Mayor Betsy Davis and the entire Town Council praised Town Administrator Jerry Schiro and his staff for both the quality of their work and the approach they'd used in preparing a unanimously approved draft $2.5 million budget for fiscal year 2008/2009.

Council also honored retiring Council Member Eura Lewis for a dozen years of outstanding service on the Town Council. Lewis received a standing ovation in recognition of her service, from July 1, 1996 through June 30, 2008. She played an important role in the difficult negotiations leading to passage of the Salamander Inn Memorandum of Understanding and the subsequent annexation and zoning legislation, and her untiring work with the volunteers who staff the town's Pink Box visitor center.

The 2009 budget, the second drafted by Schiro and his staff, had been discussed, debated and fine tuned by Council and staff over the course of several months.

It not only reflected greatly improved bookkeeping and financial reporting, but a budgeting process made considerably more efficient by the Town Administrator's early 2007 decision to eliminate a free-standing Town "finance committee" and work, instead, through regular, full-council "work sessions."

Indeed, by the end of debate at the Council's May 5, 2008, work session the budget had been thoroughly discussed, revised, and was, for all practical purposes, ready for passage.

Public Input

The only criticism of the budget, and that more of process than the budget itself, was concern about the lack of public awareness and input.

When, on May 5, Council Member Bundles Murdock asked when the required public hearings on the budget would be held, Schiro, suggested holding them during another of the Council's "work sessions," this one set for the evening of May 22, 2008

Thus, no discussion of the budget took place at the Council's regular May 8 meeting, pending placement of advertising announcing public hearings on the budget and two revenue enhancement proposals.

On May 14 the Town bought an ad in the "public notices" section of the Loudoun Times Mirror, containing a brief synopsis of the new budget and formal notice that "public hearings" on both spending and revenue legislation would be held, at an evening "work session," set for May 22nd.

May 22, 2008
Three "Public" Hearings.

At it's 6:00 PM, May 22, work session, with only Council Member Bundles Murdock absent, Council held no less than three critical "public hearings."

Cigarette Tax Increase

The first "hearing" addressed a new ordinance to increase the local tax on cigarettes.

Minutes of the five-second "hearing" duly record that "No one spoke and the Mayor declared the public hearing closed."

Minutes later Mark Snyder moved, and Eura Lewis seconded, a motion to increase the Town's cigarette tax to fifty cents per pack.

The motion passed without opposition.

Water and Sewer Fee Increases

Next, the Council held a duly advertised "public hearing" on an ordinance to "amend the schedule" of the Town's water and wastewater charges and to "revise" water and sewer charges and availability fees.

Again, "No one spoke and the Mayor declared the public hearing closed."

Minute later, Council Member Mark Snyder moved to increase charges and fees for water and sewer service in Middleburg, noting that the Town was following its "auditor's recommendation for a 6% increase;" that the "increases are necessary;" and "the system cannot operate without them."

Snyder's motion, and the fee increases, passed without opposition.

Annual Spending Plan

The session's third "public hearing" and the only formal public hearing devoted to the budget this year, covered the Town's spending plan for fiscal year 2008/2009. The budget hearing also lasted roughly five seconds, with Council minutes, again, duly recording that "No one spoke and the Mayor declared the public hearing closed."

A short time later, Council unanimously approved a "first reading" of the budget: a plan to spend roughly $2,485,600 in fiscal year 2008/2009.

Budget Highlights: Who Pays?

Four sources are projected to account for the lion's share of the town's expected income in fiscal year 2008/2009: local businesses; water and sewer fees; property taxes; and a one-time windfall of nearly a quarter million dollars.

1) The top ranked source of income for the town is the $880,500 generated by what the budget describes as "other local taxes" . . . for the most part, taxes and fees paid by local businesses and those who patronize them. The largest contributors in this category are: Business licenses ($220,000), Bank Franchise taxes ($210,000), taxes on meals at restaurants ($188,000), and utilities taxes ($95,000)

2) Water and sewer fees, including more than $132, 000 derived from wireless connectivity suppliers that lease space on the town's water tower, account for another $681,257 of projected revenue.

3) Real estate and personal property taxes are projected to produce $401,000.

4) The fourth largest revenue source for 2008/2009 is a one-time windfall: the transfer to the Town's general fund of $229,240 from the "Pink Box Fund," a trust account originally established to hold funds contributed for the purchase of the building that houses the town's information center. The Town now leases the building for $5,200 per year plus $4,000 in real estate taxes and $2,500 +/- for maintenance.

Budget Highlights: What Are We Paying For?

Five expense categories account for 97 percent of the Town's $1,507,228 "general fund" budget.

1) Public Safety ($466,530) is the largest single expense for the town. Pay and benefits for the town's police chief and four patrol officers (one of them projected to serve for only the second half of the fiscal year) accounts for $372,130 or 80% of the total.

2) Town Administration ($383,757) ranks second among projected expenses. Compensation and benefits for three fulltime employees, one part-time administrative assistant, the Mayor, and seven members of Council accounts for more than three quarters of that amount ($294, 157). The Mayor is paid $1,000 per year. Compensation for all seven Council members totals $4,800, or less than $700/year for each.

3) The Street Maintenance Budget ($318,950) pays for: the salaries and benefits for a superintendent and one parttime worker ($91,600); refuse disposal ($74,000); and a host of other services including care of the town's street lighting, snow removal, street cleaning, landscape maintenance, and care and maintenance of the town's parking lots.

4) The Planning and Zoning Budget ($170,864) covers salary and benefits for the town's planer and zoning administrator ($83,764) and all the legal, engineering, consulting, and advertising required to administer and enforce all the Town's existing laws related to property development and use, and to provide expert advice and counsel on future change and development.

5) The Town will spend $120,390 in the coming year for Economic Development. The budget covers salary and benefits for Middleburg's full-time Economic Development Administrator ($69,190), plus expenses designed to promote the town and attract business, including advertising, PR, sponsorship of the Bluemont Concert Series, web-site development and other costs.

Middleburg's water and sewer services cost the town nearly $682,000 each year, with all costs covered by fees and lease income from the Town water tower. The Town also owns and rents out the "Health Center" building, better known as headquarters for the Middleburg Police Department. Rental income covers all expenses, which are projected to total just over $85,000 for the year.

Other News: The Chinn's Crossing Oak Goes Down

On June 12, Council finally approved a long-standing request by Chat Hughey for zoning that would allow construction to begin on a project known as "Chinn's Crossing," a mixed-use office and retail development, across from Middleburg Bank, at 112-116 West Washington Street.

Shortly thereafter the Town began receiving complaints that large trees on the site were being cut down. Ten trees on the Chinn's Crossing site, including a large willow oak, nearly 22 inches in diameter, had for years posed special problems for Hughey, his architects, and the town.

Hughey's original plans called for his project's new buildings to be set back a significant distance from the front property line: a plan that would have saved the 22-inch oak. In 2005, however, the town's Historic Review Committee recommended that Hughey's plans be amended, siting building fronts more or less flush with the front property line, to preserve the traditional "look and feel" of Middleburg's "downtown."

Hughey responded positively, and hired well-known historical architect, Richard Wagner, to completely redesign the project.

On October 12, 2006, Council conditionally approved Hughey's request to allow the removal of all ten trees on the site to facilitate construction if, and only if, actual construction of the "Chinn's Crossing" buildings were underway.

On June 12, 2008, Council's grant of a Zoning Location Permit for the project finally cleared the way for the removal of the Chinn's Crossing Oak.

All parties regretted the loss of the tree. Hughey's long-approved plans call for extensive new plantings.

MacMansions

Town Planner David Beniamino reported to Council on May 22 that, in his view, the Town's Planning Commission was operating under the assumption that it " . . . had the Council's blessing to move forward with the concept of expanding the Historic District" as the best means to address the threat posed to the architectural integrity of the village by those who wished to build out-of-scale houses, or MacMansions.

The Council also responded positively to Town Planning Commission Chairman Stephen Plescow's suggestion that the town's citizens be invited to make their views known on the matter, perhaps in a series of design input and review sessions, or charrettes.

Residential Parking Permits

Lengthy discussion on whether or not to institute a residential parking permit program resulted in a decision to, essentially, table the issue.

Laptops for Council and Staff

Noting that the new Town budget included $5,000 for the purchase of computers, Mayor Davis noted, at the May 22 work session, that the purchase of laptops for Council members was on the town's list of desired capital improvements. Town Administrator Schiro noted that such a purchase, while possible, would require the amendment of the new budget. With Council approval he ordered his staff to begin research on prices and approaches to laptop use.

"Visioning Retreat"

Town Council and staff have scheduled a "Visioning Retreat" for July 12, 2008 at an, as yet, undisclosed location. "Typically," according to Town staff, "Council retreats are held outside of the jurisdiction since working in a different environment is recommended for exercises like this."

The retreat, designed to allow Council to " . . . spend a longer time reflecting on substantial policy issues than normal meetings permit," is scheduled to be moderated by Tyler St. Clair, a member of the staff of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.

"There is no action taken at such meetings," according to Town Manager Jerry Schiro, "and minutes are kept, although not as detailed as regular council meeting minutes."

"The meeting date, location, and time will be advertised to comply with the State's open meetings act," Schiro notes. "The press often establishes a policy not to attend, which allows open dialogue between Council [members]."