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TextProposed School Budget Includes an Increased County Transfer
On Thursday, January 6, Fairfax County Public School Superintendent Jack
Dale presented his proposed budget to the School Board. In it, he
requests that the Fairfax County transfer be increased by $48.8 million,
or three percent more than Fiscal Year 2011.
This transfer request is largely a result of a proposed increase in
compensation for all employees. Both a market scale adjustment ($35.8
million) and step increments for those eligible ($40.2 million) are
included in the proposed budget, though a number of fixed costs such as
retirement and health insurance are increasing as well. The proposed
budget also includes an additional 258.4 positions to support changes in
student demographics and projected membership growth of 2,120
students.
As discussed in a previous edition of the Beacon, unlike the last
several years, residential property values are projected to increase for
FY 2012. If the tax rate is held at the FY 2011 level of $1.09, the
average homeowner, with a home valued assessed at $432,439, will pay
$156.96 more than last year. Such action would still require $50 million
in spending reductions to balance the County budget. Each penny on the
real estate rate equates to $19.1 million, so for the County to meet the
Superintendent’s request without cutting spending further, the tax rate
would need to be raised by 2.5 cents, resulting in an additional tax
burden of roughly $110 on top of the $156.96.
Supervior Cook continues to believe that property tax payments should
not increase. He has called on the School Board to review administrative,
transportation and special program expenses to acheive savings.
The School Board will hold public hearings on the FY 2012 budget on
January 24 and 25 at Jackson Middle School. To sign up to speak please go
to this website: http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/requestspeak.htm.
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