I’ve had some questions about the motion I made during Council time on Monday night. I’ve also had some people stop by to ask about it (it always amazes me that people watch Council meetings on TV. It’s interesting to see who’s paying attention.) By way of background, each Council member is alloted an unlimited amount of time at the beginning of each meeting to speak to whatever subjects they would like. It’s typically short and sweet but members might ask staff questions or simply pass along reports about the St. Patrick’s Day parade, for instance.
What Happened?
What happened this past Monday when I spoke was as follows: I asked the Mayor to refer the revenue sharing agreement with the schools to the Finance committee for review – in the same vein as our recent review of the deed for the ballfields. That was it.
Why Do This?
Well, I’ve been on Council about 5 years (which is too long for most of you..:) and there have been 3 or 4 subjects that have always been sort of “out there”. Almost to the point of Urban Myth stuff. The first was the deed on the basball fields. Seriously, that was an enigma wrapped in a myth shrouded in secrecy. Everybody was an expert. It turned out that, after some research and head banging, the solution was very straight-forward: we needed to petition IBM for consideration. We did it and they graciously removed the deed restriction without too much fuss. We’re going to do the same thing in the Finance committee that we did through other means for the ball fields. We’re going to dust off the revenue sharing agreement, check the City/State code and see what the deal is because it ain’t clear. It isn’t punitive, just an establishment and clarification of the facts.
Therefore:
Only after this process runs its course will the Council make a decision as to what to do. I suppose the options are to keep it, modify it or get rid of it. None of them will happen quickly. We’ll need to consult with the School Board well in advance of any decision being made. This isn’t something to rush through. Also, this isn’t likely to be in a Finance meeting this month. During budget season, the finance meetings are typically held after budget worksessions and that means they start at about 9:00pm. Far too late to dig into something this complicated.
March 16, 2011 at 10:28 am
Andy,
– The revenue sharing agreement was approved in early 2001.
Bob Oliver, council finance chair at the time, headed
a committee of two councilmembers and two school board members
charged with finding a better way to decide on school funding
after a “battle” the year before between the two elected bodies.
The group met ten times over a period of several months and their
suggestion was that the council share a fixed percentage of
revenue with the school board like, for example, Prince William County.
The 56.2% came from averaging the allocations of the previous decade.
It was seen as a way to help both bodies improve their budget process,
provide stability and reduce conflict. School revenue would
track total city revenue – up or down.
– There have been suggestions to change the formula, both up and down,
through the years and, after a decade, it may be time to review it.
March 16, 2011 at 10:30 am
Well I suppose it is a start. Thank you and keep us posted on the progress. Btw. What is the next step in the process to getting the bike/hike trail project a little more down the road?
March 16, 2011 at 11:10 am
I wanted to stand up Monday night and applaud – was in the lobby and heard you speak and wanted to run in and applaud. It is time for a serious review.
Steve, as always, is commended for giving us history. It helps in understanding and how things came to be, especially between these two “elected” bodies. Much is made of this word “elected” making people thing these two bodies are “seperate, but equal” which is wrong.
A School Board is a “Body Corporate” under VA Code 22.1-71. They are given corporate powers within the law to conduct all aspects of running the business of schools. They hold NO “Soveriegn Powers” granted only by authority of the GA via a Charter or by right of being a designated County within the Commonwealth since in Virgina, no Counties hold a Charter. This is something that has become lost when looking at that word “elected”.
March 16, 2011 at 12:24 pm
COM: should have bike update by middle of next week.
March 16, 2011 at 12:37 pm
I just wanted to thank you for the flashback Andy! I saw the word “Referral” and had flash backs of sitting in Dr. Stephens office! LOL!
March 16, 2011 at 1:59 pm
I’ve never been a fan of the fixed percentage, and I’m glad it’s being evaluated.
March 16, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Andy,
Thanks. Again, I’ll help out any effort…
March 16, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Sounds like good governance to me. Just because we’ve done something one way for a while, doesn’t mean we need to do it that way forever. We’ll only know when a change is prudent, if we periodically review the way we do business.
March 18, 2011 at 6:07 pm
http://www.coopercenter.org/demographics
Interesting data from the 2010 census starting to go online.
Manassas City is ranked in the top five Virginia jurisdictions with
percentage of residents under 18 and those who are Hispanic.
Of course, this is reflected in our schools.