At 1 a.m., as sleet coated the grounds around the County Government Center, Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) was smiling broadly at the accomplishments of his one-month-old chairmanship of the board's Finance and Government Services Committee.
The last in a series of budget review sessions had just ended Thursday night — actually early morning Friday — and he had fulfilled a campaign pledge to ask more questions about the county budget than his predecessors had. "Twenty hours" in all, Delgaudio told the remaining audience of mostly county staff still wearing their ID tags from their work day. And he thanked them for their professionalism and responsiveness.
The Feb. 5 meeting was not without friction, but mostly between the supervisors. Delgaudio found himself berating former committee chair Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge), whom he introduced as "a guest," for failing to wait for the chairman's permission before asking questions.
Later, Delgaudio raised his voice as he said, "You're out of order Supervisor Snow" as Snow mused aloud about hiring an outside assessor company to replace county staff. Snow responded in kind by telling Delgaudio it wasn't the first time — and unlikely the last time — someone had said he was out of order.
As the meeting drew to a close, Burton looked to Delgaudio and reminded the committee of the "history of our bond ratings. And I turn to you, Mr. Chairman — don't screw them up."
Supervisor Bruce E. Tulloch (R-Potomac) replied to Burton before Delgaudio could respond, "With all due respect, that's way off base." Tulloch then turned to Bowers: "We're looking to you to set the example to tighten our belts," adding "the economic engine has stalled."
Earlier in the week, Burton distributed Economic Development Department statistics showing a strong county economy. Loudoun County added 5,500 jobs last year and "shows an almost constant increase in [total] employment between the first quarter of 1990 and the second quarter of 2003," according to the release. A chart on non-agricultural employment shows Loudoun creating more jobs, from first quarter of 2000 to second quarter of 2003, than Fairfax County or Prince William County.
THE BUDGET HEARINGS gave committee members an opportunity to grill department heads.
Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) calculated that salaries and benefits for Extension Services grew 60 percent in three years from '01 actual to '04 adopted.
She also criticized the "skyrocketing" of county leases and rentals in the Department of General Services' budget. That line item grew from $8.37 million in '01 to $11.66 million in '04.
In response to Mental Health/Mental Retardation/Substance Abuse Services acting director Mary Burger's discussion of waiting lists of people needing help, Snow asked "How much to fix the waiting list? How many FTE's [staff positions]?" and he wondered aloud what $1 million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute would provide for mental health services if it didn't have a tax abatement as passed by the previous Board of Supervisors.
During the Department of Social Services' presentation, Snow asked how the county could expand its operations to reach shut-ins, mostly home-bound elderly.
"I put people before trees," he said, referring to his campaign promise and his desire to re-allocate county funds.
During a discussion over voter registration, Snow asked why the General Registrar used the League of Women Voters to do voter registration in the high schools, charging that the league is "not non-partisan."
COUNTY DEBT concerns, voiced by County Treasurer H. Roger Zurn Jr., brought out the committee's unanimous fears about the county's fiscal state. Zurn noted that 10 cents of every tax dollar goes to the debt. Tulloch asked Bowers, "How much more debt capacity?"
Bowers replied, "We're pushing it," adding "Our debt keeps us from a triple-A rating."
Burton added, "The CIP [capital improvements program] from North Street [public school administration] scares me." He favors putting "more cash into the CIP. These are the trade-offs" on where to spend county funds. At the same time, Zurn reported that due to interest rates dropping to 1 percent, the county lost $4.5 million in income.
JANUARY'S HIRING FREEZE was defrosted at last week's meeting, when the members of the finance committee unanimously approved the hiring of staff for CASA (county after-school activities), preschool and child care, a middle school youth program, summer camps, assistants for senior trips and community center instructors, all offset by fees. Not all requests were approved. Adaptive assistant positions with only 40 percent of its cost offset by fees will need to return to the committee at a future date.