Fairfax County Exec Says Budget Will See $49M Carryover

Fairfax County Executive Ed Long says there will be a $49.1 million carryover from the 2015 county budget.

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 re-appropriated to the next fiscal year, the county says. FY 2015 ended on June 30.

Long is recommending that $13 million of the funds be given to the Fairfax County Public Schools for infrastructure needs and building turf fields. FCPS superintendent Karen Garza has warned that the school system’s budget gap for 2016-17 may be as large as $100 million.

Long has recommended that the total carryover be allocated this way:

$6.16 million to be held in reserve to address critical county one-time requirements and funding needs.

$40.75 million to be allocated in the carryover package as follows: $19.28 million for critical requirements, including a $13.1 million transfer to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) for infrastructure needs (per the Board of Supervisors budget guidance approved on April 21) and $1.5 million transfer for turf field installation at FCPS high schools.

$17.81 million for funding county reserves and infrastructure needs.

$3.66 million for funding other requirements such as addressing critical mental health issues and waiting lists for the School Age Child Care (SACC) program.

To see a full breakdown of budget numbers, expenditures and the carryover, see this document on the Fairfax County website.

There will be upcoming committee meetings and public hearings on the carryover.

Sept. 11  — the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee meeting will discuss recommended allocations, as well as the process and schedule for the lines of business review to be conducted by every county agency in preparation for the FY 2017 Budget.

Sept. 22 — Next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Supervisors will include public hearings on the carryover recommendations and a vote on the FY 2015 Carryover Budget Package.

November – Annual budget forecast (FY 2017) presentation by the county executive and FCPS superintendent to a joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors and the School Board.