INSIDE
11
19
It’s all in the family
Tallez ends fourth season at Ferrum
APRIL 22, 2016
VOLUME 28, NUMBER 6
75¢
VIEWPOINTS, PAGE 4 | PUZZLES, PAGE 21 | CLASSIFIEDS, PAGES 22, 23
BOS approves tax rate at 99 cents
SAVE MY GIANT
TRACY BELL
Stafford County Sun
Giant Foods workers ask questions about the possible sale of the North Stafford store during a meeting Wednesday evening at the Hampton Inn. Mike Wilson and other officials of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400 outlined a strategy they plan to follow. ALEKS DOLZENKO| STAFFORD COUNTY SUN
Union workers squeezed by merger JILL PALERMO
Northern Virginia Media Services
Job security in the wake of a pending merger between the parent companies of Giant Foods and Food Lion brought out some 60 Giant workers and their supporters to a meeting in North Stafford on Wednesday. Officials of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, a trade union that represents Giant Foods’ employees, told the workers that a merger was approved by the two European firms, Royal Ahold, which owns Giant Foods, and Delhaize, which owns Food Lion. The matter has yet to be decided in the United States by the Federal Trade Commission. The merger would place the company in the top three grocery chains in the U.S., Ahold CEO Dick Boer said on Bloomberg Markets. Mike Wilson, the local’s strategic campaigns director, said the union is going to fight the closure of any of the
INSIDENOVA.COM
five Stafford and Fredericksburg-area stores. Wilson pointed out that the FTC may object to one company having, too many stores, too large a market share in an area. The union has launched a petition drive and is planning to bus Giant workers and supporters to a May 11 “Save My Store” rally at Royal Ahold’s Landover, Md., headquarters. Both workers and customers of the stores are concerned about the future of their stores, Jonathan Williams, the union’s communications manager, said earlier. “There’s a lot of outrage about these Giants possibly being closed,” Williams said. “This is a very, very frustrating experience for our members, some of whom have worked at these stores for 30 years.” A decision by the FTC is expected in “mid-2016,” according to Chris Bland, a spokesman with Ahold USA. Wilson thought that the decision GIANT PAGE 21 would come later in the year.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors approved its budget Tuesday, agreed to a real estate tax rate and approved its Capital Improvement Program. The board unanimously approved County Administrator Anthony Romanello’s $274 million budget generally as proposed, with minor additions. The board also agreed to a 99-cent tax rate, voting 5-2 on the matter. The county’s current rate is 1.019 per $100 of assessed value. Supervisors Meg Bohmke, R-Falmouth, and Paul Milde, R-Aquia, cast the dissenting votes on the 99-cent rate. Prior to the vote, Bohmke said that because some costs are going up, the county should further reduce the tax rate. Milde had suggested a 98-cent tax rate, which represents an equalized rate, but that was met with strong objection. Supervisor Jack Cavalier, R-GriffisWidewater, said: “I’m a bit perplexed as to why we’re bringing this up at the 11th hour when we’ve had months to talk about this, and we’ve had no one propose this. …” Supervisor Wendy Maurer, R-Rock Hill, said she was offended by Milde’s suggestion. “This is completely and totally irresponsible. …We have spent hours and hours discussing this and going round and round. …” Maurer said she took issue with forcing cuts at the last minute and putting the relationship with the county school board at risk. Snellings asked where the funding would be taken from for that rate, noting that it would surely come out of money set for schools or public safety. Milde said the suggestion is not irresponsible. He noted that too many firefighter positions are being added to the budget, and he shot back at Maurer, who recently joined the board. “Welcome to the board in your fourth month,” he said. “…I know what’s going on here at the county. You kind of get the hang of it after a decade. …” The 98-cent tax rate failed by a 3-4
vote, with Supervisors Cavalier, Maurer, Gary Snellings, R-Hartwood, and Laura Sellers, R-Garrisonville, dissenting. The board then agreed to the 99-cent, or effective rate. The average resident’s tax bill will increase approximately $17 based on this rate, according to Romanello. To the proposed budget, the board added three additional firefighters/emergency medical technician posts at a cost of $208,000 and five additional deputies at a cost of $430,000. Additionally, a benefits specialist was added to the proposed budget at a cost of $87,000, with some state assistance; the county received a federal grant for a victim/ witness position; the debt service for the landfill is cost neutral; a part-time position in human services is being converted to full-time; and getting to cash capital early and providing budget flexibility costs $282,000, according to discussion. In total, there are 18 new positions for the fire and rescue department in the budget, with 16 more if a grant is approved. It will be the first time in county history that there will be career firefighters and EMTs at every fire station in Stafford. “I think it’s a considerable investment and it’s been a long time coming,” said supervisors’ Chairman Robert Thomas, R-George Washington. The priorities of the board in this budget are public safety, schools, service excellence and a bond enhancement strategy, Thomas said. The budget provides a 2 percent salary increase for all county employees; an increase for other employees whose salaries are below market value; continues to provide funding for a compensation study to fix deficiencies; and adds 10 positions to county agencies from social services, human resources, circuit courts, planning and human services. The budget adds 27 new BOS county positions, eight new PAGE 21
8
57144 00401
8