Board to address budget problems

By Cheryl Chumley

Published: November 16, 2008

Between January and December of 2007, the Prince William Human Rights Commission received 583 inquiries about discrimination and filed 58 charges, according to paperwork due for presentation to supervisors Tuesday.

For the year, commission officials also closed 66 cases, the HRC report reads.

The agency was created by ordinance in 1993 to help enforce civil rights for county citizens. Each year, commission officials are required to file and present for acceptance to supervisors an update on activities.

In addition to the update from HRC — which is not a scheduled presentation, but a consent agenda item requesting only that the board accept the annual report – supervisors will receive the latest figures on economic development.

“Prospect activity peaked at 57 during the third quarter of 2008,” background documents from Economic Development Department executive director Martin Briley read. “Nine new prospects were opened in the quarter – five in targeted industries. There were 12 prospect visits during the third quarter of 2008.”

Meanwhile, 1,061 new jobs were added in the third quarter, compared to 967 and 936 in the second and first quarters, respectively, according to Briley’s numbers.

More on housing is scheduled, too; board members are set to receive the latest from the foreclosure task force, including guidance for the Home Help program. Market realities have forced Finance Department officials to revisit their original plans to extend a helping hand for certain county and school employees to find affordable housing locally.

“The embattled mortgage and credit environment made it difficult for lenders to hold loans in their portfolios for any length of time even if the liquidity to originate the loans was provided,” agenda documents read. “It was clear that the original model would not work well enough to implement in the current credit environment.”

Finance officials are due to explain this new Home Help model sometime after 2 p.m. — around the same time frame supervisors are due to discuss the fiscal year 2010 budget as well as receive a presentation from the president of the Virginia Association of Counties.

Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.