Board Votes to Limit Use of Discretionary Funds

Gainesville district supervisor Pete Candland, who spearheaded the proposal with the aid of Occoquan district supervisor Mike May, said in the meeting the proposal does not reduce the amount of money appropriated to office accounts for expenditures.

The motion also does not limit a supervisor for serving their constituents, impact employees or restrict salary and benefit payments; or allowing a supervisor to buy a ticket to an event.

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Supervisors and the chairman will not be able to donate to non-profit charities, schools, libraries or other governmental entities from office funds. The board also can’t sponsor events or buy advertising with the discretionary funds. 

To avoid a pile-up of funds, the proposal states that supervisors can’t carry over expense funds from year to year. 

Simply put, the supervisors and chairman can’t spend funds in way that promotes political standing among voters, said Candland.

Coles District Supervisor Marty Nohe added an amendment to reduce district spending by $20,000 each to bring supervisors "in line with what the chairman’s budget is."

Neabsco District Supervisor John D. Jenkins presented an amendment motion to include the following:

• No board member will either pay or incur a legal obligation to pay overtime or allow incurred comp time to board office employees.
• No board member will employ or retain any full-time or part-time employee on the county payroll who owns, is employed by, or is a contractor to any company which offers services for hire to any political campaign of that board member.
• No board member will engage or retain and vendor services using county funds where the vendor has been or is retained by the political campaign of that board member.
• Every board member will follow section 6.10 of the County Personnel Manual, Nepotism, in hiring employees and managing board offices.
• Keep county employees or aids in staff from accruing any comp time that’s counted for and would prevent paying overtime to aids that work in the exempted service in their offices.

All of Jenkins’ amendments passed, with Candland voting no on each.

“I think the public would have more faith in us if we gave the public time to review this,” said Candland of springing additions onto motions, what he called “bad policy.”

Woodbridge district supervisor Frank Principi questioned a footnote of the motion that creates an employee reserve fund up to 10 percent of salary for board employees.

“Basically what we are trying to accomplish we were concerned that salary or benefits unexpected change sups can hold no more than 10 percent of salary or expense cost,” said Candland. “It will cover unintended benefits or salary changes.”

Occoquan district supervisor Mike May said the reserve was a contingency plan of sorts to account for changes in the board's staff like birth or marriage which could change benefits. 

“If you don’t use it, the following year it goes back to the revenue stabilization fund," said May.