Last month I had the privilege of attending one of several briefings arranged by staff of the Prince William County Finance Department. These are commonly known as the Revenue Committee presentations.
The Revenue Committee is ad hoc. It is an interdepartmental group of County employees. I have been fortunate to be a member once. At the end, the members meet and discuss what we have seen and how it could impact County finances. I know several people will read this and question why. From my perspective, I see County employees taking steps and efforts to increase their knowledge base to benefit the residents.
Every year finance staff invites regional and state economists, association experts, local developers, and others to share with us their take on the past year and how the next year is shaping up. Invitees cover local, regional and national economy, taxation, commercial and residential development, automotive sales, home sales, etc.
The first one featured presentations from the chief economist for the VA Department of Taxation and the regional research vice president for the Federal Reserve Board based in Richmond. Between 35-40 County staff attended this one. They are engaged and ask intelligent questions.
As a taxpayer I appreciate County staff taking such measures to get the best picture of revenues and possible challenges. As any manager will tell you, a budget is an excellent indicator of the priorities of an organization. The County staff takes budgeting very seriously and the Revenue Committee is just on example.
No comments:
Post a Comment