York County's biggest asset is its school system. In upper York County, families choose York homes over Williamsburg/James City County homes because our school system is so strong. Likewise, in lower York, families who work in the area are drawn to York over neighboring counties such as Newport News and Hampton.
In fact, York County acknowledges this very fact when it touts the York County School District on the county's "York County Economic Development" page: "By almost every measure of academic achievement-such as promotion rates, graduation rates, and standardized test scores-York County 's school students rank among the best in the state." The site goes on: "York County has one of the top public school systems in Virginia. Money Magazine named York County schools one of the top 100 education buys in the country."
Cutting the education budget may save money in the short-term, but in the long-term it will damage the county in a way that will affect every homeowner as our property values decline. We can't afford to damage the quality of our schools.
At this time, YCSD faces an almost $9 million shortfall due to the governor's unfunded mandate to pay into the Virginia Retirement System, as well as decreases in state funding. We urge you to follow the examples of several other counties in the state and provide additional funding to allow YCSD to remain one of the best school systems in the state. We must all tighten our belts and meet this challenge or our school system will suffer, and subsequently the value of our greatest asset, our schools, will impact the value of our homes and businesses.
Obviously, the county's revenue stream continues to decrease, and the Board of Supervisors faces some tough decisions on cutting county costs. Education should not be one of those cuts. Instead, we urge the Board of Supervisors to consider measures to increase the county's revenue stream. For example, an increase of 5 cents per $100 on the property tax is a good way to start. On average, we would be looking at $150 per family per year for such an increase. Even with such an increase, York County would still have a rate that is significantly lower than neighboring counties.
The harsh reality is that you cannot rely on the state to meet this budget shortfall. However, you cannot rely on the school board to make $9 million worth of cuts without sacrificing the quality of the school system. This is the time for the York County Board of Supervisors to put leadership over politics and to make hard choices on funding measures that will keep our greatest asset thriving.