FRANKLIN CO., Va. – Franklin County leaders are facing a difficult budget season, balancing rising costs with limited revenue as uncertainty at the state level adds another layer of complexity.
School officials say declining state support from lower enrollment numbers is shifting more of the financial burden onto local governments.
“Our state funding is dropping, and the locality is asked to pick up more and more of our funding every year,” said Dr. Kevin Siers, superintendent of Franklin County Public Schools.
County leaders say they have struggled for years to fully meet the school system’s requests.
“With school requests every year with our budget, we have been unable for many, many years to fund their requests in totality,” said Supervisor Lorie Smith, chair of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors.
This year’s budget discussions are especially critical as school leaders push to fund key priorities, including teacher raises, security upgrades and replacing aging school buses.
“We have a lot of buses that are past their life expectancy, and we’re seeing things happen such as transmissions go out and engines go out, and we do not have the funding to repair those buses,” Siers said.
County officials say they recognize the need for improvements. During negotiations, the county allocated $4 million to Lee M. Waid Elementary School for upgrades to its boiler system. Still, officials say needs extend far beyond a single project.
“Because our focus has been entirely on employee salaries for the last two years, we have fallen behind in making sure that we have enough funding to do the repairs and to do the upgrades that we need in our facilities,” Siers said.
Overall, the school system estimates it needs roughly $100 million in improvements, in addition to another $100 million in capital needs across the county.
“These things, over time, have not been dealt with because simply we have a very low tax rate, and there’s not been a board of supervisors that’s been willing to address these major capital projects,” Smith said.
The uncertainty surrounding the state budget is complicating the process further. Without knowing how much funding will come from the state, county leaders must draft a budget now and adjust it later once state figures are finalized.
“I think things have a chance to dramatically shift one way or the other,” Smith said.
Franklin County officials plan to finalize the budget in April, with public hearings scheduled to start April 14th.