Wesley P. Hester
Media General News Service

As Chesterfield County supervisors, residents groups and county departments scramble for solutions to budget woes, Wednesday’s scheduled adoption of the budget looms.

“I don’t think it will be adopted Wednesday,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Daniel A. Gecker. “There’s a lot to do. The proposed budget has a lot of impact to citizen services, and the board is looking to restore some of those services.”

The proposed general-fund budget is $700.4 million, down 2.1 percent from the county’s current plan. The supervisors have already opted to maintain the current real estate tax rate at 95 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Proposed cuts include eliminating outdoor parks and recreation programming, shuttering historical sites and closing libraries one day a week.

James M. “Jim” Holland, the board’s vice chairman, said the supervisors and budget and audit committee members have been working hard to ease the pain in those areas and others.

“We are not closing our parks and recreational areas. We are not closing our historical sites.”

He said the county would restore some funding to parks and recreation and forge public-private partnerships to keep open historical sites and Rockwood Nature Center.

“Those are gems we just cannot close,” he said, adding that the county would find savings in other areas such as information technology.

Fees and partnerships also will be used to continue adult athletics and other programs, he said.

For libraries, the county is considering a plan to avoid closing one day a week by reducing hours in the summer, when schools are closed.

Another item Holland hopes to have reconciled by Wednesday is the issue of curbside recycling. A $25 mandatory fee had been proposed for countywide recycling service, but Holland has suggested making the service optional.

Even with all the changes, Holland said he hopes the budget can be adopted this week.

“I don’t see deferring it,” he said. “I think we’re pretty close.”

Wesley P. Hester is a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch