Schools

Sully Supervisor Hosts Town Hall on 2012 Budget

Representatives from Fairfax County, School Board discuss proposed budgets

Sully District Supervisor Michael Frey held a town hall meeting Monday night to discuss the Fairfax County FY 2012 Advertised Budget Plan and the School Board FY 2012 Updated Advertised Budget Plan

Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova and Fairfax County School Board Chair Kathy Smith joined Frey at the meeting. The discussion was led by Brian Heffern and Christina Jackson from the Department of Management and Budget for Fairfax County and Susan Quinn, Fairfax County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent of Financial Services.  

Frey opened the meeting by saying, "We're better than we were, but we're not out of the woods yet. The economy has not turned around completely." 

Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Bulova also pointed out that while some areas of the county are experiencing an increase in property values, other areas are not. She also mentioned there will be budget cuts at the state level which the county and schools will have to absorb. 

"I think we've done a very good job at making responsible decisions: holding the line on taxes and continuing to fund the quality of life services that people value in Fairfax County starting with our school system, but also libraries and parks," said Bulova. "Our attempt is to strike that balance again this year."  

Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Heffern and Jackson continued the town hall by presenting the fiscal year 2012 Advertised Budget Plan. The entire presentation is included with this article as a PDF file. You can also check out the for a breakdown of what the budget means for Fairfax County residents. 

Quinn then presented the School Board's fiscal year 2012 Updated Advertised Budget, which was changed March 7 to reflect state budget impacts. The School Board presented the new budget to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday at the first Budget Committee meeting.

The Advertised Budget presentation before the updates March 7 are included with this article as a PDF file.    

Changes to the revenue from the advertised budget are as follows (in millions):

 

Advertised

Updated

County Transfer

$48.8

$42.0

State

8.8

36.8

Federal

(4.7)

(4.7)

Foundation Support

.5

.5

AP/IB Test Fees

0.0

2.0

The only changes made to the expenses from the advertised budget are as follows (in millions): 

 

Advertised

Updated

Special Ed Services

$0.0

$6.0

Retirement

27.1

41.5

Closing Clifton ES

0.0

1.2

Key dates:

▪                March 29-31:  BOS holds public hearings on the budget.

▪                April 26:  BOS approves the budget.

▪                May 12:  School Board FY 2012 Approved Budget is presented for new business.

▪                May 17-18:  School Board holds public hearings on the budget. (the 19th will used as well, if needed.)

▪                May 26:  School Board adopts FY 2012 Approved Budget

▪                July 1:  FY 2012 begins.

To speak at a BOS public hearing, you can call 703-324-3151 or 703-324-2391.  You can also sign up online here. Online requests to speak must be made by 10 a.m. on the day of the hearing, and phone requests to speak must be made by noon on the day of the hearing. Note: At this time, March 29 is full. 

To speak at a School Board public hearing, you can call 571-423-1075 or sign up online here. Requests must be made by 4:30 p.m. the day before a hearing. 

The county is also encouraging the community to offer feedback on the proposed budget, which you can do here.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here