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2009-09-14 MinutesJOINT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND SCHOOL BOARD MEETING MINUTES September 14, 2009 Supervisors in Attendance: Mr. Arthur S. Warren, Chairman Mr. Daniel A. Gecker, Vice Chrm. Ms. Dorothy Jaeckle Mr. James "Jim" Holland Ms. Marleen K. Durfee Mr. James J. L. Stegmaier County Administrator School Board Members in Attendance: Mr. Marshall Trammell, Jr. Chairman Mr. David Wyman, Vice Chrm Ms. Dianne Pettitt Mr. Omarh Rajah Ms. Patricia Carpenter Staff in Attendance: Ms. Janice Blakley, Clerk to the Board Mr. Tim Bullis, Dir. of Community Relations, COPS Mr. Allan Carmody, Dir., Budget and Management Ms. Marilyn Cole, Asst. County Administrator Colonel Thierry Dupuis, Police Department Dr. Lyle Evans, Asst. Superintendent of Schools, Human Resources Dr. Dale Kalkofen, Asst. Superintendent of Schools, Instructional Administration Mr. Donald Kappel, Dir., Public Affairs Mr. Rob Key, Director, General Services Mr. Steven L. Micas, County Attorney Mr. David Myers, Asst. Superintendent of Schools, Business and Finance Dr. Marcus Newsome, Supt. of Schools Mr. Mike Packer, Attorney, CCPS Dr. Ed Pruden, Asst. Superintendent of Schools, Instructional Services Mrs. Cynthia Richardson, Dir., Planning, COPS Chief Edward Senter, Fire Department Ms. Sarah Snead, Acting Deputy County Admin., Human Services Ms. Carol Timpano, Clerk to the School Board Mr. Kirk Turner, Dir., Planning WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER Mr. Warren called the joint meeting to order at 1:09 p.m. 09-504 09/14/09 ;_... Mr. Trammell stated this School Board and Board of are looking forward to which will be received. is the second j oint meeting of the Supervisors and all of the members this session and the information Mr. Warren stated he was pleased to be in the Dale District at the Meadowdale Library for the joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors and the School Board. He further stated he was pleased to see the many young people utilizing the library. He expressed appreciation to the School Board and Board of Supervisors for their willingness to meet on a regular basis along with the Budget and Audit Committee and the Liaison Committee. He stated due to the county being conservative with the budget, it has managed relatively well with the downturn in the economy. Mr. Stegmaier reviewed the agenda for the meeting. COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE BOARDS Mr. Stegmaier stated School Board members participated with the Board of Supervisors members in the July Budget and Audit Committee meeting. He further stated at that meeting general information about the school budget and the school CIP was requested which will allow early discussions about the budget process and the expected challenges for the next year. He stated at the August Budget and Audit Committee meeting school staff provided a high level review of school finances, which covered both the guiding principles and outcomes the school division focuses on in the budget structure. He further stated the Budget and Audit Committee meetings have been helpful in allowing an exchange of information and setting the ground work for understanding how school finance works. He stated the Budget and Audit Committee plays a key role in making recommendations to the Board regarding the allocation of funds. He further stated the Budget and Audit Committee feels the School Board Liaison Committee will play an important role in supporting the Budget and Audit Committee when more detailed analysis is required of specific school funding issues. He provided dates for future Budget and Audit Committee meetings. Mr. Holland expressed appreciation to both county and school staff for their outstanding work providing all of the information which has been requested by the Budget and Audit Committee. He stated the Dale District is delighted to host the joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors and School Board in the Kelly Miller Meeting Room at the Meadowdale Library. He further stated the Budget and Audit Committee meetings will enhance the communication which will afford both the Board of Supervisors and the School Board unprecedented opportunities during the difficult economic conditions to review how resources are allocated and prioritized. Mr. Wyman stated the two Budget and Audit Committee meetings he has attended have renewed the commitment of the county and School Board to meet and provide better information during the budgeting process. He further stated Mr. Dave Myers and his team have put together great information to provide to the Budget and Audit Committee, which will help J J J 09-505 09/14/09 ensure the School Board and Board of Supervisors are on the same page as they work through the budget process. C u C Mr. Holland stated the Budget and Audit Committee meetings will not only enhance the communications between the Boards, but also to the community. Ms. Carpenter stated the Budget and Audit Committee meetings reaffirm both Boards' commitments to work together from a budget perspective. Dr. Newsome stated it was good seeing both Boards working together at the joint meetings. He provided a brief summary on the Liaison Committee. He stated Mr. Rajah attended his first meeting since replacing Mr. Wyman on August 14. He further stated all of the members of the Liaison Committee expressed a commitment to a healthy dialogue on the issues which are mutually important- to both the School Board and Board of Supervisors. He reviewed some of the topics discussed at the Liaison Committee which were Levels of Service, Capital Improvement Planning Process, safety for the community as well as for the schools, and prevention in the area of youth violence. He stated the Liaison Committee agreed to meet every other month with additional meetings scheduled as the budget process draws closer. He further stated the next meeting for the Liaison Committee is scheduled for October 12, 2009, at 8:00 a.m. in Room 502 in the County Administration building. He expressed appreciation for the work Ms. Carol Timpano has done on the meeting minutes of the Liaison Committee. He stated the minutes are available for review. Ms. Durfee stated to date the Liaison Committee has had eight meetings. She further stated a new focus for the Liaison Committee was discussed which will assist with the budget process. She stated in the past there were times the Committee was struggling because everyone was not clear about the direction to be taken. She further stated the Liaison Committee will be an important asset to assist with providing recommendations to the Budget and Audit Committee. She stated the current economic conditions are questionable at best and the Richmond region is experiencing different economic trends than the nation. She further stated it may be a while before the economy gets out of the recession which challenges the Board of Supervisors to receive the best information to keep the public informed and make the decisions that need to be made. Ms. Jaeckle stated she looks forward to working on the Liaison Committee. She further stated it is important for both the Board of Supervisors and the School Board to work together to represent the citizens and make good decisions for .them. Mr. Rajah expressed appreciation to Mr. Wyman and Mr. Trammell for allowing him to be on the Liaison Committee. He stated it is amazing to see the amount of work the School Board and the Board of Supervisors has done since being elected two years ago. He further stated the county and schools are faced with major issues with the budget deficit, flu epidemics, and youth initiatives which are being passed down from the state. He also expressed appreciation to Ms. 09-506 09/14/09 Timpano for her work on the Liaison Committee meeting minutes, and to the media for the accurate reporting of the information. He stated he is looking forward to future meetings of the Liaison Committee. Mr. Trammell stated he is looking forward to great things coming out of the Budget and Audit and Liaison Committees. He further stated there are still many challenges to face and we will work through them together. Mr. Stegmaier stated after discussions with Dr. Newsome, it was agreed that setting another joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors and School Board in January after the Superintendent finalizes the proposed budget would be a good idea. He further stated the Budget and Audit and Liaison Committees will continue to work through budget issues as mentioned earlier. Mr. Trammell stated scheduling a meeting in January is a good idea because the schools will have an idea of what the Governor's recommendations will be. Mr. Warren stated there will the two Boards in January opportunity for a new start. probably be new leadership on and it would be a great Mr. Gecker inquired whether the proposed meeting in January would be strictly focused on economics and the budget process, which can be done in a couple of hours instead of the entire afternoon. Mr. Warren agreed to keep the proposed scheduled meeting shorter due to it being scheduled in the middle of the budget process. In response to Mr. Gecker's question, Mr. Stegmaier stated advertisement for the tax rate is done at the end of January for the first Board of Supervisors meeting in February. Mr. Gecker requested the meeting in January be scheduled before the advertisement of the tax rate. Dr. Newsome stated the proposed meeting in January will be a great opportunity for the School Board to answer questions specifically on the proposed budget for the Board of Supervisors. In response to Mr. Trammell's question, Mr. Gecker stated this is a long session for the General Assembly. ECONOMIC OUTLOOK AND THE FY2011 BUDGET Mr. Stegmaier stated Mr. Carmody will be presenting information on the economic outlook for the 2011 budget. He further stated as staff goes through the process of outlining what challenges face the county financially, it is not done in a vacuum. He stated a meeting was- held with leaders from the business community representing financial and real estate sectors and the input received from the meeting will be used along with staff's observations of county revenues to paint a picture of what the revenues for J J J 09-507 09/14/09 the county are going to be like over the next 24 months. He further stated following Mr. Carmody's presentation there will be two guest speakers, who will present information relative to projecting what the future is going to look like in terms of the county's revenue outlook for FY2011. 0 C C Mr. Carmody stated staff is prepared to support the Board through the budget season as strong as in years past and looks forward to working with each of the Board members and administrations. He provided the Boards with information on local economic conditions and the impact on the FY2011 budget as well as an outline on the strategy for moving forward with the budget process. He stated the county is facing another difficult budget year and it is important to begin discussions earlier than last year as community input and the Boards' guidance will help shape the coming budget proposal. He further stated guest speakers from the Federal Reserve Bank and the state Department of Taxation will provide additional information which the Boards will find helpful. He stated the school division's budget experienced a 2.3 percent reduction in FY2010 compared to FY2009, which included grants and food service funds. He further stated the general fund experienced a 4.6 percent reduction compared to FY2009. He stated one reason the FY2010 decline was not more severe is due to the actions taken by the Board when adopting the FY2009 budget. He further stated the county has retained the highest possible credit ratings even during the recessionary period with the credit rating agencies citing strong management, sustained excellence and sound fiscal policies. He stated the county was able to implement reductions to the FY2010 budget without increasing the tax rate. He provided information on how some other localities in Virginia adopted their FY2010 budgets with tax rate changes. He stated when a county operates on a lean budget such as Chesterfield, balancing the budget primarily on efficiency improvements makes it extremely difficult. In response to Mr. Gecker's question, Mr. Carmody stated staff will provide the Boards with details of assessment changes for other localities in Virginia. Mr. Rajah inquired about how much funding was appropriated for the schools in the localities with tax rate increases. Mr. Stegmaier stated an idea of how the assessments changed for other localities in Virginia can be seen in the overall changes in their budgets. He further stated even though some localities increased their tax rates, the overall budget still declined. In response to Mr. Gecker's question, Mr. Carmody stated staff will pull together the amounts of percentage reductions in the overall budgets for other localities. Mr. Warren inquired about how much stimulus money each of the localities in Virginia received to offset their budgets. In response to Ms. Jaeckle's question, Mr. Carmody stated the budgets presented to the Boards for localities in Virginia were after the tax increases were implemented. 09-508 09/14/09 Ms. Carpenter stated some people do not understand that although there is a tax rate increase, they are still achieving a tax amount decrease due to the- decrease in property assessments. Mr. Carmody stated it is possible that localities saw tax decreases in the actual tax bills even with the tax rate increase. Mr. Gecker stated although the tax rate stayed the same in Chesterfield, it was basically a tax decrease. Mr. Stegmaier stated the policy direction set by the Prince William Board of Supervisors was that no taxpayer would see an increase in their tax bill even after the tax rate increase. Ms. Durfee stated it will be interesting to see what happens with the assessments for the upcoming year. Mr. Carmody stated on average there was a one percent reduction in real property tax bills for residential property owners. Ms. Durfee stated a third of the tax bills increased, a third declined, and a third stayed the same. She further stated not every citizen saw a reduction in their tax bill. Mr. Carmody stated the county does project out beyond FY2010 and attempt to do some planning over a three-year horizon. He further stated for both the county and school division, revenue growth rates are a long way from the historical averages seen in the past. He provided the potential growth rates for the general fund for FY2012 and FY2013. He stated the stimulus money received by the school division will be gone before the county returns to revenue growth in FY2013. Mr. Wyman stated that the school division operating without the stimulus funding has been discussed in the Budget and Audit Committee. Mr. Carmody stated the economic picture has not improved. Mr. Rajah stated the school system is looking at a total shortfall of $90 million over the next four years. Mr. Holland inquired when the stimulus funds will go away. Mr. Rajah stated the public needs to understand that the school division is facing an almost $100 million deficit in the next four years while the school division population is still increasing. He further stated the Budget and Audit Committee has a lot of work to do try to come up with different alternatives on how to solve the deficit. Mr. Trammell stated the Boards need to be careful about the different figures being used in terms of the budget deficit. Mr. Holland stated the communications from the Boards need to be consistent and clear as potential deficits are communicated. J J J 09-509 09/14/09 Mr. Wyman stated a substantial reduction of $40 million or higher is being faced by the county and that needs to be communicated to the public. C ^i Ms. Carpenter stated the exact figure of the deficit will be unavailable until the Governor comes out with a budget. Ms. Stegmaier stated during the meeting with the Council of Economic Advisors, the retail merchants said flat is the new up. Ms. Durfee stated the economy has been riding this tide of growth for a long time and a lot of corrections need to be made, not only to the housing market, but the new norm for the economy. Ms. Pettitt stated the School Board is very cognizant of the change in academic progress that needs to be increased every year and the standards for the students in order to keep the schools accredited. She further stated in light of the declining revenues, the school division is faced with increasing standards, diversity of population, and training needs for teachers. Mr. Rajah stated when a school district makes Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) with such diverse entities as Chesterfield has, it shows that our teachers are working extremely hard to achieve the goals that are placed on them. He further stated there is no way to cut additional personnel out of the classroom. He stated AYP results could be affected by cutting more personnel. Mr. Trammell stated the School Board does not know what will have to be done to balance the budget. Mr. Warren stated localities and states all over the country are facing tough decisions with budget deficits. Mr. Carmody provided a review of the county's general revenue fund structure. He stated nearly 65 percent of the county's revenue is heavily influenced by what the consumer is doing in the community. He further stated without changes from the consumer on large purchases, such as homes, automobiles, and home furnishings, revenues will be on a slow road to growth. He stated unfortunately while the revenue remains constant, the citizens' needs for government services, including those in the school system, have not diminished. He reviewed some of the economic fundamentals which impact the county revenues, which include unemployment rates, uncertainty among consumers, the housing market, and weakness in the commercial markets. He stated all major forecasts indicate there will be growth in the third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which will result from government programs such as Cash for Clunkers. He further stated the preferred source of growth for a sustainable economy comes from personal consumption, which makes up very little of the projected third quarter figures. He reviewed the figures from the Purchasing Managers Index, which are showing some increases. He further reviewed the Governor's reduction plan and the impacts on the county and school division. He stated Virginia has been relatively fortunate compared to many other states in terms of the impact of the 09-510 09/14/09 recession on delivered services and the measures taken to balance the budget. He further stated the Governor's September spending reduction plan will impact the county and school system, not only in the current year, but also the FY2011 budget. He stated with a $1.5 billion state shortfall, staff's current analysis estimates Chesterfield's share including schools is upwards of $38 million. He reviewed additional budget challenges associated with the state budget deficit. He stated combining the changes in revenues and expenditure pressures for 2011 leaves a projected budget gap of up to $38 million depending on what choices and priorities are established moving forward. He provided a perspective of what $38 million can fund within the county budget. In response to Mr. Holland's question, Mr. Carmody stated the funds from the lottery have been considered in terms of funding for education, as well as other revenues for government services. Mr. Carmody provided an outline for the next couple of months for the county to follow for the budget process which will allow time to inform the public, collect information, assess conditions, and receive guidance from the Board. He stated the Budget and Audit Committee will play a big role in the process. Mr. Carmody introduced Mr. Ray Owens from the Federal Reserve Bank. Mr. Owens expressed appreciation for the opportunity to present information to the Board of Supervisors and School Board. He stated many of the measures focused on by the federal government nationally are moving in the same direction as the county. He further stated a great deal of information is being received on the economy. He reviewed the growth rate quarter by quarter of the Gross Domestic Product. He stated the prospects for the economy are thought to be somewhat brighter at this point. He further stated the pace of the economic recovery will be slow, with some stronger quarters and some weaker quarters. He provided data on personal consumption expenditures, personal savings rates, and personal income rates. He stated as the economic activity began to weaken in mid 2007, jobs have been lost every month, all total about 7 million jobs in the U.S. economy since the beginning of the recession. He further stated the sales of automobiles and light trucks looks like good news, but it is due to the Cash for Clunkers program. He stated the housing sector is beginning to see some encouraging signs by the downward movement of sales ending. He further stated many areas in the nation are still seeing severe overages of inventory in the housing market. He stated the ISM index is the closely watched gauge of business conditions. He further stated as business conditions improve the businesses are more willing to invest both in equipment and software as well as in buildings and infrastructure. He~stated despite the increase in the ISM index, one of the big risks to the economy ,remains the rate of absorption of commercial structures. He further stated the news on the equipment and software categories is starting to emerge in a positive way. He reviewed the progress of the international markets. He stated the J J J 09-511 09/14/09 Federal Reserve Bank reacted to the turmoil of the financial markets by lowering interest rates. He reviewed the Capital Market Rates from 2006 to present. He stated there are signs the economy is firming up, but they are not strong at this point. u In response to Ms. Durfee's questions, Mr. Owens stated the Richmond Region economy moves similar to the U.S. economy, with the exception that Richmond typically performs better. He further stated Richmond was hit a little harder during this recession on the employment side than it typically has been and that reflects the weaknesses of some of the businesses centered here. He stated the Richmond Region has a large number of doctors and lawyers and that has helped offset the manufacturing job losses. He further stated the housing jobs were impacted in the Richmond Region. Ms. Durfee stated Henrico County has indicated the absorption of office and commercial space is becoming a significant problem for them. In response to Ms. Durfee's question, Mr. Owens stated Henrico County may have a larger risk of absorption of office or commercial space due to Innsbrook. He further stated this continues to be a risk to all localities in Virginia. Mr. Carmody introduced Mr. John Layman, the Director/Chief Economist with the Virginia Department of Taxation. It was generally agreed that the Boards take a five-minute break. Reconvening: Mr. Layman expressed appreciation for the opportunity to address the Board of Supervisors and School Board. He provided a review of FY2009 to include economic performance, actual General Fund Collections and financial results. He stated Virginia lost 28,000 of the 53,000 total jobs last year in November and December and they were concentrated in construction and financial sectors. He reviewed how the General Fund revenue collections have collapsed in the second half of the year. He stated collections declined an unprecedented eleven consecutive months in FY2009. He further stated the total General Fund revenue is projected to be down $299.2 million, which the bulk of it is made up of individuals applying for refunds and the decrease in sales tax collections. He stated much like many states, Virginia's base refunds grew by 15 percent which shows the destruction of wealth. He further stated the sales tax collections declined 5.6 percent in FY2009, the largest annual decline on record. He stated in mid June the Governor saw how the numbers were looking and began the interim revenue forecasting process. He reviewed the August 2009 interim revenue forecast which is based on the updated economic outlook for Virginia as approved by the Governor's Advisory Board Economists (GABE) and the Governor's Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates (GACRE). He provided information on the average home sales in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond over the last decade. He stated one of the things that helps Chesterfield County with home 09-512 09/14/09 sales is the great schools and housing below $300,000. He provided a comparison of how Virginia is doing compared to the rest of country with respect to job losses. He stated the U. S . economy has created and lost 7 million j obs since the end of 2000. He further stated with the job losses in Virginia, it is back to FY2005 levels. He stated initial unemployment claims are going down. He further stated all signs are pointing to third and fourth quarter recovery. He stated additional information can be found on the Secretary of Finance's website. In response to Mr. Rajah's questions, Mr. Layman stated he works in the Department of Taxation and does not participate in any budgetary decisions or policy making. In response to Ms. Durfee's question, Mr. Layman stated the current recession is deeper than the 1991-1992 and the 2001- 2002 recessions. He further stated in the 2001-2002 recession, sales tax revenues still increased. Ms. Durfee stated three key indicators in the economy, unemployment, housing market and consumer confidence, are not reflecting a recovery in 2011 or 2012. In response to Ms. Durfee's question, Mr. Layman stated the Richmond Region has the Fort Lee consolidation which will bring real jobs to the region. He further stated the consolidation will not provide a big boom of employment but it will show underlying growth. In response to Mr. Holland's question, Mr. Layman stated there has been no mandated or General Assembly study commissioned regarding income tax revision or reviewing the income tax structure as it relates to funding government functions. He further stated Virginia revised the tax code in 1986. Mr. Holland stated during the recessionary time, it might be a good time to look at what is taxed and the funding of governmental functions. Mr. Warren expressed appreciation to Mr. Owens and Mr. Layman for their presentations. Mr. Trammell expressed concerns relative to what happens to the school board budget coming from the state. He stated he was concerned about the talk about shifting monies from support to pay for other things. He further stated monies for support positions fund counselors and psychiatrists in Chesterfield County. In response to Mr. Warren's question, Mr. Trammell stated many people running for office as well as the current administration, have the idea to "channel" more money into the classroom by eliminating money from support positions. Dr. Newsome stated at a conference of the Virginia School Board Association, it was mentioned that public schools respond to over 1,000 mandated reports annually and if some of these support positions are cut, it could put more of a burden on the teachers. J J J 09-513 09/14/09 0 ^~R Mr. Wyman stated obviously the economic outlook in the near future is not particularly strong. He inquired how staff is going to figure out what the public is feeling about the investments and different services the school system provides. He stated folks at the School Board sessions will speak related to the budget in support of teacher positions and to the things that need to be cut in the budget. He stated he would like staff to take a look at all of the different investments or disinvestments that the county is likely to make over the next couple of years. Mr. Gecker stated staff has begun the budget process much earlier this year to try to get a list of what the forecast means in terms of programs and services. He further stated the current forecast is based upon an assumption made by staff which may or may not turn out to be correct because it is a political decision as opposed to staff decision about tax rates. He stated the current assumption built into the forecasts includes the decline in assessments and in revenue in all of the categories with the real estate tax rate being held constant. He further stated if that assumption changes, then obviously the numbers the Board is dealing with changes, but the Board has been reluctant to talk about rate increases. He stated it is important to go to the public with both the general fund side and schools side and compile a list of the implications of the budget cuts and where the county is headed. He stated it would be best to do this process between now and January as opposed to the traditional timeframe in January and March, once the maximum advertised tax rate has been set. He further stated if there is not a will to discuss adjusting the tax rate in January, then the path of the county has been chosen and it will just be a question of which programs and services will be cut. He stated the Board is trying to establish the philosophy that all services will be first-class throughout the county and those services which cannot be done first- class should be eliminated. He further stated in the past the government has taken the approach of doing across-the- board cuts to departments, which weakens programs across the board. He stated the Budget and Audit Committee is meeting early and often to formulate what the budget looks like for the county so it can be presented to the public along with the implications of the reduced budget and receive their feedback regarding programs and a rate increase. He further stated teachers, counselors, administration personnel, social workers, police officers, and firefighters only get paid if the county has the revenue to do so. He stated hard decisions are going to have to be made. He further stated one of the gratifying things about seeing the Board of Supervisors and School Board, along with the Budget and Audit and School Board Liaison Committees, together so early in the process is the ability to get the information out to the public with a realistic view of where the county is going to be and receive feedback. Ms. Carpenter stated it is very important for the citizens to listen to what those running for office are doing and what they are standing for at the state level, which will affect education. Ms. Durfee stated it is important to have the deeper discussions about the budget. She further stated it is 09-514 09/14/09 unfortunate the deeper discussions were not had when we preparing for the budget last year. She stated the county needs to look where the monies will be spent or at what levels of service and types of services will be provided for the citizens. She further stated it is important to not only engage the public throughout the process, but for the decision makers to listen to the citizens. COMMUNITY HEALTH PLANNING Dr. Nelson expressed appreciation for the opportunity to address the Board of Supervisors and School Board on influenza. He stated the flu season from 2007 to 2008 was far worse then the current flu season. He stated the spike in May was the outbreak of Novel Influenza which hit all of a sudden. He further stated it never really went away. He further stated the Novel Influenza has pushed the other strains out of the pandemic, which a normal season contains three or four different strains. He reviewed the amount of pediatric deaths for the last five years,~which there has been a spike due to the Novel Influenza. He provided details of the citizens at most risk. He reviewed the county's strategy for prevention, control measures, and notification. He provided the Board with details about the vaccination and how it will be made available to the citizens of Chesterfield. He stated the goal of the Health Department is that every citizen that wishes to be vaccinated for the 2009 H1N1 Influenza has the opportunity to do so. UPDATE ON THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Mr. Warren stated an update on the Comprehensive Plan is next. He further stated the decrease in the amount of building and construction allows the county the opportunity to plan for the future. Mr. Turner provided an update on the progress of the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. He stated the Committee members are asking great questions and offering great insight. He stated the consultant is beginning the community visioning process in the districts. He provided the dates for each meeting throughout the county. He stated this is an opportunity for our citizens to begin to develop a vision for what the county needs to look like. Mr. Rajah stated October 15 is the annual Teacher of the Year Banquet and requested that the community meeting for that date be rescheduled. Mr. Turner stated after the community meetings in the districts, the consultants will begin to refine three different scenarios, identify with the Steering Committee the best scenario and present the preferred scenarios to the Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission and School Board in February. He further stated the webpage for the Comprehensive Plan has been a tremendous success. He stated all of the information distributed to the Steering Committee is posted on the webpage. J J J 09-515 09/14/09 Mr. Warren expressed appreciation for the work of staff, the consultants, and the opportunities for public input in the process. ^~- C FOLLOW-UP FROM THE MAY JOINT BOARDS MEETING Mr. Carmody provided a detailed comparison between population projections and enrollment projections. He reviewed the responsible party, the frequency the numbers are updated, target group and geographic area for both the population projections and enrollment projections. He stated when gathering information for population projections, the data is projected on a countywide basis. He ~ further stated when schools look at enrollment projections, they look at detailed sub-areas of the county. He stated the enrollment projection is a subset of the overall county population. He further stated staff monitors household sizes by household type along with home and private school attendance trends. He stated the county Planning Department and school Planning Department are sharing information on survival and cohort rates and reporting the information that comes out of the calculations. He further stated the county's Planning Department will be the official record keeper for the population numbers for the county. He stated the enrollment projections and population projections are two different variables and there is interaction between county and school staffs in publishing those numbers. Ms. Durfee stated it is important for the Boards to let the public know why there are two different numbers. She further stated hopefully this will be carried over to the School Board Liaison Committee for further discussions about getting those indicators fine tuned from either the county Planning Department or the Schools' Planning Department and whether we should be looking at other indicators to help get better numbers. Mr. Carmody stated the actual versus projections is reviewed to ensure there are not major deviations from the projections. He stated multiple years of deviations in the data points will lead to further investigations of the methodologies. Ms. Durfee stated the projections need to be broken down in terms of looking at the indicators and what is done with the data once we have it. Mr. Carmody provided information on the concept and principles of the adopted level of service standard. He stated the level of service standard for schools was adopted as part of the Comprehensive Plan, but not on a countywide basis. He further stated the purpose of the level of service policy is to encourage the provision of adequate public facilities and the determination is made during the rezoning process. He stated there is a test of adequacy of facilities which is performed by measuring the potential impact from a new development against the existing capacity. He further stated Chesterfield reviewed several models and practices in place in Virginia prior to adopting a level of service standard. He stated Chesterfield's level of service 09-516 09/14/09 standard mirrors Chesapeake's standard which measures the adequacy of the school facilities based on 120 percent functional capacity as the standard. He stated if a rezoning request pushes a capacity above the 120 percent functional capacity then some mitigating actions must be taken. He further stated there is a relief clause built into the methodology which would allow for rezoning approvals that fail the test, to provide relief through a variety of changes that can affect enrollment capacity, such as expansions to existing schools; construction of new schools; programmatic changes; shifting programs from one school to another school; or redistricting. Mr. Turner provided clarification on the dates for the community meetings for Matoaca on the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Warren stated a lot of material has been covered. He expressed appreciation to staff, the County Administrator, the Superintendent and Mr. Trammell. He stated the Boards are on the right track of working together. On motion of Ms. Jaeckle, seconded by Ms. Durfee, the Board of Supervisors adjourned to September 23, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. in the Public Meeting Room. Mr. Trammell expressed appreciation to both Boards for participating in the joint meeting. He stated the task facing the Boards with the budget is not going to get easier going forward. On motion of Ms. Carpenter, seconded by Mr. Wyman, the School Board adjourned. CLOSING COMMENTS Mr. Stegmaier expressed appreciation to staff who worked hard to put together a productive afternoon for the members of the Board of Supervisors and School Board. He stated he was confident significant progress was made at this meeting. J J J ~ J mes egm er ounty Administrator ~~ Arthur S. Warren Chairman 09-517 09/14/09