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2008 Halifax County Supervisors Budget email correspondence

The Gazette-Virginian submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the e-mail transactions between the county administrator and board of supervisors members April 7 following adoption of the county budget Monday night.
The FOIA request was made after board members declined to hold public work sessions to make cuts to the budget, opting instead to work among themselves individually on the telephone and through emails to reduce the proposed budget.
FOIA applies to meetings of three or more members of a public body (two members, if the body is less than three people).
According to the Coalition for Open Government, one-on-one exchanges, whether by phone or by e-mail, are not subject to FOIA rules requiring meetings to be open and noticed to the public.
In fact, FOIA says in 2.2-3710(B): “Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing contained herein shall be construed to prohibit (i) separately contacting the membership, or any part thereof, of any public body for the purpose of ascertaining a member’s position with respect to the transaction of public business, whether such contact is done in person, by telephone or by electronic communication, provided the contact is done on a basis that does not constitute a meeting as defined in this chapter.”
Although permissible, this type of communication is contrary to the spirit of open government, said Gazette-Virginian Editor Beth Robertson. “We are not fans of these daisy chain meetings, especially when they are conducted in place of public work sessions.”
She praised County Administrator Bryan Foster for his prompt response to the newspaper’s FOIA request.

Pursuant to your FOIA request dated April 8, I am forwarding to you 24
emails that I either sent or received to/from Board of Supervisor members
regarding the FY2009 Budget, Reassessment, and Tax Rates for the same fiscal
year. Several have attachments.

I would appreciate you acknowledging receipt of these 24 emails by replying
to this email once you have received all 24.

In addition, I am contacting BOS members in regards to this FOIA request and
have asked them to send me copies of any emails that are pertinent to your
request. I will forward those to you once I receive them.

Again, please acknowledge receipt of the 24 emails. Thanks.

_________________________________________
Bryan D. Foster, County Administrator
Halifax County
P.O. Box 699
134 South Main Street
Halifax, VA 24558
mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us
(434) 476-3300 ext. 223
(434) 476-3384 FAX

Email 1

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 1:38 PM
To: Bryant Claiborne (E-mail); Doug Bowman (E-mail); James Edmunds II
(E-mail); Lottie Nunn (E-mail); Tom West (E-mail); Wayne Conner
(E-mail); William Fitzgerald (E-mail)
Subject: Tax Rate Advertisement

As I previously communicated to the Board via letter on February 9, we must
advertise a separate real estate tax rate public hearing because this is a
reassessment year.

The advertisement will appear in Monday's newspapers. The tax rate public
hearing will be Thursday, April 3 at 6:30 PM at Mary Bethune. A copy of the
advertisement is attached.

The advertised rate is 48 cents. This is the same rate that is currently in
place, but is an effective rate increase of 15% because of reassessment. By
law, we should lower our rate to 41.5 cents. You will see in the ad, I am
estimating that next year's budget will be approximately 5% less than the
current budget. This is due to the fact that all of the school construction
expense has now been paid and will not be in the new budget.

I just received the school system budget request this morning--they are
asking for an additional $2.67 million in local funds. I am just now able
to plug in their numbers and work on final recommendations to the Board. I
hope to have a completed draft of the entire County budget ready for
distribution at your meeting on Monday night. We will also discuss the
calendar and verify all of the future meeting dates.

I am hopeful that the adopted tax rate can be less than 48 cents. However,
we needed to advertise a number in order to meet our schedule. The Board
can always approve a rate less than that advertised, but cannot choose a
higher rate without repeating the public hearing process. Once again, this
will be a difficult budget process.

Should you have any questions about the tax rate public hearing
advertisement, please let me know. Have a nice weekend, and I look forward
to seeing each of you at Monday's meeting.

NOTICE OF PROPOSED

REAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASE

Halifax County proposes to increase property tax levies.

Assessment Increase: Total assessed value of real property, excluding additional assessments due to new construction or improvements to property, exceeds last year’s total assessed value of real property by 15.9%.

Lowered Rate Necessary to Offset Increased Assessment: The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above, would be $0.415 per $100 of assessed value. This rate will be known as the “lowered tax rate.”

Effective Rate Increase: Halifax County proposes to adopt a tax rate of $0.48 per $100 of assessed value. The difference between the lowered tax rate and the proposed rate would be $0.065, or 15.6%. This difference will be known as the “effective tax rate increase.”

Individual property taxes may, however, increase at a percentage greater than or less than the above percentage.

Proposed Total Budget Increase: Based on the proposed real property tax rate and changes in other revenues, the total budget of Halifax County will exceed last year’s by –4.67%.

A public hearing on the proposed increase will be held on Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 6:30 PM in the Public Meeting Room, #201, of the Mary Bethune Office Complex, 1030 Cowford Road, Halifax, VA. The public is invited to attend and comment on this proposal.

(434) 476-3384 FAX

Email 2

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 4:52 PM
To: Bryant Claiborne (E-mail); Doug Bowman (E-mail); James Edmunds II (E-mail); Lottie Nunn (E-mail); Tom West (E-mail); Wayne Conner (E-mail); William Fitzgerald (E-mail)
Cc: Bill Covington (E-mail)
Subject: Potential School Cuts from the State

The following email was received this afternoon from VACo. Please pay close attention to the section on education funding. The House proposes to change the funding methodology which passed on a 55-44 vote. Delegate Hogan voted in favor of this change.

I've attached two documents that show what the effect will be to Halifax County over the next two years--a reduction of almost $1 million per year. VACo is urging counties to contact their legislators. As Del. Hogan is a budget conferee, I would expect he would argue for the House's position on this. I would encourage all Board Members to contact him on this issue.

Please advise if you have any questions.

Attachment 1

Attachment 2

_________________________________________ Bryan D. Foster, County Administrator Halifax County P.O. Box 699 134 South Main Street Halifax, VA 24558 mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us (434) 476-3300 ext. 223 (434) 476-3384 FAX

Email 3

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 10:53 AM
To: Doug Bowman (E-mail)
Subject: School System Retirees

Doug:

The info you asked about is below. 32 retirees at a cost of $255,000. Bill gives breakdown in chart. Paul and Bill both explained that using these folks helps keep down expenses for substitutes. Let me know if you have questions or desire additional information. Thanks.

_________________________________________ Bryan D. Foster, County Administrator Halifax County P.O. Box 699 134 South Main Street Halifax, VA 24558 mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us (434) 476-3300 ext. 223 (434) 476-3384 FAX

-----Original Message-----
From: William R. Covington [mailto:wcovington@halifax.k12.va.us]
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 2:14 PM
To: 'Bryan D. Foster'
Subject: RE:

That would be $255,000.

From: Bryan D. Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us] Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 4:35 PM To: William R. Covington Subject: RE:

Thanks Bill. Can you also give me the dollar amount that the school system is paying for these? Thanks.
-----Original Message----- From: William R. Covington [mailto:wcovington@halifax.k12.va.us] Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 1:48 PM To: 'Bryan D. Foster' Subject:

Bryan, This is the break out of the people participating this year in the local retirement plan.

Count
Job Total
Aide 1
Café 5
Maint 1
Secretary 3
Supervisor 1
Teacher 21
Grand Total 32

-----------
Email 4

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 12:07 PM
To: Bryant Claiborne (E-mail); Doug Bowman (E-mail); James Edmunds II
(E-mail); Lottie Nunn (E-mail); Tom West (E-mail); Wayne Conner
(E-mail); William Fitzgerald (E-mail)
Subject: Budget Work Session -- Monday, March 10 at 6:30 PM

Don't forget the Board will meet on Monday, March 10 at 6:30 PM in the
School Board Conference Room, 1st Floor, at Mary Bethune for a budget work
session. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
me. Have a great weekend. See you on Monday.

Email 5

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 10:58 AM
To: Wayne Conner (E-mail)
Subject: Budget Information

Wayne:

I've attached a spreadsheet that I think captures the information you were
asking about at the budget work session. Please let me know if that is not
what you were wanting. The tab labeled comparisons is the one you want.
The calculations tab was used to calculate the info in the comparisons tab.

Also, if you look in the back of the FY2007 audit report that was
distributed at the planning retreat in January, beginning on page 98 there
are several tables that present a lot of historical revenue and expense
information that you may also find helpful. This was the information we
used to compile the attached spreadsheet.

Please let me know if you have an questions and whether this is what you
were looking for. I can then distribute to the rest of the Board members.
Thanks.

Attachment 3

Email 6

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 11:48 AM
To: Bryant Claiborne (E-mail); Doug Bowman (E-mail); James Edmunds II
(E-mail); Lottie Nunn (E-mail); Tom West (E-mail); Wayne Conner
(E-mail); William Fitzgerald (E-mail)
Subject: FW: Budget Information

Supervisor Conner asked for some additional information regarding revenues
in previous years relative to annual expenses and the local contribution to
the school system. We have prepared the attached spreadsheet which
summarizes the information he was seeking. For your information--please let
me know if you have trouble reading the document or require additional
information.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 10:58 AM
To: Wayne Conner (E-mail)
Subject: Budget Information

Wayne:

Please let me know if you have an questions and whether this is what you
were looking for. I can then distribute to the rest of the Board members.
Thanks.

(434) 476-3384 FAX

Email 7

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 3:51 PM
To: Bryant Claiborne (E-mail); Doug Bowman (E-mail); James Edmunds II
(E-mail); Lottie Nunn (E-mail); Tom West (E-mail); Wayne Conner
(E-mail); William Fitzgerald (E-mail)
Subject: State School Funds

I have received a preliminary estimate of school funds from the state for
FY2009, which indicates $153,000 less than what the schools estimated based
upon the Governor's introduced budget. I will confirm once DOE posts the
new calculation templates. Should you have any questions, please let me
know. Thanks.

Email 8

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 11:04 AM
To: Doug Bowman (E-mail)
Subject: School Funding

Doug:

According to DOE figures, the schools will receive $148,331 less than
projected for FY2009. This is how much the final adopted numbers vary from
the Governor's introduced budget.

However, this is still $1.5 million more in state funds than they received
in the current year. FYI.

Email 9

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 4:36 PM
To: Doug Bowman (E-mail)
Subject: Budget

Just checking to see if you have everything you need or if you had questions
about anything. I'll be in the office until 5:00.

Email 10

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 3:23 PM
To: 'Doug Bowman'
Subject: RE: comp board folks

You are correct. The comp board folks receive what the County gets. They
would not get an additional increase on Dec. 1.

The only exception to this rule is if the state increase raises the actual
salary of any employee higher than where they are on our pay scale. We must
pay the minimum amount given by the comp board.

Based upon our discussion this morning, you can add $94,000 to our revenue
picture as the revised estimates of comp board funding are higher than our
original estimates.

-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Bowman [mailto:bowmandvmh@comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 3:01 PM
To: Bryan Foster (office)
Subject: comp board folks

I thought if all on the county pay plan got a 3% (or 2+1) increase July 1,
then the comp board folks would not also get the 2% Dec 1.. because 3% July

1 is greater than 2% Dec 1. - doug

Email 11

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2008 12:36 PM
To: Bryant Claiborne (E-mail); Doug Bowman (E-mail); James Edmunds II
(E-mail); Lottie Nunn (E-mail); Tom West (E-mail); Wayne Conner
(E-mail); William Fitzgerald (E-mail)
Subject: FY2009 Budget
Importance: High

Attached to this email are both an excel document and a word document that
show a summary of the suggested changes to the budget given to me by Mr.
Bowman after the meeting. Both documents contain the same information. I
needed to make a couple of minor corrections from Doug's sheet in order to
make all of the numbers work out correctly. This makes the total revised
budget $97,394,358. If you cannot access either attachment, please let me
know.

These are the changes that the Board can adopt on Monday night. These
changes include adopting a real estate tax rate of 44 cents and a personal
property tax rate of $3.60. It increases the use of reserves significantly.
Assuming we finish the current year with revenues equal to expenditures, our
reserve level should be roughly $11.3 million. At the end of FY2009, it
will decrease to roughly $9 million with the projected use of reserves in
the proposed budget.

I must strongly caution the Board that these changes result in using
approximately $725,000 in reserves in order to pay for recurring operating
expenses. Use of reserves should be limited to one-time, large, capital,
non-recurring types of expenses. We will be $725,000 in the hole before we
begin the budget process for FY2010.

I handed a sheet out to each member at the end of the Board meeting
detailing the approved state budget cutting $50 million in aid to localities
in the next two fiscal years. We won't receive the official amount of our
share until after July 1, as the Department of Planning & Budget (DPB) has
30 days after enactment of the budget to notify us of our number. However,
I did receive a preliminary estimate late Friday afternoon showing the
amount of our cut to be approximately $250,000. This will create a deficit
in the proposed revised budget discussed above.

If you add this $250,000 cut that will recur next year with the $725,000
deficit that will exist because of our use of reserves, the County is facing
a $1 million deficit in the FY2010 budget.

In a separate email, I will forward the information sent to me by DPB
outlining the looming cuts from the state.

Also, I will be providing the information on the suggested cuts to the media
tomorrow morning for inclusion in their Monday editions.

Should any board member wish to discuss this with me, I am happy to do so.
Please email me or call me at 222-6230.

Suggested Changes Made to Budget to be Approved 4/7/08


EXPENSE SIDE
Change Pay Increase from 4% to 3%	62,500.00
Lower Increase to Volunteer Fire Depts.	12,000.00
Lower PT Salary Expense Animal Control	20,000.00
Decrease Community Service Board (CSB)	15,000.00
Decrease Library	18,695.00
Eliminate Healthy Families (Now Part of CSB)	3,500.00
Adjust 911 Budget	8,000.00
Decrease Contribution to Schools	350,000.00
Decrease IDA	175,000.00
Eliminate Convenience Centers	400,000.00

Increase Sheriff	(50,000.00)

	1,014,695.00



REVENUE SIDE

Lower RE Tax Rate Increase to 44 cents	(1,432,570.00)
Lower PP Tax Rate Increase to $3.60	(100,000.00)
Eliminate ABC & Wine Revenue	(32,607.00)

Increase Use of Reserves	425,274.00
Additional Estimate Comp Board Funding	125,208.00

	(1,014,695.00)


TOTAL REVISED BUDGET	97,394,358.00

(434) 476-3384 FAX

Email 12

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2008 12:39 PM
To: Bryant Claiborne (E-mail); Doug Bowman (E-mail); James Edmunds II (E-mail); Lottie Nunn (E-mail); Tom West (E-mail); Wayne Conner (E-mail); William Fitzgerald (E-mail)
Subject: FW: State Reductions to Aid To Localities

I referenced this email in the budget information just sent to all Board members. It outlines how the proposed $50 million in cuts to localities will be determined. The estimate for Halifax County is $250,000. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.

_________________________________________ Bryan D. Foster, County Administrator Halifax County P.O. Box 699 134 South Main Street Halifax, VA 24558 mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us (434) 476-3300 ext. 223 (434) 476-3384 FAX

-----Original Message-----
From: Budget [mailto:budget@dpb.virginia.gov]
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 5:56 PM
Cc: mfields@vml.org; medwards@vaco.org
Subject: State Reductions to Aid To Localities

To: Chief Operating Officers of Virginia Cities and Counties

Item 475.20 of the 2008 state budget bill (as enrolled) requires a $50 million reduction in state aid to local governments in both FY 2009 and FY 2010. Within 30 days after enactment of the 2008 Appropriation Act, the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget, is required to provide localities a list of certain state aid to local government programs which will include an estimate of the general fund amount for each program that each locality could expect to receive from the state. The amounts listed for these programs will serve as the basis for calculating each locality’s share of the $50 million savings. The selected programs do not include the constitutionally required K-12 direct aid to education funds and the car tax reimbursement amounts.

Given that the 2008 Appropriation Act will not be enacted until July 1, 2008, the Department of Planning and Budget is not required to release the locality-by-locality listing until August 1. The required August 1 listing will serve as the basis for the amount each locality will be required to reduce their state aid. However, in order to make sure that this process moves along as smoothly as possible and to ensure that localities know at least a rough order of magnitude of the reduction that they can expect, a draft listing has been released on the DPB web site (http://dpb.virginia.gov/).

The draft locality-by-locality listing shows both the estimated base and the theoretical reduction for selected aid to locality programs that would yield the required $50 million savings. The base amounts for each locality are estimates from the distributing state agencies. Per the enrolled budget bill, localities will have the choice of electing 1) to take the total savings out of one program included on the list, (2) reduce multiple state aid programs on a proportional basis or by a specified percentage reduction, or (3) reimburse the Commonwealth in aggregate for their share of the savings. Localities will be required to make their election by August 30, 2008. If option 3 is elected, a locality will be required to make payment to the state by January 9, 2009.

In addition to the locality-by-locality listing, a summary by state agency service area and a definition of these service areas is also provided on the DPB web site. As mentioned previously, the locality by locality listing is a draft and we expect to have a final listing by the beginning of June. The Department of Planning and Budget will be working with the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Association of Counties to address any additions or deletions to the programs included in the reduction base. If you have any suggestions for changes in this regard, please contact VML or VACO so that all suggestions can be consolidated into a single list. Any other questions, especially those concerning the accuracy of the data for your locality, should be directed to me or my management team (see list below). In order to facilitate getting a final listing out as soon as possible, please provide your suggestions or comments prior to the end of April. Please note that any changes to the reduction base will not change the total $50 million savings amount and it is likely that any changes will impact multiple localities.

An important caveat to note about the draft listing is that for the most part, any reductions to programs that involve regional entities have been spread to localities with the exception of regional jails. The methodology involved in spreading the regional jail amount to applicable localities is currently being developed by the Compensation Board in cooperation with the Department of Planning and Budget. For your information, the amounts attributed to the regional jails are included in the last six pages of the locality by locality listing. If your locality participates in any of the regional jails, it is likely that your final reduction amount will be higher to reflect the spreading of the regional jail amounts.

After any changes to the reduction base have been incorporated, a final locality by locality listing will be developed and released. At that time, the Department of Planning and Budget will issue another communication to let you know, and to convey the process through which your locality will make its election of which of the three reduction options it will utilize. During the interim, the Department of Planning and Budget plans to issue subsequent communications as other issues and questions arise.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation,

Richard D. Brown
Director, Virginia Department of Planning and Budget

Department of Planning and Budget Management Team:
Jerry Edwards (Commerce and Trade, Natural Resources, and Finance) (804)-786-1817
Don Darr (Budget Operations) (804)-786-1131
Michael Maul (Education, Transportation, and Public Safety) (804)-786-6657
Mike Shook (Health and Human Resources) (804)-786-8853

Virginia Department of Planning and Budget
1111 East Broad St, Room 5040 Richmond, Virginia 23219
Phone: 804-786-7455 TDD: 804-786-7574
http://dpb.virginia.gov/

Email 13

From: Bryan Foster [mailto:bryan.foster@co.halifax.va.us]On Behalf Of
Bryan D. Foster
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 4:53 PM
To: 'Doug Bowman'
Subject: RE: Mecklenburg tax rate

Current RE rate is 0.36. They had reassessment this year and have not yet
received school request, so a projection for the new tax rate for this year
is not available.

-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Bowman [mailto:bowmandvmh@comcast.net]
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 4:46 PM
To: Bryan Foster (office)
Subject: Mecklenburg tax rate

Will you please confirm Mecklenburg's real estate tax rate for fy09?

Email 14

From: Doug Bowman [mailto:bowmandvmh@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 10:48 AM
To: Bryan Foster (office)
Subject: tax rate

Bryan - where are we on the rate to advertise? I am ok with 48 cents at

most for the purpose of meeting his ad deadline.
doug

Email 15

From: wayne conner [mailto:theconners@gcronline.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 9:27 PM
To: Bryan D. Foster
Subject: Budget info

Bryan- Thanks, this is exactly what I wanted to see on the income side. If I'm looking at it correctly, we have doubled our income from PP and RE taxes in the past 10 years. Again thanks for the quick response and share it with the other Board members. Did you find out from Bill W. whether or not he has talked to Harrison Conner about South of Dan? I would like to schedule a Building and Grounds meeting for next Tue. Mar. 18 around 11am to go to Turbeville, C.H. Friend and South of Dan to review request land. Turbeville and C.H.Friend have been marked. Thanks Wayne Conner
Email 16

From: Doug Bowman [mailto:bowmandvmh@comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 3:01 PM
To: Bryan Foster (office)
Subject: comp board folks

I thought if all on the county pay plan got a 3% (or 2+1) increase July 1,
then the comp board folks would not also get the 2% Dec 1.. because 3% July

1 is greater than 2% Dec 1. - doug

Email 17

-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Bowman [mailto:bowmandvmh@comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 4:23 PM
To: Bryan Foster (office)
Subject: budget

got the comp bd addition in the attached spreadsheet. please bring 8

copies of the attached for me tonight. thx, doug

2009 Budget Worksheet					4/3/08

		Amount	Administration	Possible	Reduction
		Requested	Budget	Changes	Impact
Expense reductions:
County pay plan		4%	4%	3%	$62,500
Assessment		1 part time to full time		postpone	$20,000
Clerk of Court		part time positions ?
Vol.Fire (12 depts)		$480,000	$450,000	$432,000	$12,000
Animal Control		1 part time position		postpone	$20,000
Public Works		1 new staff addition, 1 filled vacancy + new vehicle
Bld.& Grounds		1 new staff addition; fairgrounds, school properties
So. Comm. Ser Bd		$109,846	$100,000	$85,000	$15,000
Library		$238,695	$238,695	$220,000	18,700
Healthy Families		delete $3,500.. included in SCSBoard budget			$3,500
911 fund		$625,202	$625,202	$615,202	$10,000
Public Schools		$15,913,480	$13,936,000	$13,586,000	$350,000
IDA		$648,192	$500,000	$457,000	$43,000
					$554,700
Sheriff		$2,594,548	$2,449,756	$42,499,756	($50,000)
			net expense budget reduction from tax revenues=		$504,700
Additional State Compensation Board funding confirmed					$94,000
				total=	$598,700
From reserve funds:
Convenience Centers		$400,000	$400,000	$0	$400,000
Sheriff's cars		$100,000	$100,000
				Total =	$998,700


	Note: 1 cent on real estate = $358,000
		1 cent on personal property = $21,400

Email 18

From: Doug Bowman [mailto:bowmandvmh@comcast.net]
Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2008 12:56 PM
To: Bill Fitzgerald; James Edmunds
Cc: Bryan Foster (office)
Subject: reassessment

Bill and James- Given the input we have received from the public hearings, I

suggest Bill that you announce Monday night that you have asked James and me

to meet with Brenda/Harold to review the reassessment process. Appointing a
citizen or two at large also to meet with us may be helpful.

Similiarly, we ask for a report from the Bd of Equalization on their work
recently completed and their recommendations. Other items we should explore

with Brenda/Harold are:
- Ag and Forestal District recommendation from the Ag Development Committee
(we should get it Monday night)
- the effect of conservation easements, etc. on assessed values
- when new construction values are added to the assessment base
- Harold's request for moving a part time position to full time (which we
have deleted in the budget revision)

Food for thought. Best we act quickly on this I think.

Doug

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