The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 carryover package Tuesday, Sept. 24. Carryover is the process by which certain unspent or unencumbered funds for commitments to pay for goods and services at the end of one fiscal year are reappropriated to the next fiscal year. FY 2019 ended on June 30, 2019.
The FY 2019 carryover balance, after funding prior year obligations and associated reserves, is $54.56 million, which was just under 1% of the county’s total General Fund budget. The carryover package includes:
$21.82 million, or 40% of the balance, in line with county policy, to the county’s new Economic Opportunity Reserve Fund, which will replace the existing Economic Development Support Fund.
$10.91 million, or 20% of the balance, in line with county policy, to capital projects.
$4.5 million for the second-year investment in the Fairfax County Operational Energy Strategy, to include lighting and building HVAC automation systems.
$1.54 million for technology infrastructure projects.
The approved package also includes $2.23 million for projects that support the effort to co-locate services to help achieve efficiencies and reduce costs, including:
$1.7 million to support the addition of a federally qualified health center operation at the Sully Community Center.
$1.53 million to enable the construction of the Lorton Library and the Lorton Community Center to move forward concurrently.
Department of Management and Budget Director Christina Jackson told the board at a recent Budget Committee meeting that the concurrent construction process in Lorton will allow the county to keep the Lorton Library project off the 2020 bond referendum.
Other spending adjustments include a little over $1 million for a new apparatus for Fire Station 44, Scotts Run, scheduled to open in FY 2021; $0.63 million to allow the Park Authority to take over maintenance of 44 additional Fairfax County Public Schools synthetic turf fields, which will help achieve efficiencies of scale and provide for consistency in maintenance; and the modification of two softball fields for Title IX compliance.
A total of 248 new positions were approved as part of the FY 2019 carryover package. Jackson said the number is higher than typically seen in a carryover package but includes 235 positions as candidates for possible conversion from non-merit, benefits-eligible status to merit status, based on the task performed by each position and the hours worked by incumbents. Jackson explained that the intent is to ensure parity in cases where non-merit employees are performing the same tasks and the same number of hours as merit employees. She noted that DMB staff worked closely with county agencies to identify those positions.
Two consideration items: $750,000 for the development of Phases I and II of the Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan and $100,000 to provide for a tourism and marketing strategy on behalf of the Mount Vernon Tourism Task Force, were also approved.
In addition, the approved package reflects adjustments necessary to implement the police Body-Worn Camera Program, per a motion approved by the Board of Supervisors earlier in their meeting.