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LeesburgToday VOLUME 26
NUMBER 37
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SEPTEMBER 11, 2014
LEGAL NOTICES 48
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OBITUARIES 58-59
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LETTERS PAGE 60
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Cash Crunch: Early Budget Estimates Bleak Danielle Nadler
dnadler@leesburgtoday.com
preliminary estimates show revenue increases of only $53.4 million next fiscal year. That would just cover the $53.1 million in additional funding school system leaders think they will need next year when they open another new school and welcome 1,400 additional students. Fiscal planners also have identified a need for $50 million more to cover construction and debt service commitments. County Administrator Tim Hemstreet has identified about $32 million in additional funding that
will be needed to fund the non-school side of the budget and give raises to county employees. Supervisors were able to lower the real estate tax rate last year, but it will be more difficult to toe that line in FY16 as the growth in real estate values slows to 6.1 percent this year—down from 8.3 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, the county’s population is expected to grow by 3.5 percent, bringing increased demands for new services and school seats.
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he Board of Supervisors’ finance committee Tuesday was presented with a decidedly un-rosy scenario as county leaders open their FY16 budget talks. According to the report provided by Loudoun’s financial management staff, supervisors face an $81.8 million shortfall without an increase
in the real estate tax rate. A tepid economy and slowing housing market are combining with razor-tight FY15 budgets and ballooning capital costs to set up a new round of fiscal challenges for the all-Republican county board. The impacts of the federal government’s sequestration-driven spending cuts and an $881 million shortfall in the state’s biennial budget add uncertainty to the mix. At the current $1.155 real estate tax rate,
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Buona Suggests School Board-Supervisors Revenue Sharing Option
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Cla ssi fi ed
Dog Day Opini o n
The Ida Lee Park pool was fill of dogs and balls during Saturday’s final day of summer fun. Leesburg Today/ Norman K. Styer
increased complaints about aircraft noise could prompt actions like those taken a Reagan National, which instituted the nation’s most stringent flight rules. Several supervisors reinitiated their strong objections to the rezoning. Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles) and Ralph Buona (R-Ashburn) called it the poorest decision the board has made during its term. “Why we would put residential here is beyond me. This is about our economic engine,” Buona said. However, Supervisor Janet Clarke (R-Blue
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Ridge), who represents the district in which the Evermont Trace property is located and who made the motion to approve the rezoning application, and Supervisor Ken Reid (R-Leesburg) blamed airport leaders for not making strong objections before the vote occurred. Both pointed to a memo MWAA sent in response to the application that encouraged the county to be aware of the impacts aircraft overflights would have on the proposed neighborhood, but did not specifically object to or request denial of the rezoning. “The time to object was in July,” Reid said, Continued on Page 13
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immediately following the vote. MWAA representatives reached out to supervisors individually during July and August to discuss their concerns that allowing residential construction in a zone that county planning policies designated for commercial development because of the proximity of the airport and its high-noise zone could result in pressure to restrict future flights and set a precedent for other housing developers to creep closer to flight paths. During the board’s Sept. 9 meeting Dulles Airport Manager Chris Brown made one more plea, warning that
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etropolitan Washington Airport representatives worked over the summer to convince at least one county supervisor to change his or her July 16 vote to approve a rezoning application to permit construction of 90 homes on 33 acres of commercial land at the edge of Dulles Airport’s high-noise zone. That effort failed last week, when none of the five members supporting the Evermont Trace application initiated a reconsideration vote. A reconsideration may only be made at the meeting
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Evermont Trace Vote Will Stand Despite Airport Concerns
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