Earlier in the year several Vienna Town Council members asked for a one cent cut in the budget, to offset a rise in property assessments. But now that the actual figures are released, some council members believe there may be room for an even greater cut.
Last week, town of Vienna staff released a draft budget for the upcoming year. The budget, prepared by town manager John Schoeberlein, proposes a one-cent cut to the town property tax. This means that, under Schoeberlein’s budget, town residents will pay 29 cents for every $100 of assessed property value. Last year residents paid 30 cents for every $100 of assessments. But Vienna assessments increased by an average of 18 percent this year, so Vienna property owners will still pay an extra $747,018 under a one-cent cut. That works out to, approximately, an extra $94.75 tacked on to the average homeowner’s property tax bill.
Despite the rise in property tax, though, other town revenues did decrease. Revenues other than property taxes and other local taxes are expected to decline by $385,894.
"Most of our revenue sources have gone down or remained the same," Schoeberlein said. "We took a real hit in the amount of state funding."
So, under the proposed budget, the town will be taking in an extra $500,494 in revenues next year. This is a 3.47 percent increase over last year’s budget. This includes a two percent cost of living increase for town employees, plus other miscellaneous increases.
"We buy a lot of gasoline, fuel, things like that," Schoeberlein said. "And we don’t have a lot of control over projects like street resurfacing. We go by the bid process and if the economy is kind, we can take advantage. If not, we just have to pay."
SCHOEBERLEIN SAID his budget is tight, and that a reduction in funding will mean a reduction in services. Even so, some board members have proposed cuts. Last Saturday the Town Council held its first budget work session. Public Works Department director Dennis King explained a proposal to create a new special pickup division. Currently, town residents can arrange for town workers to dispose of bulky or unusual items like building materials, furniture, brush or metal.
But the town’s street maintenance division handles special pickups along with several other responsibilities, including street resurfacing and leaf collection. So before they are disposed of, special pickup items sit curbside for an average of 10 days. And, during leaf collection season, there is no time for any special pickups.
"We get so many complaints on the special pickups," said council member Steven Briglia. "With two or three people on a street waiting for the pickup, it can start to look like a dump."
The Public Works Department has asked to transfer six workers from the street maintenance division, in the creation of the new special pickup division. The department has also asked to hire three new employees for the division. The goal of the division is that special pickups will take an average of five days instead of 10.
But the new division, with its nine employees, will cost $409,831. If the Town Council decides not to hire those three new employees, they will be able to free up enough money to cut the tax rate by almost another half a cent. Each cent of property tax is worth just under $200,000 in revenues to the town.
"People love [special pickup services], but it's a big budget issue," Briglia said. "I’m not decided on what I’m going to do."
Council member Albert Boudreau said it might be necessary to hire one new employee for special pickups, but not three.
"If the street maintenance division was reorganized, I think there are some efficiencies that could be had there," Boudreau said.
THE BUDGET ALSO includes $30,000 for a new police cruiser. Town vehicles are on a vehicle replacement schedule, in order to limit the number of unanticipated expenses. But this new patrol car would not fall in line with the replacement program. Police cruisers are each replaced on a five-year schedule. The vehicle replacement program was implemented four years ago and now Vienna’s six cruisers are starting to show their age. The patrol cars are projected to have traveled an average of 133,135 miles by the time each comes up for replacement. By introducing a new cruiser into the fleet, police hope to alleviate wear and tear on the existing vehicles.
"They’re afraid [the cruisers] will all come down at once and we’ll have to replace three cars at a time, instead of just one at a time," Briglia said. "So if we can put one more in the cycle, we can slow the attrition rate."
If the council decides to buy the new police cruiser, it will be the first time the town has broken the vehicle replacement schedule.
"If you can stay disciplined it really helps down the road," Briglia said.
And even though a few items might be cut, officials said Vienna’s proposed budget is pretty standard.
"After being here for five years, there is not a lot of fat," said council member Bob McCormick.
He said that the best way to cut taxes would be to sit down with Fairfax County officials and discuss changes to the formula for yearly property assessments.
"We need to sit down and really address it," McCormick said. "We’ve got people who are retired, on fixed incomes, who are coming to us because of the tax burden."
Vienna will hold a budget public hearing at the Town Hall on Monday May 20, 8 p.m. Copies of the budget can be picked up at the Town Hall in advance of the hearing.