Prince William County Executive Craig S. Gerhart will propose a budget that leaves out money for the county's crackdown on illegal immigration, which was approved by supervisors after it divided the community last fall.Like other jurisdictions in the Washington area, Prince William is facing declining revenue because of the sagging housing market. In the coming budget year, county officials will probably have to make cuts in jobs and services such as education and consider raising the property tax rate to close a projected $51 million shortfall.
County staff will leave out the $3.3 million cost of the immigration initiative when Gerhart submits his spending plan next month, forcing the Board of County Supervisors to decide what to cut in the budget in order to pay for the new program.
"The budget challenge is balancing an acceptable level of community progress with the harsh fiscal reality," Gerhart said.
Harsh fiscal reality is right, especially with property values plummeting and a serious economic recession very possibly on its way. The question is, can counties like Prince William afford to take on any new tasks at this time? If so, should those tasks include cracking down on illegal immigrants? In general, is it worth raising taxes or sharply cutting spending on education and other services (public safety?) in order to institute new initiatives of any kind (including Stewart's anti-illegal-immigration initiative)?. This is always a question for governments to consider, but especially so at a time of (possibly severe) economic downturn.
It looks like we're going to find out the answers to these questions soon enough in Prince William County. County Board Chair Corey Stewart says "[w]e made a promise to the community" and asks, "After all that dialogue, how could we not fully fund and implement it?" Good question. But I also distinctly remember the budget hearing (on 9/28/07) where Neabsco District Supervisor John D. Jenkins warned against this very outcome (see video above). At the time, Jenkins was brushed off by Corey Stewart, despite the fact that Jenkins has been doing the budget for 25 years. We'll see if Stewart can brush off the budgetary implications of his initiative any longer.
P.S. Immigration resolution or not, it looks like Prince William County residents can expect more of this in coming months and years.