Greene County revenue shortfall may hinge on administrator&apos;s budget miscalculations [The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.]

Greene County revenue shortfall may hinge on administrator's budget miscalculations [The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.]

Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA)

Apr. 29—Greene County supervisors approved a 7-cent real estate tax increase for the fiscal year 2024 budget to make up for a revenue shortfall that is partially due to a projection by former County Administrator Mark Taylor that did not materialize.

Taylor, now superintendent of Spotsylvania County schools, last year projected that Greene would receive $996,500 in revenue from court fines, forfeitures and parking fines for fiscal year 2023, which ends June 30 — a 720% increase over the $121,500 budgeted for fiscal year 2022.

But according to the March 7 budget presentation by interim Greene County Administrator Brenda Garton, the county is going into the new fiscal year with a $945,000 shortfall in revenue from fines and forfeitures.

Garton presented that information on a slide titled "problems with revenues for fiscal year 2023 — 24." She proposed a 10-cent increase to Greene County's real estate tax rate and a reduction to other budget requests — including the elimination of all new positions — in order to balance the budget.

In an April 27 email to the Free Lance — Star, Garton said the missing revenue is "certainly" one of the issues involved in setting the tax rates for the upcoming fiscal year.

"I cannot comment on whether or not Mr. Taylor made a mistake in the revenue projections in the FY 22 — 23 budget, as I was not in Greene County at the time, of course, and have no way of knowing what his thought process may have been," Garton wrote. "As the presentation includes, we do need a revenue source to make up the $945,000 in projected revenue in order to balance the budget for the upcoming fiscal year."

According to the approved minutes of the March 1, 2022, Greene Board of Supervisors meeting at which Taylor presented his budget for fiscal year 2023, supervisors questioned his assessment that an increase to the real estate tax rate would not be needed.

"Mr. Herring said that this is the first time he has seen a budget like this since he has been on the board," the minutes state. "He said that the recommendations presented tonight are all included in the proposed budget and we can do all this with the tax rate remaining the same. Mr. Taylor said yes."

Members of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors were angered last month when Taylor presented a series of options for balancing the school division's budget that included eliminating the school libraries, programs for academically gifted students and more than 80 teacher and paraeducator positions.

Taylor framed the cuts as potentially necessary due to a projected $5 million decrease in state revenue for the school division combined with the division's needs, which require $19 million in new revenue from the county.

But the state budget situation is still in flux, and other area school divisions continue to anticipate an increase in state revenue for next fiscal year.

Greene residents last year also accused Taylor of misleading supervisors and the public about a potential 15.6% increase in the cost of health insurance for county employees.

At the March 22, 2022, Greene Board of Supervisors meeting, Taylor told supervisors that they needed to immediately vote on how to fund that increase — either by paying 8% of the increase or providing employees with a one-time bonus — because the insurance company required a cost-share breakdown of the increase amount by March 25.

"Our health insurance provider, Local Choice, is looking for a decision from this board this week," Taylor told supervisors, according to the video of the meeting. "They are adamant that they need an answer by this Friday."

He also told supervisors that each time he asked Local Choice why there was a cost increase, "They came back increasing our increase with each question we had."

After Taylor made these remarks, several Greene residents requested to see communication between Local Choice and county administration under the Freedom of Information Act.

At later meetings, they told the board that they could find no evidence that Local Choice requested information about the cost-share breakdown or that the company continued to up the amount of the increase, as Taylor claimed.

"Mr. Taylor's remarks were refuted by the director of health benefits, who wrote on May 17 that the county is not required to provide a breakdown of the cost share increase allocation," Greene resident Doug Roberts told supervisors, according to a video of the September 13, 2022, meeting.

At the Aug. 23, 2022, meeting, Paige Roberts told supervisors that she learned Local Choice communicated information about the 15.6% rate increase about a month before Taylor told the board they were facing a deadline and that "the rate did not change."

"Why make that exaggerated claim when clearly the rate never increased over and over again?" Roberts asked. She said supervisors should be concerned that Taylor asked them to hold an unscheduled vote under misleading circumstances.

At the September meeting, Keith Bourne, another Greene taxpayer, told the board that Taylor's statements had "created a major trust issue with county administration."

In an October 4, 2022, interview with The Free Lance — Star, Bourne said he didn't think Taylor was honest with the Greene supervisors and the public during his time as County Administrator.

"Honestly, what I think he is, is lazy," Bourne said. "I don't think he's purposely dishonest, but he strikes me as a lazy individual. When it catches up to him, we've seen it over and over, one of his staff goes under the bus. But the buck sort of stops with him, in my opinion."

Adele Uphaus: 540/735-1973

@flsadele