Waynesboro and Staunton are about to sign off on their 2019 fiscal year city budgets, which begin in July. Here are a few notable changes in the proposed budgets:
Teen pregnancy funding
WAYNESBORO budget highlights:
Teen pregnancy prevention
The teen pregnancy prevention fund will dip by 7 percent. Even though the program as a whole took a hit, funds from local sources increased 223 percent.
School books
Local schools will have 8 percent less funds to spend on textbooks. That follows the 10 percent decrease from state sources and a 5 percent decrease from the local match allocation of funds.
Public safety
The Waynesboro police and fire department were granted an increase in funds. The police department gained 9 percent and the fire department gained 10 percent.
Water
The water fund for the 2019 fiscal year had some major reorganization of funds. Funds allocated to customer service increased 69 percent and line maintenance also increased 67 percent.
Youth employment fund
The city has 53 percent more funds to pay local kids for work through the youth employment fund.
Less capital funding
STAUNTON budget highlights:
Education funding decreases and gains
Overall, the education fund for the city remained about the same but resources were swapped in the process.
The city assigned $100,000 to school capital improvements for the 2018 fiscal year. The proposed 2019 budget allocates just $50,000 for improvements.
The decreased funding follows a reduction in the city’s educational agency contribution. The city granted $42,000 less than the 2018 fiscal year, an 84 percent decrease.
Government funding increases
The general government administration added 7 percent to its funding pool. In the same realm the parks, recreation, library and cultural department gained 5 percent and public safety received 6 percent more.
Golf fund reorganized
The golf fund, which operates the Gypsy Hill Golf Course, was absorbed into the general budget. The reorganization allotted 4.5 percent more funds to the recreation, parks and library funds.
A new full-time employee, the first of its kind, was assigned to the golf course as well, according to the proposed budget.
Golf course staff pay scale ranges from $7.91 an hour to $13.02 an hour, according to the proposed budget.