Contribution increased; Patrick Co. reverts to level funding from FY22

PCS was formed as a state Community Service Board to serve the counties of Franklin, Patrick, Henry and the city of Martinsville. The publicly funded organization receives money from both the state and the localities it serves.

While it receives 90% of its funding from the state, it is supposed to receive a 10% match from local governments and the portion each locality pays is based off of U.S. Census data.

Franklin County’s population of 54,938 makes it responsible for 40.30% of the 10% local match; Henry County’s population of 50,248 makes it responsible for 36.87% of the 10% match; Martinsville’s population of 13,517 makes it responsible for 9.92% of the 10% match; and Patrick County, with a population of 17,602 is responsible for 12.91% of the 10% match.

The Patrick County budget for Fiscal Year 2022 designated $79,000 for PCS but in FY23 that decreased by $25,000. For FY24, the PCBOS had remained at level funding to match FY23 before PCS Executive Director Greg Preston came before the board to request an increase.

At that meeting Preston explained in depth the services that PCS provides to Patrick County and even some projects that were in the works to start in the near future. When the board said Patrick County wasn’t seeing services, Preston said that is what comes as a result of having funding cuts.

At the Monday PCBOS meeting, Patrick County Financial Officer Lori Jones said the budget had been adjusted to meet level funding to what PCS received in FY2022.

Concerning the budget as a whole, PCBOS Board Member Denise Stirewalt said, “It’s the best it’s ever looked.”

The updated budget also included an increase to the county administrator salary and benefits, Jones said. Jones added that Patrick County Tourism has requested to use up to $50,000 of FY24 reserve funds to put in an order purchase a vehicle to carry equipment and people to events.

Kurt Bozenmayer spoke to the board about increased transparency on the budget and the budget planning process. The budget is currently posted on the county website along with recent audit reports, Bozenmayer said, but it’s so long it’s hard to print it out or get a good look at it.

Bozenmayer said he earlier had requested that a printed copy of the budget be made available at the Patrick County Public Library for ease of public access, but he would like to expand that request to include the budget documents and audit reports for the last three years.

PCBOS Board Member Denise Stirewalt said in the past there been a copy of the budget in the County Administration lobby area, but Patrick County Assistant County Administrator and Human Resources Director Donna Shough said that was stopped a few years ago because no one ever looked at it.

PCBOS Board Member Doug Perry said he liked the library better because it is more accessible.