City, county to explore sharing more functions

By Brandon Shulleeta

bshulleeta@dailyprogress.com | 978-7245

Charlottesville and Albemarle officials adjourned from a meeting Saturday with a game plan to find ways to save money through collaboration.

It was the first time in recent memory that the City Council, the county’s Board of Supervisors and the localities’ school boards met in one place.

Officials agreed to create small groups of city and county elected officials charged with exploring ways to share functions within emergency response services, social services and schools.

Officials largely avoided discussion over the very issue that had prompted the meeting — a battle over which locality is rightful owner of about $2.8 million in annual state education funding.

Government leaders acknowledged division on that issue but agreed to convene a small group of local officials to determine whether a compromise could be reached.

Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, who hosted the meeting, said that if all the participants aired their thoughts about the money dispute, the meeting might last until “midnight” and lead to no resolve.

Albemarle School Board member Pamela Moynihan said it’s essential the four government bodies create a solid strategy for finding ways to share services.

Moynihan said that sometimes in the past there’s been “a lot of show and not a lot of substance.”

Albemarle Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker said small focus groups of local leaders could focus strictly on specific issues and report back to their respective boards, an idea that was well received. Rooker said that if everyone from the four boards met to address every issue, progress would move “at a snail’s pace.”

Social services, emergency response and schools were identified as areas where the two localities could join forces and provide regional resources, which officials believe might lower costs without sacrificing the quality of services.

Officials floated an array of possibilities they’d like to examine in the near and distant future: collaborating more on professional development for educators, working together more on transportation issues, combining resources to provide better recreational and affordable housing offerings and even possibly merging the two school divisions into one.

Government heads also vowed to explore more ways to put their money together for joint bulk purchases, to get lower prices on things such as school items and office materials. Some joint purchases are already made, county leaders noted.

The meeting lasted about two hours but the disputed $2.8 million was discussed for only a few minutes. However, Charlottesville School Board member Colette Blount said it makes sense to find a way to address some of the important issues that have “made headlines,” such as those funds.

Supervisor Kenneth C. Boyd agreed, adding that the meeting was called in response to the $2.8 million dispute.

“Nothing I see here on this board is going to reach those kinds of savings,” Boyd said, referring to charts posted in the room of possible ways to merge services.

Last month, the General Assembly rejected the plan to take about $2.8 million in annual state education funding from Charlottesville and give it to Albemarle schools. Charlottesville officials say such a move would have been a harsh blow to the school division, but Albemarle school leaders said it would have fixed a longstanding unfairness resulting from a decades-old revenue sharing agreement.

Albemarle gives Charlottesville about $18 million per year as part of the agreement, which was struck to keep the city from annexing county land.

A state formula allocating education funding, giving wealthy localities the least and poor localities the most, counts the revenue-sharing funds toward Albemarle’s wealth. An amendment by Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle would have had the funds instead counted toward the city’s wealth beginning in fiscal 2011, meaning Albemarle would get millions more in funding each year, to the detriment of Charlottesville.

Ronnie Price Sr., chairman of Albemarle’s School Board, said at Saturday’s meeting that county leaders “do have a problem with counting those revenues on our books,” which ultimately equates to less state education funding.

City Councilor Kristin Szakos said: “We’re talking about taking it from one locality’s kids and giving it to another locality’s kids.”

Boyd called it a “fairness issue,” to which Szakos responded: “It was in the agreement.”

School Board member Brian Wheeler asked whether other county officials could agree to set the issue aside and focus on ways to save even more money by collaborating.

“No,” Moynihan said, shaking her head.

Officials agreed to let the small focus group examine the issue at a later date.

Participants agreed to have all elected county and city boards meet again in about a year but in the meantime examine ways to merge services.

School Board Vice Chairman Eric Strucko asked that cost-saving measures that could be obtainable within a year remain the chief concerns now, with more long-term changes taking the backseat for the time being.