Transportation and education remain top priorities for Prince William County as the new fiscal year approaches, but with a growing budget shortfall in the state and no clear source of revenue, many of the county’s needs will likely stay unfulfilled.
“This [legislative] session will be the most difficult in recent years,” said Dana Fenton, director of legislative affairs for Prince William County. “We’ve had very difficult budget woes to work with.”
But despite a long-standing history of unsatisfied requests, county supervisors will again ask the General Assembly for additional transportation dollars in this year’s legislative agenda, approved by the county Tuesday.
Topping the transportation wish list is funding for construction on Route 1 next to the Marine Corps base at Quantico, where the federally mandated Base Realignment and Closure Commission plans to relocate about 3,000 defense workers by 2011.
With a $4 billion shortfall in Virginia’s transportation budget, the board struck from the agenda its opposition to realloting money from the general fund — which primarily supports education — to transportation.
Chairman Corey Stewart said the board would “remain silent” on the issue and instead focus on protecting transportation dollars. The county will seek an amendment to Virginia’s constitution to keep lawmakers from “raiding” the transportation budget for other projects.
Meanwhile, Stewart said the county would attempt to stymie expected budget cuts to education by following suit with Gov. Tim Kaine and pushing schools to spend more on classroom rather than administrative costs.
“We need to encourage our school board to move through these cuts,” said Stewart. “They’re going to be receiving a lot of cuts in funding from the state this year.”
County officials also used the agenda to express their stance on a variety of issues. They stressed continued steady funding for an array of “high-risk” programs that include contagious disease control, child protective and at-risk youth services, warning that cuts to such programs could compromise community safety.
Officials also blasted unfunded mandates from state government, saying the rules cost the county nearly $250 million in the last fiscal year alone.
