Prince William County finished the fiscal year with a more than $40 million surplus that will help support transportation, park and trail projects, county officials said.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved about $44 million in carryover funds from fiscal 2011, with about $9 million going to county schools. The additional funds came mostly from savings in department budgets and an increase in real estate, personal property and sales taxes, county officials said.
“We don’t allow agencies to retain general fund savings or spend down their year-end balance,” Prince William Budget Director Michelle Casciato said. “This allows us to pool and reprogram funding to meet the needs determined by the board.”
About $7 million of the additional funds will go into the transportation reserve, Casciato said. Supervisors approved numerous transportation projects in the fiscal 2012 budget, and Casciato said that with the volatility of the commodities market, gas and asphalt prices, the projects might not come in as low as expected. The reserve will help ensure all remaining road projects from the 2006 bond referendum will be completed.
About $2 million of the carryover funds will go to park and trail projects, and another $8 million will go back to support items in the $890 million general fund fiscal 2012 budget. Other funds will go toward the information technology improvement plan, updates to the animal shelter, a design competition for the county’s piece of the World Trade Center steel and the county’s reserve or “rainy day” fund.
“Were still in pretty good shape here, but that is not the case across the country,” Casciato said, talking about why it’s important to contribute to the reserves. “The economic recovery in the nation is still rather fragile . . . and there is still some uncertainty at the state and federal level.”
Supervisor Frank Principi (D-Woodbridge) said his district fared well during the carryover. The funding placed in the transportation reserve will help widen Route 1 to six lanes from Occoquan Road to Annapolis Way. Principi said that the Woodbridge Senior Center received funding for a parking lot expansion and that some of the trails funding will go to connect an eight-mile stretch of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail in Woodbridge.
“In a time when many counties and states are slashing budgets and cutting projects, we are able to maintain and expand our programs,” Principi said.
Supervisors also allocated $613,500 Tuesday for a new Kiss and Ride lot at the Woodbridge Virginia Railway Express station.
The project will be administered by the county, but will be funded by VRE, which has state and federal money to support the new lot.
The Kiss and Ride lot was originally scheduled to be built during the Route 1/123 interchange project, VRE officials said. Because that project will not be completed for a few years, VRE and the county decided to move forward with the lot.
County officials said they will add an access lane and pull-off area on the east side of Route 1 for people to easily pull over and drop off riders. Principi said the lot might be able to house a farmers market on weekends.
The lot, scheduled to be finished by December, will complete the made-over Woodbridge station. Last year, VRE added a platform on the west side of the tracks and an overhead pedestrian bridge that connects the tracks to the parking garage on the east side.
Although VRE has used its second platform, it was added to give the commuter rail system more flexibility and the ability to add capacity in the future, VRE officials said.
The Post Most: LocalMost-viewed stories, videos and galleries int he past two hours
Loading...
Comments