Board of Supervisors Budget Questions & Responses

During the budget development process, staff takes note of the questions asked by Board members and provides written responses to questions for which responses were not readily available at the time the questions were asked.

View each question and its answer in the table, or view all of the Board questions and responses.

Question NumberBoard QuestionsResponse Document
1What salary/stipend is paid to members of each commission and Board including the School Board?  When was the last time the payments were adjusted?  How do Spotsylvania’s payments compare to those of neighboring localities?
Response
2Over the past 10 years, in general, how has the General Fund budget been adjusted?  What have we gotten/added for our money?
Response
3Did the School Board include a 6% increase for staff in its FY 2022 Budget?
Response
4Please confirm whether the Schools received additional CARES Act or other funding in January. If so, are there restrictions on the use of these funds?
Response
5When is the next reassessment? Who determines the frequency of the reassessment? Can we move the next reassessment out a couple of years due to the COVID impact on commercial properties?
Response
6When a person reaches a certain age, is there a personal property tax exemption?
Response
7Can we set a different transient occupancy tax rate for a one or two hour stay vs. a regular night stay?
Response
8Provide more explanation on the recommended business tax decreases.
Response
9Provide information on the State’s mandated minimum wage increases.
Response
10Please provide the responses to last year’s budget questions pertaining to business property thresholds and/or credits.
Response
11Please provide more information on the $3.4M shown as the cost to “Maintain existing levels of service (includes GF positions)” on slide 12 of the County Administrator’s budget presentation. In general, what’s included there?
Response
12Please send the School Board's budget presentation from February 23, 2021.Response
13Please send the slide shown in regards to the discussion on potential health insurance changes.  Please clarify the reference to a $4M increase.  Is that what the increase in employer costs would be if there were no mitigation via the potential shift to the HMO?  What would be the increase in cost to an employee going outside the network?Response
14Please remind the Board what the Evergreen study results were for the Schools and how the study has been addressed in recent years.Response
15The gap at the time of the Superintendent's budget was $4.9M.  The gap is now $7.1M.  Please identify the budget items that resulted in the $2.2M increase in the gap.Response
16Why is there a $200K increase in the County's contribution to the regional Library?Response
17Please provide information about the vehicles claimed for business use.  How many are there?  How much of the Personal Property tax revenue is associated with the business use vehicles?

18If the $2.25M were used for a one-time reduction in the Personal Property rate instead of the proposed reductions in the Business Tangible Property tax rates, what would the rate be?  How would the average taxpayer be affected?
Response
19What requests were made by County government departments that were not included in the Recommended Budget?
Response
20If the FMC plant is being decommissioned, why is there a need for the Sampler positions?
Response
21In reference to the response provided to Question #2, how much is the transfer of cash to capital? Are we over the policy level? If so, by how much, and can we use it elsewhere?
Response
22We used the Budget Stabilization Reserve to balance the FY 2021 Budget. The policy for this reserve requires any use of the BSR to be paid back within two years. Could we take half of what we’re adding back in FY 2022 and use it for other things?
Response
23How much additional revenue is the County projecting in the Recommended Budget?
Response
24How much more in State and Federal revenues are the Schools projecting for FY 2022.
Response
25Do we have to approve the tax rates tonight or can we postpone that?
Response
26Why are we paying $11,996 to the Forest Fire Extension Service?
Response
27What is the process for developing the base budget?  Do we start at zero when building the budget?
Response
28What are the average assessed values for the localities listed on the “Real Estate Tax Rates per $100 of Assessed Value” chart?
Response
29Categorize the FY 2022 General Fund increases and the budget adjustments shown to the Board on March 9 based on what must be done, what needs to be done (not mandatory), and what is already done that needs funding to continue.
Response
30Please add 2000 – 2010 to the population data provided on page 137 of the Summary Budget. Indicate the year-over-year % change, as well as the average annual change for each five-year and ten-year period.
Response
31Help us understand why there is overtime built into the 24/7 schedules of non-exempt Fire/Rescue personnel. What else could be done to reduce the overtime and what are the pros/cons of those alternatives? How are other departments’ schedules set up?
Response
32Please provide the historical comparison of County and Schools salary adjustments.
Response
33How does each 1% reduction in the 6% pay adjustment affect the Schools’ budget? How much did the School Board’s increase from 2% to 6% for administrators add to the budget?
Response
34Help us understand the reasoning for the 6% pay adjustment in FY 2022. In other words, how did the School Board arrive at the 6%?
Response
35Please clarify the timing of receipt of and expiration of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the County and the Schools.  Will the funds be received up front or will they be received on a reimbursement basis?
Response
36Have the Schools included the ARPA funds in their FY 2022 Budget proposal?  Isn’t it likely that they could make use of the ARPA funds to free local funds already planned in FY 2022 to be able to cover the $2.1M budget gap?
Response
37How much of the County’s local money made available through use of the CARES Act funding has been used to date?
Response
38How many taxpayers receive tax relief through the County’s tax relief program?  Remind us of the eligibility requirements.
Response