Rockbridge County appears richer,
so state school funding shrinks
Supervisors call for tweaking of state composite index to better reflect county's wealth
Rockbridge County is getting ready to shoulder a bigger share of local education expenses, as local wealth indicators increase and the state allocates less money to county schools.
Last year the state contributed $13 million to county schools, while the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors provided close to $12 million. But state funding is expected to drop this year as Virginia's economy slows.
Additionally, Rockbridge County is scoring higher on the state's measures of wealth: property values, total annual income and taxable retail sales. Together, these factors make up the composite index, used by the state to judge each school district's ability to pay for its schools. Districts with a higher index receive less state funding for their schools.
In the next two years, Rockbridge County's average total annual income is predicted to rise by 45.7 percent, compared with a 10 percent rise between 2006 and 2008. Real estate values are predicted to increase by 32.8 percent. Rockbridge County is now ranked the 29th wealthiest district out of 134 in Virginia.
Rockbridge County Director of Fiscal Services Robert Claytor referred to this and other budget difficulties at a joint meeting with the school board two weeks ago.
"Every year I think there's going to be something coming over the horizon, and it just gets worse," Claytor said.
School Finance Director Carol Wheeler was baffled that Rockbridge County now is considered so well off when the median household income was $10,000 below the state average in 2004.
"It just doesn't make any sense," she said.
It starts to make sense when the increasing number of retirees is taken into account, along with out-of-town landowners and Washington weekenders. Their incomes and assets are pushing the wealth index to a level that is not representative of most county families, Claytor said.
That's the conundrum that the supervisors will face this spring as they create a budget. While the county needs to make up for smaller funding increases from the state -- only $190,000 more for schools in the next two years -- the Board of Supervisors will feel restricted from raising property taxes much.
"It's a balancing act with these things," Claytor said. "You can only do so much when you're a small county like us."
Rockbridge County's options for raising money are limited. The two biggest sources of revenue are property taxes on houses and land and personal property taxes on cars and other vehicles. Claytor hopes that new businesses will add to the tax base. The new county supervisors, Rusty Ford, Buster Lewis and Hunt Riegel, agree that business development is a priority.
Claytor says the composite index formula needs to be changed to reflect the true wealth of the county. One way would be to substitute wages for taxable income, because retirees are not considered wage-earners. So far, though, the General Assembly has not addressed the problem.
"We have not generated any support, and we need to do something about it," Claytor said. "The majority of [the other counties] are not impacted adversely…. We're trying to say, can't there be other considerations?"
Del. Ben Cline, who represents the county, said he would support changes in the composite index formula, but for the General Assembly to make revisions, it would have to benefit other Virginia counties as well.
He has not heard of a proposal that would readjust the index formula to account for Rockbridge County's economic disparity while also maintaining fair distribution of money to other counties.
"I can't be the lone ranger fighting against 99 of my colleagues," he said. "I'll never get a bill passed that way."
Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.
Lead Supervisors:
Prof. Brian
Richardson
Prof. Phylissa
Mitchell
Editing supervisor:
Prof. Pam Leucke
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd