7/9/2014 King George VA Journal

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POSTAL CUSTOMER

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King George

Page 12 Volume 38, Number 28

New voter ID law now in effect

Wednesday, July 9, 2014 50 Cents

helping you relate to your community

Board approves additional $493,381 for schools

Celebrating the 4th of July!

Phyllis Cook As of July 1, Virginia law requires all voters to provide an acceptable form of photo identification (ID) at the polls in order to vote. Virginia’s new photo ID requirements also apply to absentee voters who vote in-person in elections ahead of Election Day. The requirement is a result of a new law that was enacted by the state’s General Assembly over a year ago and signed into law by former Governor Bob McDonnell. Thinking ahead to the Nov. 4 election, there is one statewide office for U.S. Senate up for election and a U.S. Congressional seat on the ballot. Both races are important at the national level and the local level. And thinking ahead is a good thing to do, if you want to ensure that your ballot is counted without the necessity of casting a provisional ballot and providing follow-up steps to make your vote count. (See below for more information about provisional ballot rules.) ACCEPTABLE PHOTO ID Acceptable photo identification for in-person voting includes the following forms. • Valid Virginia Driver’s License or Identification Card. • Valid Virginia DMV issued Veteran’s ID card. • Valid United States Passport. • Valid Employee photo identification card issued by an employer of the voter in the ordinary course of the employer’s business. • Other government-issued photo identification cards issued by the U.S. Government, the Commonwealth of Virginia, or a political subdivision of the Commonwealth. • Valid college or university student photo identification card from an institution of higher education located in Virginia. • Virginia Voter Photo ID Card obtained through local general registrar’s office. FREE VIRGINIA VOTER PHOTO ID Any registered voter who does not possess one of the above mentioned forms of photo ID may apply for a free Virginia Voter Photo Identification from any general registrar’s office in the Commonwealth. This new kind of photo ID is only for those voters who do NOT have one of the acceptable forms of photo ID listed above. Voters in this category are urged to apply for the new photo ID as soon as possible to avoid delays. They must complete the application and have their picture taken at the registrar’s office. This takes time to process. Once the application is processed, the card will be mailed directly to the voter. The Virginia Voter Photo ID Card is acceptable See vote, page 5

Phyllis Cook After receiving approval on June 24 for an additional appropriation of nearly half a million dollars by the Board of Supervisors for last fiscal year, 2013-14, the School Board last week on June 30, the last day of the budget year, approved the purchase of two cargo vans at a cost of $37,722 based on a state contract with each van priced at $18,861. The expenditure will be paid from surplus funding from the state due to a higher average daily membership (ADM) for student enrollment than had been budgeted for the school and fiscal year.

Leonard Banks

With over 1,000 runners, the annual Heritage 5K, run on July 4 in Fredericksburg, has become a favorite outlet for recreation for many area athletes. See the story on page 9.

School Board adopts revised budget reflecting state funding decrease Phyllis Cook The King George School Board last week on June 30 amended its 2014-15 budget amounts and categorical distributions as recommended by division Superintendent Rob Benson to reflect lower state revenues. While making reductions for the next fiscal year’s bottom line to reduce expenditures and recognize slack existing in the budget, other action at the same meeting on the last day of the fiscal year was to encumber more of the surplus funds left at the end of the outgoing 2013-14 fiscal year. (See related article elsewhere in this issue.) The new 2014-15 budget numbers and category amounts line up with the final funding allocation in the state budget that was signed into law the previous week. The next step will be for the county Board of Supervisors to approve the new categorical amounts and make adjustments to the School Board’s allocations for the new fiscal year, which began on July 1.

At a meeting the previous week on June 24, Supervisors had approved allocations of funding for only the first quarter of 2014-15 for schools and all county departments, with the expectation that changes would be coming in the amounts for state revenue at the next meeting in mid July. The new lower School Board budget amount differs from the previously approved budget adopted on June 9 by reducing the Instructional category by $257,491 and by increasing Fund 252 for federal grants by $8,417 and a small adjustment to the Cafeteria Fund. There were no other changes to the categorical amounts, which are listed below. REVISED CATEGORICAL BUDGET Action by the School Board on June 30 to approve a revised line item budget reflected the following budget amounts for major categories, as defined under state law. The approved categories are expected to go to the Board of Supervisors for appropriation at its next meeting on July 15. The categorical

breakdown is listed below for the 2014-15 budget year, which began on July 1: • Instruction – $26,613,613, amended down from $26,871,104. • Technology - $1,673,701, no change. • Administration, Attendance & Health $1,039,136, no change. • Transportation – $2,566,499, no change. • Operations & Maintenance - $3,724,004, no change. • Facilities - $68,948, no change. • Total of Operating Fund 250 - $35,685,901 amended down from $35,943,392. • Federal grants – Fund 252 - $1,290,786 amended up from $1,282,369. The above amounts include all lines in the operating budget, adding up to a new total of $36,976,687, down from its previously approved total of $37,225,761. The following two accounts make up the rest of the School Board total budget: See budget, page 5

Chief Moody earns national certification Phyllis Cook Chief David Moody, head of the county’s Fire & Rescue department, was recognized as a National Executive Fire Officer at the last Board of Supervisors meeting. At a meeting on June 24, Joe Grzeika, Chairman of the Board, surprised Moody with a presentation of his framed certificate from the National Fire Academy. The certificate cited Moody for his successful completion of the Executive Fire Officer Program (EFOP). Moody earned the advanced certification after completing a four-year course offered by the National Fire Academy, which also requires writing and submitting annual applied research projects. Moody said the program required his attendance at evening sessions daily for two weeks in each of the last four years. Along with the class work, it also required completion of an extensive applied research project for each of those years. The research project was required to involve problem solving in real-world department situations. The Executive Fire Officer Program is only open to qualified individuals. It has strict criteria for application that allows the opportunity to complete the stringent

course to those who are eligible. The selection criteria includes both a service requirement and an academic requirement, that is open to applicants in a rank/position that is chief of department or equivalent or chief offices who head major bureaus or divisions within a fire department/emergency medical services organization. The Executive Fire Officer Program is an initiative of the U. S. Fire Administration/ National Fire Academy designed to provide senior officers and others in key leadership roles with an understanding of: • the need to transform fire and emergency services organizations from being reactive to proactive; with an emphasis on leadership development, prevention, and risk-reduction; • transforming fire and emergency services organizations to reflect the diversity of America’s communities; • the value of research and its application to the profession; and • the value of lifelong learning. http://www.usfa.fema.gov/nfa/efop/

MAINTENANCE VEHICLES Superintendent Rob Benson related at last week’s special meeting that the vehicles had been requested in the School Board’s annual capital (CIP) request for 2014-15 to the county. The request to the county for the vehicles had been higher, at $55,000, with the two vehicles originally included within the ‘school bus replacement’ list, but Benson was directed by School Board members to list the maintenance vehicles as a separate project. Benson said the request was disallowed. He noted that the county administrator, Travis Quesenberry, had suggested the vehicles be included in the School Board’s operating budget. The vehicles were disallowed in the county’s CIP because the request did not meet the county’s threshold of $50,000 or more for individual items. In addition, except for school buses, all division car and truck purchases have always been made from funds programmed into the School Board operating budget. Benson said the maintenance vehicles would be used to transport maintenance workers when they respond to work orders, and haul tools and materials for daily transportation needs. The purchase of the cargo vans will reserve the use of the division’s heavy duty trucks for such things as snow treatment and removal and hauling heavy equipment so their useful life can be extended. $493,381 EXTRA STATE FUNDING DUE TO ADM The June 24 appropriation action by the Board of Supervisors had recognized an additional $493,381 in state funding for the division due to 102 more students than anticipated in the 2013-14 budget. Last year’s budget had been based on 4,100 students and the division ended the year with 4,202. At the same meeting, Supervisors also received a financial report noting the School Board was anticipating a year-end surplus of $69,262. The surplus figure will not be See Surplus, page 5

Chairman Joe Grzeika presents a framed certificate to Chief David Moody after he completed the Executive Fire Officer Program.

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2014 NSWC Federal Credit Union Jet Ski Races NSWC Federal Credit Union nswcfcu.org

July 18 - 20, 2014 colonialbeach.org

Arts & Crafts on the Boardwalk

“Visit colonialbeach.org for more information”


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