PWC Could Cut Expected School Budget By $31 Million: Report

MANASSAS, VA — The Prince William County Board of Supervisors tentatively agreed to budget changes Wednesday that would cut the county schools' expected budget for next year by $31 million, The Prince William Times reports.

The board simultaneously agreed to a real estate tax cut, which would cut money from the county school budget, a meals tax cut, and to break the longstanding revenue-sharing agreement the county has with schools in order to keep proceeds from a proposed "data center tax" hike out of the general revenue fund that is divided between schools and the county.

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The proposed real estate tax cut would reduce that tax rate from 90.6 cents to 85 cents per $100 in assessed value of a residence. According to The Prince William Times, that would save owners of homes of about the average price for the county around $145 a year.

Taken with the proposed 1% cut to the county’s current 3% meals tax, that would take more than $31 million out of what schools expected to be able to spend.

The data center tax hike, a 35-cent increase to the county's computer and peripherals tax rate, would not be shared with schools under the proposed budget, though the county and schools have general revenue for decades.

Prince William County Public Schools issued a statement Wednesday night describing how the current changes would affect school operations. They said impacts could include a reduction in the planned employee pay increase, scaling back after-school programs, reductions to services, such as specialty program transportation and more.

The county will finalize its budget on April 21.

Read more here.