Deferred revenue topic of meeting

The Waynesboro School Board will meet April 30 to discuss a revamped budget that could include deferring $600,000 in revenue for the schools from the city until the 2011 budget.

The school board and Waynesboro City Council met for just over an hour Wednesday night to consider the request.

If the school board agrees, Waynesboro Vice Mayor Frank Lucente said the savings would allow the city to offer a reduced tax rate of 67 cents per $100 to city residents, and would make taxes revenue neutral for the 2009-10 budget.

Lucente said with the city’s real estate reasssessment just completed, the current 70 cents per $100 tax rate would mean an average tax increase for city residents of 6.2 percent to fund next year’s budget.

“I don’t want to raise taxes anytime, but certainly not in a bad economy,’’ Lucente said.

Lucente said Waynesboro has been harder hit than many communities by the recession, with the city’s 10 percent unemployment rate.

Lucente said it is the Waynesboro School Board’s decision whether to defer the $600,000 it would receive under an annual revenue sharing agreement with Waynesboro City Council.

The agreement calls for the school district to receive a 42.5 percent share of revenues the city gets from real estate, personal property and sales taxes, as well as other discretionary funds.

While the Waynesboro Schools are supposed to get more than $1.1 million in federal stimulus money not tied to either special education or Title I, it is not clear if the money could be used to bridge a gap in next year’s budget.

“We want to help and partner, but the stimulus money is hard to deal with,’’ said School Board member Doug Norcross.

Waynesboro Schools Superintendent Robin Crowder said his staff will look for ways to accommodate the city over the next couple of weeks.

Crowder asked if the school district could not afford to defer more than $400,000 in city revenues, would that amount be helpful to council.

“We’ll work with whatever you bring us,’’ said Waynesboro City Councilwoman Lorie Smith.

Crowder said he hopes to have a more definitive set of guidelines on the use of the stimulus money by the end of the month.

E-mails from the Virginia Department of Education have been coming to school districts regularly with updates on the stimulus money guidelines.

School Board member Brian Edwards said he was appreciative for the opportunity to meet with the City Council.

He called Wednesday’s meeting “a very good conversation.”

Edwards said he and school board members want to help, but don’t want to put the school system in an “untenable position.”