Widespread cuts proposed by outgoing Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine would mean reductions in funding for the Prince William County jail and the county’s disabled residents, among others, the Board of Supervisors was told Tuesday.
“Total impact to the county will be just south of $4.7 million,” said Dana Fenton, the county’s director of legislative affairs, as he outlined the services that would suffer under Kaine’s budget plan.
Fenton outlined how the cuts likely would weaken programs ranging from assistance for the disabled, to car tax relief, to the county’s financial support of local correctional facilities and colleges.
County schools are also at risk as Prince William stands to lose roughly $19 million in education funding if another of the governor’s proposals comes to fruition. Kaine has asked for a delay in the implementation of a formula that measures the ability of county residents to pay for education. That delay would mean fewer state dollars for the county schools.
The board plans to send a written appeal to the office of the governor about the formula.
Despite such looming fiscal roadblocks, Board Chairman Corey Stewart said he was optimistic about the county’s budget situation.
“We took our hits. We did not delay the pain,” Stewart said of the budget cuts and other reforms the county absorbed in fiscal 2009.
Nearly every sector of the county suffered cutbacks as county expenditures were trimmed by millions of dollars last year. Stewart emphasized that despite recent property tax increases, Prince William’s average tax bill was still substantially lower than neighboring Fairfax and Loudoun counties.
