County's funding of schools questioned

Albemarle County officials are questioning a funding formula that determines how much money goes to the school division.

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute raised the issue in February in a Resource Management Review. Members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and School Board said Friday that the formula needs to be revisited.

The institute, which reviewed the efficiency of county operations, said that the policy of budgeting 60 percent of operational expenses for the school division and 40 percent for general government should be adjusted annually based on changes in school enrollment and in the county population.

“This hard-and-fast rule maybe doesn’t fit every situation,” Supervisor Kenneth C. Boyd said of the current formula.

School Board Chairman Brian Wheeler said that it makes sense for officials to discuss a possible change, adding, however, that the recommendation in the efficiency review was too simplistic. Wheeler said that school enrollment numbers and the county’s population are among several factors that should be considered in determining how much money schools receive — including the school division’s burden of financing unfunded mandates.

The county’s total approved budget for fiscal 2010 is $303.7 million, with $149.1 million reserved for school operations. The rest of the money is slated for operational costs in the general government division, as well as countywide infrastructure projects, debt service and about $18 million reserved for Charlottesville through a revenue-sharing agreement.

School Board member Steve Koleszar said the current formula is a good starting point but that the figure shouldn’t be set in stone.

Board of Supervisors Chairman David L. Slutzky said that if the economy worsens in fiscal 2010 and the county generates less revenue, supervisors and School Board members would have to collaborate on which school and general government expenditures could be axed.

Slutzky said that if revenue further declines, officials would have to determine how to “divvy up the pain across the two divisions,” referring to the general government and schools, adding that he ranks education and public safety the most vital services.

Both boards plan to discuss the matter again at a future work session.

In total, the review raised about 140 issues that could possibly improve efficiencies. County Executive Robert W. Tucker Jr. said that the Board of Supervisors will discuss those matters at a meeting early next month, and county staff will present recommendations.

An efficiency study of Charlottesville government, released earlier this year, also raised questions about the city’s formula for funding schools.

The city’s guidelines call for the school division to receive up to 40 percent of new real estate and property tax revenues. That has helped per pupil spending in the school budget shoot up sharply, from $8,286 in fiscal 1999 to $14,269 this fiscal year, according to the review. The report recommended a review of the formula, noting that city revenue, as well as school enrollment and needs, should be taken into account.