Chesterfield County managed our mental health spending like Prince William County, we could save up to $12.9 Million. $63 per capita in Prince William vs $106

If Chesterfield County managed our fire spending like the City of Virginia Beach, we could save up to $11.7 Million. $109 per capita in Virginia Beach vs $149.

If Chesterfield County managed our health and welfare spending like Prince William County, we could save up to $5.1 Million. $200 per capita in Prince William vs $217.

If Chesterfield County managed our administration like Prince William County, we could save up to $1.2 Million. $88 per capita in Prince William vs $92.













All told, Chesterfield County could realize up to $118 Million by looking at how these local jurisdictions manage their costs and provide basic services to their citizens.

Chesterfield had relatively low costs per capita for Police, Parks, and Public Works when compared to the City of Richmond, City of Virginia Beach, City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, Henrico County, and Prince William County.

Source: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/online/database_center/city_county_govt_spending/