Campbell County signs off on budget

By: By Amy Trent acoutee@newsadvance.com | The News & Advance
Published: May 18, 2010

The $125 million Campbell County budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 was approved Monday afternoon, despite dissent from two board members.

Board member J.D. Puckett and Chairman Hugh Rosser voted “no,” saying they do not agree with the school board budget, which is included in the county’s budget. Both Rosser and Puckett had hoped that the school board would reconsider its budget and find alternatives to closing Gladys Elementary School. Rosser represents the Seneca District, and Puckett, the Brookneal District, which includes the Gladys area.

“Looking at the county’s side of the budget, I think it’s very good,” said Rosser. Board member Steven Shockley said he was pleased with the total budget but asked that if any money could be found in the school budget that it be used to save teachers’ jobs.

The completed county budget — about $7.5 million less than last year’s — features no tax rate increases, no county employee layoffs or raises, and a long list of capital improvement projects that have been put on hold.

Delayed improvement projects include upgrades to the animal control facility, plans to build a firing range, information technology upgrades and new vehicles for police, fire and rescue.

The projects are being put off as the county pursues an appeal of a landfill-related lawsuit. In November, a jury awarded a Yellow Branch couple $9 million in damages because their groundwater was contaminated by a leaking section of the landfill. The county moved $2 million out of the capital improvement project budget and added it to $2.5 million already set aside in case its appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court is unsuccessful. If the appeal is denied the county will have to find additional means for coming up with the remaining amount.

“It was a really difficult budget and part of the problem, I think, is that people need to recognize that the reduction in revenue came from the state, not from a reduction in local revenue,” County Administrator David Laurrell said. “I think it’s always different when you have a reduction that’s passed along to you.”

“We’ve seen a reduction of more than $10 million in state funding and not raised taxes locally to cover that,” Laurrell said.