Loudoun County Supervisors Pass Budget, Tax Rate

By Derek Kravitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 9, 2009; LZ01

Loudoun County taxpayers will see a 10 1/2 -cent increase in their property tax rate this year and reduced services at schools, libraries and other agencies under a budget approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

Faced with a sharp drop in property tax revenue because of plummeting home values, the board eliminated dozens of county jobs and passed a budget for fiscal 2010 that is about $200 million less than the current spending plan of roughly $1.6 billion.

Despite the higher rate, the average residential tax bill will be nearly 6 percent lower than last year's.

"Striking a balance between providing core services and dealing with tax bill increases has been a tall order," said Supervisor Sally R. Kurtz (D-Catoctin), adding that the board focused on "sound fiscal principles in the long term."

The new Loudoun tax rate of $1.245 per $100 of assessed value is the highest of any Northern Virginia county. Prince William County officials recently approved a tax rate of $1.212, although that figure does not include a 7-cent tax for fire and rescue services.

Because of the steep fall in the assessed value of homes, the average residential tax bill in Loudoun will drop by $279 even with the higher tax rate, according to the county assessor's figures, the first such drop since 1995. The average residential assessment for 2009 is 13.7 percent lower than last year.

The board approved the budget by a vote of 6 to 3, with Vice Chairman Susan Klimek Buckley (D-Sugarland Run) and Supervisors Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling) and Lori L. Waters (R-Broad Run) in opposition.

And the vote came with a dire warning for next year. "It's only going to get worse, so be prepared," said Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large).

Of the 86 county positions being eliminated, 33 are currently filled. Among the most notable casualties in the budget the supervisors approved:

-- The school system will get $762 million in local tax funding, $34 million less than in the current fiscal year. The reduction could trigger increases in student athletic and parking fees; cuts in spending on buses for after-school activities and field trips; changes to the school district's health-care plans, including increases in employee co-pays and deductibles; and a decrease in part-time and overtime salaries.

The School Board will decide next week whether to approve those measures or find other reductions in spending.

-- Fifteen building inspection positions were cut, including fire code, mechanical, plumbing, building and electrical inspectors, saving the county $1.15 million. The number of inspections countywide had dropped from an average of 1,100 a day to 700 a day.

-- The animal shelter will be open for adoptions five days a week instead of six, closing on Fridays (although it will remain open that day for people to surrender animals). The shelter is already closed to the public on Sundays.

-- Loudoun's West Nile virus prevention program, which has operated since 2002 and cost $151,000 last year, was eliminated.

-- Library services were cut by $434,000, which could include some layoffs of security guards and employees in circulation, reference and adult services; the closure of the After Hours Teen Center program; and the elimination of outreach services for senior citizens, homebound residents and those in jail and juvenile detention.

-- A vacant position of deputy chief of fire and rescue was eliminated, along with 18 other full-time but mostly vacant jobs in the agency, and the completion and staffing of a fire station in Brambleton was delayed to 2011.

-- A $10 maintenance and youth sports user fee will be collected through the county's parks and recreation system, generating an additional $612,000 in county revenue.

-- All county employees' salaries were frozen, and the county stopped matching employee contributions to deferred compensation plans.

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office was a big winner, avoiding any of the cuts that had been proposed in its budget. The library system might see $100,000 restored to its budget. And county officials dipped into an estimated $1 million in leftover tax revenue to restore funding to the Carver Adult Day Center, a senior citizens' program in Purcellville.

The outcome of the budget process, which lasted five weeks, took up nine Board of Supervisors work sessions and involved more than 400 public comments by residents, was not without controversy.

The Loudoun County Republican Committee and the nonprofit Loudoun Taxpayers for Accountable Government spoke against the higher tax rate, calling it fiscally irresponsible. And both Republican supervisors called for the county to cut spending further or risk overwhelming cash-strapped taxpayers.

Delgaudio said he had his "hat in hand" for more reductions, after having made 56 motions over five weeks to cut the budget (he succeeded four times, according to county records). And Waters said residential property assessments showed a "significant disparity" from district to district, which will force some Loudoun residents to pay higher property taxes.

"There is no average taxpayer here. It is my opinion that this is not the right decision in this economic time," Waters said. "We do have a record number of foreclosures in this county, and I don't want to add to their burden."

But other supervisors said the tax rate increase was necessary to fund services for the county's 280,000 residents. Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) said critics were "intentionally confusing the tax rate with tax burdens."

County officials also passed a six-year, $1.37 billion capital improvement program that would fund Loudoun's portion of the cost to extend Metrorail to Dulles; construction of 12 elementary, middle and high schools and an advanced technology academy; fire and rescue stations in Aldie, Kirkpatrick Farm, Leesburg and western Loudoun; and the expansion of the county courts complex and the Juvenile Detention Center, among other projects.