Updated
The event is postponed due to expected inclement weather. Here’s a statement from event organizers.
Given the risk of inclement weather on Monday, Our Prince William and Smart Chicks on Politics and Entertainmen thave decided to err on the side of caution and postpone the “Baking the Pie with Your Dough” Townhall scheduled for Monday, February 8th. Given the enthusiastic response of potential audience-goers, we look forward to announcing a replacement date shortly.
Original post
Prince William County officials are doing what they always do at this time of the year: prepare a budget for the coming year.
The new budget for fiscal 2017 starts July 1. The Board of Supervisors must approve it by April.
Last year, Prince William County approved a $2 billion budget to fund local government operations, and to help fund local education.
Over the next two months, the Board of Supervisors will decide what put into the budget and what to leave out.
A panel discussion scheduled for Monday, February 8 is called “Baking the Pie with YOUR Dough.”
One of the panelists is Sheyna Burt, a Manassas lawyer who serves on Prince William Arts Council Board of Directors. We talked to her about the upcoming discussion.
Potomac Local: What’s the big idea behind this panel?
Burt: We decided that we wanted to have a community conversation, not so much about specific budget priorities like “how much money should he give to transportation, but really more about how we make the decision about how we establish our budget in the first place.
The timeline, the public’s opportunity to participate, and, especially, the notion of establishing a tax rate before you start talking about the money values and priorities. Essentially, you establish the size of the pie before you start talking about the how much the components part is going to cost you.
Potomac Local: What are the ingredients of this pie?
Burt: I think the ingredients are “do you establish a pool of money first” or do you establish your priorities first? How do you set up the process?
Is that the equivalent of the temperature?
How long do you give yourselves, within the confinements that the law requires, how do you make sure the public has the opportunity to participate. Are we doing it [correctly] right now? Is the current recipe working? Or is there room to adjust it to taste?
Potomac Local: You’ve watched this pie be baked every April for the past few years. You’ve seen recipes that work and didn’t work.
Burt: People will have opinions. The way we set this up, the people who are going to be on the panel, none of us is a super budget wonk who has very firm ideas about how all budget processes should work. We consider ourselves lay people, just like the people we are inviting to be in the audience. We’re hoping, and we expect that people are going t show up because A: They want to know what the process is, and we’re going to spend some time talking about what the process is.
Potomac Local: Who really cares about the budget process and is listening to the conversation? Do regular people care about the budget? Or are the only people who care the onee who are uniquely plugged into local government?
Burt: I wondered about that. I stay away from the negative blogs. But I’m told the negative blogs are talking about this conversation. I think that people do care that, very honestly when were having the planning meetings for this, I asked myself the same question. Are they aware enough of this issue to even have an opinion or to care about it? That’s part of the reason we decided to have it video taped. What ever happens that day, we want to send it out to the community and inspire people to get more educated about it. Becuase if you don’t care, you should, because all of us are going to be impacted by it.
The panel will be moderated by retired president of Didlake, Inc. Panelist includes Jim Livingston, of the Prince William Education Association, Betty Dean, Ramunda Young, Marlo Thomas Watson, and Hala Ayala.
The event starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at the Lakeside Theatre at the Woodbridge Campus of Northern Virginia Community College.
