Virginia's budget crunch hit home on Monday as the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors allocated the money left over from last year's budget. The supervisors started with around $42 million and were left with $129,418 to put toward next year after all the allocations had been made.
"This is the smallest carryover that we've had except for years when we've struggled with the recession about a decade ago," said Supervisor Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock), who chairs the board's Budget Committee. "This is about as bleak as it gets."
Several agencies saw their staffing increased as part of the carryover allocations. Among them are the Park Authority, which will hire three full-time staff members to work on the newly-acquired Lorton property and the Sheriff's Department which received 16 positions to help staff the new jail with an additional 21 positions to come in the next couple of years.
The Sheriff's Department positions sparked debate on the Board with Supervisor Stuart Mendelsohn (R-Dranesville) questioning the wisdom of hiring more staff at a time when tight budgets are causing cutbacks in jurisdictions across the state. Mendelsohn was the only supervisor to vote against creating the new positions.
"We're making a lot of decisions in the future without looking in the future," he said.
The board also directed $51,318 to create a database of county volunteers ready to help in an emergency. An additional $43,640 from a previously allocated pot of money was reallocated for safety improvements along Route 1, one of the most dangerous corridors in the county.
"It could end up being the most important money spent by the board this year," said David Lyons of Safe Crossings, a pedestrian safety advocate who testified on the issue.
Again, Mendelsohn was the only supervisor to vote against the allocations.
A MOTION BY Mason District Supervisor Penelope Gross (D-Mason) to allocate $24,610 for a permanent position for the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District was killed when only four supervisors voted in favor of it.
The squeeze in the state budget is forcing the board to be tight-fisted, Providence District Supervisor Gerald Connolly (D) said.
"We have to take into account what's happening with the deterioration of the state budget," he said.
<ro>Settlement Reached
<bt>Washington Gas customers who have been overbilled will be repaid a maximum of $500 to make up for up to five years of overbilling, according to an agreement reached last month by the company and public agencies. Underbilled customers will have to repay a maximum of $100 for up to one year of underbilling.
The agreement on the company's billing errors was negotiated by Washington Gas, the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the Attorney General's Office, the affected Northern Virginia jurisdictions and others.
Steve Sinclair of the Fairfax County Consumer Protection Division said the agreement was fair and in the public interest.
"The company compromised way more than the consumer had to," he said.
The company had originally proposed charging underbilled customers up to $500 for up to five years of underbilling. The final proposal ensures that the company does not profit from its error and saves consumers a total of approximately $3 million.
"We feel like we've scored a significant victory by only limiting it to one year," Sinclair said.
THE ORIGINAL PROPOSAL "put too much of a burden on the consumer," said Carolyn Quetsch, director of the consumer protection division. "It went back too many years and had [customers] paying them way too much for something that was not in their control."
"I think the fact that it involves several parties is an important step forward," said Washington Gas spokesman Tim Sargeant.
About 380,000 of the company's 930,000 customers live in Northern Virginia. Customers in Maryland and the District have also been affected by the errors.
The billing errors started when the company introduced a new service which offered customers a choice in gas delivery in 1988. Some customers were billed for a type of service they had not ordered.
According to Sinclair, most of the affected neighborhoods are in newer parts of the county which were not served by the company before 1988.
Only about 10 percent of the affected customers have been identified so far. The company plans to find all affected customers within the next three years as it completes its regular leak survey in which technicians look for gas leaks in customers' homes or businesses. The State Corporation Commission will then be able to audit the results.
But "they're not likely to do that," Sinclair said. "We probably wish they would."
No one testified at a public hearing on the issue Monday at the Fairfax County Judicial Center.