Five Year Financial Plan


Stafford County continues to engage in a robust five year financial planning process. This plan highlights long term implications of financial decisions and more closely links the 10 year CIP with the annual budget process. It creates a framework within which the fiscal year’s budget development takes place. The planning process connects Board priorities to resources and provides direction to staff.


The following guiding principles developed in the Board’s annual planning meeting will guide our planning processes in the future.


General Fund

General Fund:

Operating Revenues:

  • Increases in tax rates from Calendar Year (CY) 22 $0.85, CY23 $0.87, CY24-25 $0.895 and CY26 $0.905
  • Personal Property assumes an increase of $4% for current collections and 8.8% on delinquent collections
  • Local Non-property taxes assume changes based on historical collections and projected changes in the economy, such as new dining establishments
  • Use of Money and Property assumes increases in interest revenue collected and a return to pre-pandemic rental of County facilities
  • Shared Expenditures assumes a 2% increase
  • All other revenues assumes changes based on historical information

Operating Expenditures:

  • Assumes base budget, including salaries increase 2% in FY24 and 3% in FY25-27
  • Increases for Stafford County Public Schools use a five year history of increases to project increases as well as and increase of over $3.3M from FY25-FY26 to provide for increases due to the pending opening of High School #6 in FY2026
  • Public Safety increases include:
    • Three positions to support Body Worn Cameras in FY2024 for the Sheriff's Department and the Commonwealth Attorney's Office
    • Maintains funding for the Public Safety Step Plan
    • Maintains deputies to keep up with populations
    • Includes 1 Fire Crew in FY25 and FY27
    • Includes Safety Lieutenants (3) to support Fire and Rescue Activities in FY27
    • Assumes projected increases for the Jail the Juvenile Detention Center
  • Parks, Recreation and Cultural
    • Include increase for Minimum Wage increases

Transportation Fund

Transportation Fund Assumptions:

Operating Revenues:

  • Assumes continued increase of Gas Sales Tax of 3%
  • Use of Money and Property remains flat
  • Assumption of Transfer from the General Fund in FY2024-27 to cover excess of operating expenditures over operating revenues

Operating Expenditures:

  • VRE, FRED Bus and PRTC Subsidies return to pre-pandemic costs
  • Debt service increase for proposed bond funding in accordance with the Adopted Capital Improvement Program (CIP)
  • Starting in FY2024, there are not excess operating revenues over expenditures that can support capital projects

Capital Revenues:

  • Capital revenues are derived from Adopted CIP
  • Impact fees are estimated at $775,000 annually to repay the County for prior projects
  • Increase from the General Fund assumes a 3% increase annually

Capital Exenditures

  • Capital Expenditures are based on the Adopted CIP

Utilities Fund

Assumptions

  • Revenue

2% growth in the system, 2% rate increases

Debt of $82 million over the five year period

Use of Net Assets (fund balance) of $2 million over the five year period

  • Expenditures

New Positions = 12

Personnel - Same as GF FY 23 = 5%; all other year 4.5%

Minimum of 4.5% annual increase in Operating Increases depending on market conditions

Increase in Debt Service of 27%

Capital Spending of $175 million, 47% debt financed - although the County is pursuing all grant opportunities