Penny Gross: Major cuts in county budget on the table

Coming up with a balanced budget (as required by law) is going to be a major challenge for Fairfax County officials, with the threat to schools and other programs likely to be even more severe than last year. In a conversation with the Annandale blog, Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross said: “I think we’re going to be cutting human services some more. We’re going to be cutting some of the nice things we have like libraries and parks. We heard last year that people want to maintain police and fire, but I think we may even see a change in the way that’s done, because the money simply isn’t there.”

“When you’ve got a $315 million gap between what we provide now and what we will have in revenue, that means a significant cut,” Gross says. “That’s a lot of personnel and a lot of programs.”

You can expect the biggest fight over school funding. The school board is considering raising class sizes, new fees for advanced course tests and sports, eliminating elementary band and strings, cutting back all-day kindergarten, ending elementary foreign language programs, and much more.

“School advocates always want more money,” says Gross. “Where’s it all going to come from? We’re all drawing from the same pool of money.” The county already transfers 54 percent of its budget to the schools.

“We pretty much cut to the bone last year in the 2010 budget. Now we have to cut into the bone,” she says. “Some of the things that were on the chopping block last year that we were able to save are likely to be cut, including cutting back library hours, cutting back on maintenance in the parks, increasing fees for some park usage, and services to people who are less fortunate.”

A big problem is unfunded mandates from the state and federal governments. For example, Gross notes, “We’re going to have to cut our environmental budget at the same time we’re facing new federal mandates on storm water.”

Meanwhile, she says, 90 percent of the county’s revenues are capped or controlled by the state. The only revenue adjustment controlled by the county is the real estate tax, but property tax revenues have declined along with home prices and sales. Revenue from real estate recordation is down, too. Gross says a meals tax would bring in $80 million a year. But that would be a tough sell. County voters rejected referendums on a meal tax twice, even when when it was targeted to the schools.