Per presentations by town administrators to council's Finance Committee, four new jobs are being proposed for the fiscal year 2009-2010. We've already looked at the IT Technician, and the combined Treasurer/Finance Director position which isn't considered new.
The full town council will see these jobs in the draft budget at Friday's work session.
The other new jobs included a Planner for the Planning & Zoning Department because that director's job accountabilities are stated as being expanded to include subdivision reviews, and sign ordinance or zoning administration responsibilities -- tasks which the Town Manager historically handled. A Building Inspector Trainee will be brought onboard by January 2010, in anticipation of the current department head's retirement that summer. And, with the recent addition of about 171 acres along Moose Drive and Mudpike Road, CMS is now completely within the town's borders so the town will need to provide funding for a School Resource Officer (SRO).
This represents $163,341 in new salaries, exclusive of insurance, retirement and other benefits.
The Montgomery County School Board defines the roles and responsibilities for the SROs in the middle and high schools. These positions are funded by the locality having public safety jurisdiction at the school site, rather than through county taxes collected and shifted to the school system's budget. Often, grants have supplemented some of these costs, but not so much so these days. Even if this was an unexpected expense for council due to the annexation, Chief Sisson probably saw it coming because of the CHS SRO position.
Given the amount of growth Christiansburg has experienced over the past 10 years, no one is really sure how the very lean Planning & Zoning and Building Inspection departments have gotten by.
They are responsible for a "host of topics" including all construction permitting and inspections, outdoor advertising, planning and subdivision review (including zoning, rezoning and conditional use permits) -- and anyone who reads council agendas sees these topics, including activities of council's Street Committee, dominate much of each meeting. These positions typically require specialized training, experience and certifications.
These "topics" also are the purpose behind council's Planning Commission. Yet these two departments with broad responsibilities are performed by just six town employees. And sometimes this means things fall through the cracks, like unpermitted activities.
What was never really touched on in any of the Finance Committee meetings so far was the lease agreement with Virginia Tech, and its possible financial impacts to the town's budget. Aquatic Center construction and ongoing operational costs were not addressed, nor was the use of occupancy taxes. These lodging taxes must be collected, with 6.85% on the dollar going to the town, adjusting down the amount contributed for regional tourism marketing. The town has no defined tourism or marketing plans, however.
Hopefully, citizens of Christiansburg will have time to learn about the proposed budget, digest the information and provide input to their elected officials before its adoption.