Supervisors advertise higher tax for property

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted Tuesday to advertise a tax rate of $1.215 for the upcoming fiscal year.

The rate is based on $100 per as­sessed property value and would take effect July 1, should the board approve the rate during its budget vote in April. The advertised rate is an increase from this year’s $1.204 and would elevate the average an­nual residential tax bill by $110.

More than a dozen individuals spoke during Citizens’ Time, most of them teachers pleading with the board to advertise a flexible taxrate. Once advertised, the rate can be lowered but not raised. 

Prince William Education Association President Bonnie Klakowicz said the additional $19.6 million heading to the schools system from the higher tax rate wouldn’t even cover the cost of 2,700 new students expected to enroll this fall, much less an increase in compensation that many teachers are seeking. 

The $32 million to be paid to the Virginia Retirement System next year was part of the reason Prince William Schools Superintendent Steven L. Walts proposed no increase in pay for teachers until fiscal 2016. The schools expected to have to pay back the amount over several years and instead will have to pay $32 million in 2013 as well as 2014. 

Still, PWEA board member Jim Livingston said the county should shoulder more of the burden. Livington said the county’s revenue sharing agreement, which provides schools 56.75 percent of all general fund revenue, is simply not enough based on the proposed tax rate. 

“56.75 percent of not enough is not enough,” Livington said. Only Chairman Corey A. Stewart, R-At large, and Pete Candland, R-Gainesville, voted against the proposed rate with Candland stating he wouldn’t support any tax increases in 2013. Schools would receive $2.7 million less from the county should the board not raise the current tax rate of $1.204, according to county Budget Director Michelle Casciato. 

Before Tuesday’s tax rate approval, Frank J. Principi, D-Woodbridge, made a substitute motion for a $1.218 tax rate. However, that motion was defeated 7 to 1. 

After county executive Melissa Peacor presented her 2013 budget last week, Stewart indicated that some projects — including the newly added Central Police Station — could be on the chopping block. 

Supervisor W.S. “Wally” Covington III, R-Brentsville, said he would support the advertised rate but didn’t rule out cutting some of the proposed additions to the budget. 

Covington also took umbrage with state funding cuts to local jurisdictions and stated that he’d like to see more state income tax come back to Northern Virginia to support education. Prince William County Public Schools receives 40.4 percent of its funding from the state and another 8.6 percent from sales tax, according to school budget documents. 

The loss of Cost of Competing Adjustments from the state could take away another $10.8 million from Prince William Schools next year should the General Assembly choose to remove it from its budget. 

Walts’ budget doesn’t take into account the potential loss of $10.8 million, and school officials have expressed confidence they will receive the funding. 

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-530-3904.