State senator paints bleak landscape for CC supervisors

Charles City’s supervisors are asking the county’s representatives in the state’s General Assembly to watch out for county interests as the legislature’s 2010 session proceeds.

Supervisors, during their Jan. 26 meeting, imparted that message to state Sen. Donald McEachin. Del. Joe Morrissey, who represents Charles City in the House of Delegates, could not attend due to a committee meeting.

“We’re concerned about some potential legislation taking away small localities’ ability to operate,” board chairman Timothy Cotman told McEachin.

One of the concerns centers on the county’s constitutional offices, particularly the sheriff’s office. Apparently a move is under way in the General Assembly that would change the formula for sheriff’s deputies funded by the state’s Compensation Board. For now, the state pays for one deputy per 1,500 residents in a locality. The proposed change would up the resident number to 2,000.

“This could shrink the number of deputies we have in the sheriff’s office,” Cotman complained.

McEachin promised to oppose any proposal to alter the formula and also seek to eliminate the so-called “King’s Dominion Law,” which prevents state schools from opening before Labor Day each school year. Cotman said the law should be removed.

McEachin said that already in the 2010 session, a bill that would have had negative financial impact on Charles City has been buried and will not reappear this year. The bill would have imposed an extra $2 per ton tipping fee at the county’s Waste Management landfill. The result would have cost the county about $1.2 million per year, he said.

The most pressing problem facing legislators is the budget, McEachin said.

“[Former] Gov. Kaine proposed doing away with car tax relief and replacing it with a 1-cent income tax raise, but the new governor [Bob McDonnell] says it’s dead on arrival,” the senator told supervisors.

“That means instead of a $2 billion deficit, we now face a $4 billion deficit,” he said. “It means you’ll have cuts in education.”

Statewide, McEachin said, there could be 46,000 jobs lost in education and another 12,000 cut in the health care industry.

“I can’t vote for a budget that has $4 billion in cuts. That’s just not good government,” he said.

Instead, he promised to take steps aimed at raising revenue, adding he will work to roll back car tax relief and look at freezing part of a wide range of tax credits.

“Something’s got to give,” he said. “I can’t vote for a budget that only does cuts and raises no revenue.”