Supervisors want budget meeting with school board
by Larry S. Chowning
Budget issues continued to dominate meetings of the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors.
On Tuesday, March 2, discussions focused on the county parks and recreation budget and on whether the county should continue to subsidize the cost of commercial trash disposal.
During general conversation while looking broadly at a preliminary budget, first-year supervisor Carlton Revere requested more definitive numbers on what the county parks and recreation program cost county taxpayers per participant.
Revere attempted to compare the county’s cost per YMCA participant to the cost of a county parks and recreation participant. He made it clear it was “only an attempt” because there may be variables of which he is not aware.
The county donated $47,500 in the FY10 budget to the Middlesex Family YMCA at Hartfield, and $50,000 in each of the three previous fiscal years. Revere divided the number of participants and calculated that the county’s support of the YMCA costs taxpayers $25 per participant.
Revere noted the $25 figure does not reflect the free rent the county gives the YMCA on the old Wilton Elementary School building and the loss of real estate tax revenues on the building, which is not taxed because it is owned by the county.
The Middlesex County Parks and Recreation Department budget is $43,012 in the current FY10 year, and it has been recommended that it be $42,991 in FY11. Using this cost, along with subtracting about $7,000 in revenues collected by the department, and dividing it by the number of participants, Revere figured it cost county taxpayers about $89 per participant.
“I don’t know that this is a fair evaluation,” Revere said. “I’m not commenting on the caliber of programming or the programs offered. It’s just an area we may need to look at.”
Revere and the board’s other first-year supervisor, Pete Mansfield, also discussed the county’s policy of subsidizing the cost of commercial trash pickup.
Assistant county administrator Marcia Jones said commercial customers rent a dumpster and the county pays for the disposal costs of their trash.
Supervisors approved this commercial policy several years ago because the county would have to pay the disposal fee anyway if this trash was taken to a transfer station, Jones explained.
The county pays $23 per ton for trash that goes to a regional landfill and last year 2,704 tons were collected from all residential customers, 106 commercial customers, and 13 county facilities, which include rescue squads, fire departments, courthouse facilities and all the schools.
Revere suggested possibly phasing out the commercial subsidy over a period of years.
Jones indicated that if the county charged for the disposal, there would be a cost involved in monitoring the amount of commercial trash being dumped and a rate would have to be set.
Culley indicated that in the past his office had recommended that commercial users pay for disposal but supervisors always felt the county needed to subsidize them.
Supervisors are going to check with county school officials this week to determine a convenient time for a joint budget work session between supervisors and the school board.
Supervisors are waiting on information on how much state aid the county and schools will receive in FY11 before making definitive recommendations on the county budget.