Dale District leaders predict change in how county runs
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Holland

Underlying a number of issues discussed at last week's Dale District meeting were two themes: more change is coming in how the county operates, and the district hasn't been getting its share of funding and attention. Supervisor Jim Holland, School Board member David Wyman and Planning Commissioner Bill Brown led the meeting.

"We need more resources to get our share of the accolades in the county," said Wyman. Dale District schools are outperformed in test scores compared to the more affluent western part of the county.

"We have not gotten our share of the school pie," agreed Holland.

Rising real estate assessments were the top topic on the minds of about 40 residents who attended the community meeting, and Jonathan Davis, director of the Real Estate Assessor's Office, answered the questions of several citizens but not to their satisfaction. Many residents believe assessments went up because the county depends on increases for a significant share of its revenue, but county leaders insist assessments only reflect market value. Davis pointed out that homes continue to sell above assessed values, but homeowners said some homes are sitting on the market not selling.

Wyman

"If the real estate market drops in value, so will your assessments," responded Davis. "But Chesterfield is not like the rest of the country. Our market values are still strong."

Asked about the property tax rate that the board of supervisors will determine in just a month, Holland was guarded. "I can't say today what the rate will be," he responded.

The supervisors have avoided discussing where they stand on the property tax rate, but there are many demands to keep it at 97 cents per $100 of assessed value, the figure used to develop the FY09 budget that kicks in July 1. Revenue is expected to increase at 3.6 percent to $759.6 million in the general fund, a much lower increase than in the years of the county's residential real estate boom. Each one penny cut in the rate costs the school system $2.2 million and impacts county spending negatively by $1.1 million. County government leaders have pointed out several times that revenue will be even leaner in FY10 when revaluations of existing homes are expected to be much smaller.

Brown

With the county school system getting slightly more than half of all revenue, some supervisors and county staffers are taking a long look at school spending to find ways to economize. Wyman seemed favorable to some changes, but a top priority for him was "to get school pay to market rates."

"We can't afford to spend $80 million on a new high school," he explained. That's about the cost of the replacement for Clover Hill High School. Wyman called for buying less than 100 acres for a new high school site to accommodate a building "two or three stories tall built with new green design concepts. We need to put all things back on the table [for school expenditures]," he insisted. The school board, he indicated, is looking at shaving the "costs of the central office."

Later this week during a work session, the school board will begin discussing strategies for dealing with overcrowded schools.

"I would like for the school board to review new design concepts for new schools and surrounding facilities that would be both more efficient from a space and an energy consumption perspective. In addition, though we have had preliminary discussions concerning alternative school schedules to reduce overcrowding, and are reviewing more concrete examples, such as the second shift at the Chesterfield Technical Center, we need to enlist the expertise of outside organizations and the ideas and support of the public to begin acting on these proposals. Online learning is another option which we have begun to leverage, however, there may be ways to expand this effort at a lower per pupil cost," wrote Wyman in an e-mail last week.

Wyman hoped for improved traffic solutions for Beulah and Hening elementary schools and said there might be a small redistricting needed for Hopkins Elementary School to reduce overcrowding. Manchester Middle School, he noted, is overcrowded but he didn't say how to resolve it. That issue may be resolved on its own, since projections show student enrollment is expected to decline at Manchester in coming years as more development moves west. Some parents have urged moving the Center-Based Gifted Program (CBG) away from Manchester to the new Tomahawk Creek Middle School in Matoaca District, but school board members have said that's not really an option since the school offers a more centralized location for CBG students.

Planning Director Kirk Turner addressed issues of development and growth, saying there are 48,000 residentially zoned lots countywide, so a moratorium, if it could be implemented, wouldn't affect growth rates for years. (Moratoriums on rezonings are illegal.) "Our [residential] growth rate is 2.5 percent a year, and that's a good healthy rate," he added.

"[But] we've been subsidizing growth out in the fringe of the county," said Turner, referring to increased growth in Matoaca District. Residential growth is less of an issue in the Dale District, which stretches from the Richmond city line south to about the Highlands, because the area has more older and established neighborhoods.

The county is expected to award an outside consulting contract by September to develop one master plan for the entire county, but that's not expected to be completed until September 2010. "It will help us reinvest in the inner ring," Turner said.

Brown acknowledged that some infill development in the district "is creating con- troversy." He looked to the proposed countywide comprehensive plan to provide planning solutions.

A couple of citizens expressed concern about adding another runway to the Chesterfield County Airport because of the noise for surrounding residential neighborhoods. Arlene Brandt wanted the county to replace a berm that once blocked her view of much of the airport.

Holland showed support for the county's police, fire and EMS personnel. The police department is currently spending a great deal of money to train new officers, some of whom leave the department for higher-paying jobs in neighboring localities. "We need to make sure our resources are realigned," Holland said.