The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE - The Citizens Committee to Perfect a Consolidation Agreement, during their meeting Tuesday night, authorized meeting facilitator Art Mead to secure the services of Richmond attorney Carter Glass IV to aid in drafting and writing a consolidation plan.
Meeting at Dabney S. Lancaster College, the committee learned that The Alleghany Foundation has approved a $30,000 grant to fund half of the committee’s legal expenses.
Covington and Alleghany County will equally share the remainder of expenses for legal council as directed by an order from Alleghany County Circuit Court Judge Malfourd Trumbo. Trumbo ordered the localities to share the costs after a hearing two weeks ago.
“We’re official as far as the grant application to the foundation is concerned,” committee co-chairman Joe Carpenter said.
Glass, who will attend the committee’s next meeting March 23, will determine if the committee has the authority to meet in closed session with legal counsel.
“I’m not sure we’ll ever go into executive session, but I just want to know if it’s possible,” Carpenter said.
Mead said in order to comply with tenents of the Freedom of Information Act, the committee could authorize two members, which does not constitute a quorum, to meet with Glass and pose legal questions.
Committee member Annette Comer asked what Glass charges for his services.
Mead said he is unsure what he would charge the committee, but when he served as counsel when Covington City Council and the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors attempted to hammer out an agreement, Glass charged $340 an hour for legal services and $170 an hour to drive from Richmond.
“When he’s here, the meter is running pretty fast,” Mead said.
“I think if we’re not careful, we’ll run out of money pretty quick,” Comer said.
In his order, Trumbo authorized the committee to spend money in $5,000 increments under close monitoring by the court.
“One trip alone could cost $2,000,” Mead said.
“I don’t foresee him coming up here too many times. It wouldn’t be a good use of the money,” committee member John Stone said.
Carpenter said Glass needs to be asked if he will write the agreement since he has the legal knowledge to do so.
“I have to tell you, I don’t have the expertise to even start,” Carpenter said.
Committee member Wes Walker said he would like to know a time frame in which Glass could draft the proposal.
“If it’s two weeks, that’s good, but if it’s two months, then we’re behind the eight-ball,” Walker said.
The committee has a June deadline to draft a consolidation proposal.
“Our conversations with him will give us an indication of how to proceed,” committee co-chairman George Goode said.
Another question that will be posed to Glass will be how much customization can be done for a tier-city concept without requiring legislative action. Carpenter asked if a tier-city within a county could be established without a second layer of government.
“My understanding is you can customize it (tier city) to fit your area,” Stone said.
“Of course, we’re talking about something that has never been done before,” Stone added.
“We have two things to do,” Carpenter commented, “First, we have to write a plan; second, we have to write a plan that sells.”
“I just don’t want to dig a big hole we’re going to step into in the dark when we get home,” committee member Harry Casey said.
Committee members Mike Warwick and Carpenter presented a synopsis of education funding of a consolidated school system.
Essentially paring down last year’s S. John Davis study of a consolidated school division, Warwick said, “Our goal was to break down the study into key points.”
Carpenter said the presentation focused on facts and no preference for planning a consolidated school system.
“That will come later,” Carpenter said.
After explaining the implications of the Composite Index in determining state funding for education, Carpenter said in a consolidated locality, the lower Composite Index of the two localities will be in place for 15 years after a merger.
The “Hold Harmless” clause would protect a consolidated system from any changes in the Composite Index that could negatively affect funding.
“Even if the larger school divisions are asking for more money, it won’t come from us,” Carpenter noted.
The Composite Index is among one of many factors for determining funding including the Standards of Quality, which is the state’s formula of requiring a minimum amount of instructional staff in a school division.
Virtually no school divisions in Virginia adhere to the minimum. Most divisions fund extra instructional positions at their own expense.
“Localities bridge the gap,” Carpenter said.
Covington spends $12,087 annually per pupil with $4,720 from local funds. Alleghany County spends $11,030 per pupil with $3,740 of that coming from local coffers.
According to information from the Virginia Department of Education, in grades K-12, Covington maintains a 9:1 pupil-teacher ratio while in Alleghany County, there is an 11:1 ratio in grades K-7 and in grades 8-12, a 12:1 ratio.
Areas of concern include equalization of salary scales between Covington and Alleghany County. Covington’s school employees are paid on a higher scale than Alleghany County. Closing the salary and benefits gap would cost $1.1 million.
Other areas of savings include merging central offices, closing one central office building, merging maintenance and bus operations, merging bus routes, centralized purchasing, better utilization of contracted staff and merging special education populations as well as a reduction, through attrition, of staff and administrators.
Covington sustained a drop in their Composite Index which is calculated every two years. Warwick noted that only a handful of Virginia localities had a decrease in their Composite Index.
All the more reason, Carpenter said, to draft a consolidation agreement.
“That’s an indication of how bad it is here. It’s an indication of the relative wealth of this community,” Carpenter said.
Since education is the largest expenditure in a locality’s budget, Carpenter said consolidated schools would provide the best opportunity for cost savings.
The committee will meet next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College.
