Budget Work Sessions Held for NOVA, PWCS

In yet another for the fiscal year 2012 countywide budget, the Board of County Supervisors heard from Dr. Sam Hill of Northern Virginia Community College and Dr. Milton C. Johns, Chairman At-Large of the Prince William County School board about what funds they would need to operate NOVA and PWCS.

While both entities would like to see a raise in funds allotted for FY 2012, the economic climate may not allow for such raises.

Northern Virginia Community College ­– Woodbridge and Manassas Campuses

Dr. Sam Hill, Provost of the Woodbridge campus, proposed a 25 cent per capita increase per year in the next five years to avoid a $14 million gap in capital commitments projected for 2016 as well as a commitment of $1.50 per capita for FY 2012.

Dr. Hill pointed out that the two campuses have enjoyed large growths in student enrollments but have, by the same token, left the campuses with the need to rapidly expand.

In spite of enrollment growth, Dr. Hill said the community college has leased campus space at Innovation Park in Manassas, Freedom High School in Woodbridge and Quantico and Fort Belvoir military bases.

To accommodate the growth within the NOVA community, plans have been made to include the opening of a 55,000-square feet campus in Spring 2012 for Harry J. Parrish Hall in Manassas. On the Woodbridge campus, the Phase III Academic Building is slated to open in August 2012. 

In his presentation, Dr. Hill said that the additional local support would be used to secure construction dollars for the Workforce Development Center and leverage state dollars to renovate the Seefeldt Building at the Woodbridge campuses, leverage state dollars for the renovations at Colgan and Howsmon halls at the Manassas campus.

“Each local dollar spent brings a 29 percent return,” said Dr. Hill. “There are consequences if we are not able to grow our local support. We would have to restrict our local enrollment.”

PWCS FY 2012 Budget

Dr. Milton C. Johns, Chairman at-Large of the Prince William County School board presented the FY 12 budget for the county school system.

“Our big challenge is continued growth in students and the need to maintain infrastructure, continuing building schools and to build space,” said Dr. Johns.

Dr. Johns said that the system is projecting that we will be over 81,000 students in 2012 and that special education, ESOL, and free and reduced lunch have seen extreme growth in the past years.

“One of the paradoxes is that we are one of the wealthiest counties in US we have a large percentage of students needing free or reduced lunches,” said Johns.

The county transfers 43.9 percent of the revenue for the school system, whereas the state contributes 40 percent and four percent of revenue from federal aid.

The advertised FY 2012 budget is $818,428,399 would include a one percent pay plan adjustment for employees.

There is an issue regarding the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), in which employees are require to pay five percent of their salaries as a contribution to their retirement costs.  

The school board proposes no change to their current system, said Dr. Johns in which the school division pays the five percent employee share to VRS. But, this directly opposes the plans proposed by the County Executive’s proposed budget.

“In the budget I proposed to the board we are passing on the cost to employees we also were watching the General Assembly in hopes that they would change it so that we could make it for those employees hired after July 1, 2011,” said County Executive Melissa Peacor. “They did not do that but I still recommended to pass it onto new employees. It would affect 150 new employees over the year but would save the county $13 million over five years.”

Dr. Johns said that applying this change to employees hired on or after July 1, 2010 would be “inequitable” and that it would retroactively affect 600 employees if the change was mandated.

Capital Improvement Program FY 2102 highlights includes funding to support for the sale of bonds for additions to Swans Creek and Westridge elementary schools, a bus parking lot at Gar-Field and a new middle school in Silver Lake.