Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Budget Public Hearing (Session III), Saturday, March 4, 2023

Date: Saturday, March 4, 2023
Place: Board Room, First Floor, Government Center, 1 Harrison Street SE, Leesburg, Virginia
Length: 49m (video)
Official meeting video (county, Granicus): https://loudoun.granicus.com/player/clip/7209
Agenda (Granicus): https://loudoun.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=73&clip_id=7209

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-20. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:03:25] I would like to call order to order the March 4th, 2023 Loudoun County Board of Supervisors

[00:07:58] Budget Public Hearing. If anyone in the room needs hearing assistance, please see the clerk at the table in the hallway just outside of the meeting room. This public hearing is to allow members of the public to address the board on the proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2023 and ending June 30th, 2024, the fiscal year 2024 proposed budget.

[00:08:17] The proposed tax rates on the real and personal property tax for year 2023 begin January 1st, 2023 and ending december 31st 2023 this is the final public hearing session for comment on the proposed budget any members of the public may address the board at any only one session members of the public wishing to speak at this public hearing and have not already done so please sign up with the clerk in the hallway just outside this meeting room all members of the public who have signed up to speak will be allotted two and a half minutes if you're in the board room we ask when your name is called please come to the podium state your name for the record the timer on the podium will indicate the time remaining. The timer will buzz when the time has

[00:08:55] expired. When your time has expired we will ask that you please yield the floor to the next speaker. If you are providing your comments via phone I ask that you use a stopwatch to track your time. I will monitor your time in the boardroom as well and notify you when your time has expired. When taking public input I will first ask if there's anyone on the WebEx wishing to speak then I'll call speakers who signed up to speak in person. Although not all board members are able to attend this meeting, my colleagues have assured us that they will be watching the video when they can so they can listen to everybody's comments.

[00:09:29] All right. Our first speaker that we have on the WebEx is Julia Richardson followed by Elah Hasmafar followed by Shane Kennedy. Julia are you there?

[00:09:46] I do not. Julia is not. Okay. All right. Elah, are you there?

[00:10:01] Hello? Is Elah there? Elah, are you there? No, okay.

[00:10:20] Next person is Shane Kennedy. Yes, I'm here. Okay, go ahead, Shane. All right, thank you so much. Hello, and thank you for this opportunity to support the proposed 2024 Loudoun County budget.

[00:10:36] My name is Shane Kennedy. I'm a Loudoun County Community Services Board member, a Round Hill resident, and an advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. I also have personal experience navigating the complexities of the mental health system in Loudoun County on behalf of a family member. Today, I'm speaking about the pressing need to increase and properly resource the Loudon Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Developmental Services Workforce.

[00:10:59] Specifically, I am asking the Board of Supervisors to support the proposed 6% merit increase and the 4% pay scale adjustment for the general workforce. Support for these adjustments is critical because our community is seeing unprecedented increases in the need for behavioral health services, particularly emergency mental health intervention.

[00:11:20] Workforce shortfalls and vacancies increase the strain on remaining staff, contributing to burnout, turnover, and the risk that county residents will go underserved. And increases to compensation will keep Loudoun County aligned with neighboring counties, improving recruitment and retention of direct support professionals.

[00:11:38] Lives literally depend on the level of care provided by the Loudoun Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Developmental Services, and we hope that the Board of Supervisors will support this request. Thank you for your service to our community. Okay, thank you, Shane.

[00:11:54] All right, we're going to our in-person speakers next. First, I have William Marsh, followed by Morris Meyer, followed by Lee Shields. William Marsh. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Good morning, Board Member. My name is William Marsh.

[00:12:10] I serve as Vice Chair on Loudoun, and I'm here this morning to speak. Earlier in February, you received a letter that describes our requests regarding this year's budget. It describes what we've done as a commission. We've worked with general service staff and other county staff understanding the information available on our on our county's website looked into energy equity efforts provided comments on this right and we've looked in depth at the county energy strategy we feel that these are all important priorities and part of the work plan that you're approved for

[00:12:47] you we understand there are limitations on every school which is you all and that's why we sent our letter that i am here to reinforce about specific asks for the first is the energy program management there are three funding sources we're also asking for a year-to-year basis on consulting support one of them is energy equity program that we work in services the second is a more enhanced information hub energy sources we feel will improve transparency for citizens by their health

[00:13:24] the environment source perspective and the third is taking action watershed management that have been on the books for but not we feel these strike a balance between ecological values that our our commission as well as energy those are those are the priorities that we want to return to the position that I understand is a very expensive task and it is long-standing but I feel that brings in one is hiring this position gain the ability to actually implement it please

[00:14:02] remember that in 2009 a previous board voted on that proceeded to gather dust or 60 this position allows that program to advance but also at the same time greater providing access leverage to federal dollars in the past finally it's something that speaks to loud and county wealth i'm a novak customer my neighbors down the street are opinion our power providers see us as custom but if we hire this position for an energy manager they will see me as a loud and i'm a

[00:14:34] novak customer it's a neat opportunity to bridge that gap between our citizens all right thank you next we have morris meyer followed by lee shields followed by emily southgate morris meyer see meyer Okay all right going next to Lee Shields followed by Emily Southgate followed by Rebecca Kisling Lee

[00:15:04] Morning board members. I'm Lee Shields. I live at Ashby Ponds. I'm in the Broad Run District of our community And I'm also a member of climate lobby as well as the local Friends for climate action today. I'm here to thank you for the opportunity first of all to speak on behalf of the

[00:15:38] $1,080,000 that are required to launch the environmental and energy work plan. It's only a small portion of your total budget, yet I realize you're involved in significant trade-offs, but funding your plan is both important and urgent.

[00:15:58] I think you agreed with that in your earlier stated priorities. It's important from my perspective because it's not news that our climate is in trouble. Nassau's recently released report stretches back to 1750 near the founding of our county and shows that there's been a 150% increase over the base value in that time in CO2 in our atmosphere.

[00:16:26] And we as a county are deeply engaged in that issue because of both the benefits and the risks involved in the data center population that we have and that we will continue to grow. It's urgent because as your charts show in the strategy, we can make a difference if we act now.

[00:16:47] Your approval of the environmental energy work plan budget is mandatory to make the plan into action, to do something with the good ideas that are in the plan. The energy manager to lead on your behalf, the equity projects, the county dashboard so we have information, The green bank, watershed issues, the tree canopy, all contribute to this issue and solving it.

[00:17:16] So implementing it is, from my perspective, important to our way of life. We have a significant agricultural community in our midst that is dependent on a stable environment. It's essential to our children and grandchildren for their well-being and for citizens with various health issues related to climate.

[00:17:39] it's even more important. It's finally a signal from you to our county that this is important to you. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Emily Southgate followed by Rebecca Kisling followed by Carrie Wilson. Thank you for being here on Saturday morning and hearing from all of us.

[00:18:02] I'm Emily Southgate. I'm a member of the Environmental Commission but I'm here speaking for myself this evening this morning and I am I support all of the initiatives that we have asked you to support we looked at the fiscal constraints and prioritized our request I'm specifically wanted to mention the information hub I think that's a critical place to start and knowing where things are what's available in in terms of energy and natural resources in the county

[00:18:37] We had a very, very helpful presentation by the Department of Mapping and Geographic Information Services. So they had a lot of ideas. We could see what they had done so far, but we certainly could see where there's a need to make it easier for people to find information about these resources.

[00:18:58] So we're requesting additional funding to help them carry out this mandate, which will definitely be important for all of the residents of the county to make it easily accessible. I don't know about you, but I've tried to find some things, and frequently the information is scattered, and it's difficult to focus in on it.

[00:19:20] So that's what we're trying to do, is to make it really easy. So you go on there, you go to the GeoHub, and then you can find the information you need, both for those who are making decisions and just for residents who need to find out what's going on. So thank you very much for your consideration of our request.

[00:19:39] Thank you. Next we have Rebecca Kisling, followed by Kerry Wilson, followed by Kenneth Nix. Rebecca Kisling? Are you Rebecca? I saw your hand up.

[00:19:55] No. All right. All right. Rebecca's not here. Rebecca no okay Carrie yep come on down Carrie so we have Carrie Wilson followed by Kenneth Nix followed by Katherine Holmes thank you and thank you all for your service I'm Carrie Wilson CEO of Cornerstones with offices at 22 560 Glen Drive and Sterling Cornerstones is a nonprofit human service agency an affordable housing developer that's been serving residents along the Dulles corridor for 50 years we're so honored to partner with Loudoun County and

[00:20:32] Wellington development to be breaking ground on 180 new homes for our workforce and special needs housing for our most vulnerable residents our priorities for this 2024 budget reflect areas that are foundational to our county's self-sufficiency we applaud the board and county goals to address the unmet housing needs of its workforce and families with special needs for service and rich housing, and we endorse the FY24 commitment of general funds and the housing trust fund. Given the needs you have heard throughout these hearings, we ask that you

[00:21:10] consider including the budget guidance that will affirm the need to steadily grow our dedicated fund for housing to at least $10 million, if not doubling the current amount. We also endorse the renewed financial allocation for your nonprofit partners and core services, but as you know, relief and recovery from the pandemic is a long way off. Rising rents, eviction, inflationary effects, all of these are having an impact on the work that we have done and have had to extend

[00:21:45] ourselves to keep families whole and healthy. And unless we plan for renewed services now, I fear that recovery will be long off. Loudoun County is so fortunate to partner with a very strong network of collaborative, innovative nonprofits and county staff who really understand those needs and who would love to work with you in renewing our human services needs assessment and thinking about what the next few years will require to be the agency and the county that we also love.

[00:22:22] And finally, we support investments in the mental health receiving facility and pledge to work with you on efforts to align transportation multimodal transportation efforts that will align like our housing the workforce and residents to this wonderful county thank you so much thank you next we have kenneth nixon followed by katherine holmes followed by karen nablock good morning everyone i'm kenneth nixon i serve on the loudon county community services board and i'm also a

[00:23:01] clergy leader with Virginians Organized Interfaith Community Engagement. I'm here to ask the board to support the Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Center in Loudoun County. I say that because it's not often that you have an opportunity with a convergence of good economics, community impact, and public safety come together also with a return on investment to create a more healthy and holistic community.

[00:23:29] Just as an example, when Maricopa County in Arizona invested $100 million in crisis receiving center and stabilization programs, they saved over $260 million in psychiatric inpatient spending, $37 million in emergency, costs 45 years of emergency boarding hours, and 37 full-time equivalent FTEs of law enforcement officers.

[00:23:56] This is a program that touches all parts of the community, law enforcement, schools, children, adults. It is something that an investment is made. You will see cost savings across the board long term, and you will also have community impacts that will make the community whole.

[00:24:15] So I ask the board to really consider supporting that program as a long-term investment, not just fiscally, but in the community. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Next, we have Catherine Holmes, followed by Karen Knoblock, followed by Patty Nelson.

[00:24:33] Good morning, and thank you for having me to speak this morning. I have come on this day to ask the Board of Supervisors for support to provide funding for Banneker Elementary School in Middleburg, Virginia.

[00:24:53] Banneker was built decades ago. Through the years of transitions, the school is still of a good, secure, and strong structure. that giving refurbishing would be welcomed and would produce a reasonable and productive outcome with funding.

[00:25:13] Renovation is a great investment and a very resourceful way to preserve and enhance the school for future longevity. Loudoun County will have a wonderful historical building and a beneficial educational facility to provide for the students, parents, and staff, just as it was visioned years ago.

[00:25:39] The community of St. Louis will embrace the continued important use of Banneker Elementary. Members of my family went to the school, my husband and my son. We had other family members that were employed at Banneker also.

[00:25:57] Many have walked the halls and passed through the doors of Banneker, But as Banneker's Karen staff protects and gives good education from that building, the light of success will always shine. Banneker will be the gift that keeps giving to all.

[00:26:16] Please support Banneker with the funding. Thank you. Next we have Karen Knobloch, followed by Patty Nelson, followed by Scott Emery. Good morning.

[00:26:34] My name is Karen Knobloch, and I'm here representing the Loudoun Symphony Association. I'm the executive director of this non-profit organization. I'm here today to express our support for the Finance Committee's recommendation to add the Eastern Loudoun Community Arts Center in the county's CIP as a project identified for future development.

[00:27:02] We understand there are many, many competing priorities. We agree that life-sustaining activities do need to receive adequate funding. However, we see over and over again that life-enhancing programs, such as athletics programs, get funded, and yet arts are ignored.

[00:27:23] And we believe that our community wants high-quality arts experience. And we believe the arts should be funded the way that we fund libraries, sports facilities, and parks. Our organization includes Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, a semi-professional regional orchestra.

[00:27:40] In addition, we are training the next generation of musicians through the Loudoun Symphony Youth Orchestra program. Just as our county is growing, so is our program. Youth orchestra enrollment is up 54% since last year.

[00:27:56] LSO's season tickets are up 46% since last season. We record our concerts and our encore performances are receiving 7,000 views. So we feel this demonstrates that there are support for the arts here in the county. The Loudoun Symphony does not have stable rehearsal or performance space.

[00:28:15] We use schools. We pay roughly $15,000 to rent band rooms and auditoriums. We think that this county can really support an arts organization. We think that this is important for our community because it helps build our community identity.

[00:28:36] We think that people come together who would never meet before. It also helps promote cultural diversity and provide an experience of civic identity. All of these things are just as important as some of the other things that we talk about. We feel that there has to be equitable access to the arts.

[00:28:55] It cannot be something just for the wealthy. We feel that we're doing our part. We provide free attendance to children 12 and under. Any child who has financial need can participate in the youth orchestra program free of charge, no questions asked. seniors get a discount on our tickets. So we feel that we're doing everything that we can do.

[00:29:15] And so we affirm your efforts to make sure that a future arts project is funded. And let me also say that we are happy to help in any way that we can. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Patty Nelson, followed by Scott Emery, followed by Reverend Dr. David Malum. Good morning. My turn.

[00:29:42] Okay. Good morning, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and all those watching this on videotape. My name is Patty Nelson. I worked for Loudoun County for 15 years. I worked as a therapist, a case manager, a nurse, a program manager, and the acting medical director for five years with the help of Michelle Petruzello.

[00:30:01] I always wanted to say all the things I actually did. I'm proud to speak to you today as a retiree member of SEIU Virginia 512, the union for Loudoun County employees. I'm here this morning because the proposed budget before you will determine the pay, benefits, and staffing for the next year for my fellow union members who work tirelessly to make Loudoun County a better place for working people.

[00:30:26] As a local resident and a taxpayer, I'm asking that you keep the proposed raises in the budget so that the county employees can try to keep up with the cost of living so they can provide for their own families as they work to provide for all of us.

[00:30:43] As you heard at the budget hearings earlier this week, more and more of your employees can't afford to live in this county where they work. We are all aware that no one budget can ensure all that county employees and community needs, especially a budget that was developed without the direct input from frontline staff.

[00:31:07] That is why I'm so excited that the Loudoun County employees are coming together in our union and are on track to bargain our first contract with the county for a better future, just as frontline county and county workers and city workers are doing all over Virginia, Loudoun County, Fairfax, Richmond, Prince William.

[00:31:27] It's happening everywhere. I can't wait to stand here next year with my fellow union members asking you to fund our very first contract to ensure great union jobs for your employees and great public services. We all want the same thing, a Loudoun County where everyone can thrive.

[00:31:48] Thank you for your service. Thank you for your support of collective bargaining rights. And let's move forward together. And I have 20 seconds left. I want to tell you, I worked for years, 45 to 50 hours a week on a 37.5 salary.

[00:32:06] And it took years before those, and it came at a cost. I'm a single mother. It took years before that request made it to your budget book. So keep that in mind when you're looking at positions. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Scott Emery, followed by Reverend Dr. David Malum, followed by Gary Higgins.

[00:32:28] Good morning, Vice Chair Sains and board members. Thank you for taking public input this morning. I'm Scott Emery. I live in the Algonquian District. I am a member of the Environmental Commission, but I'm here to provide my own input in terms of the budget for this year.

[00:32:46] Our county has a history of taking the lead. From the development of Dulles Airport to our current-day data center industry, forward-looking decisions along the way have yielded positive results for our county. We find ourselves again at a unique juncture. The energy transition presents us with the opportunity to take the lead, to embrace the future, to create economic growth, increase opportunity and equity, and protect our environment.

[00:33:11] Government is most effective when it is a catalyst for positive change and forward progress. When you formed and supported the Environmental Commission, you took a step to move us forward. There is much more to be done and tremendous opportunity within our reach, but to keep progress moving forward, we need to build on the foundation you have put in place.

[00:33:32] My request is that you support funding for a county energy program manager, which is a key part of the updated county energy strategy that you recently approved. I also ask you to support the other items that were identified in the Environmental Commission's letter That was previously submitted to you. Thank you for your efforts and support for environmental and energy issues in Loudoun County Thank you Next we have Reverend Dr. David Malum followed by Gary Higgins and then we're going to go back to the WebEx to Eli Hassam Amfar. Reverend? Good morning

[00:34:09] Thank you for time to be able to speak to you. I did come Previously, but I had something called me out of the meeting So I actually am here, even though I work for Interfaith Bridges, I'm here to support New Virginia Majority.

[00:34:24] I understand I was supposed to wear orange, but my kids all went to Michigan, so go blue. I wanted to say that I live in Percival, and it's kind of known in some sense as the last person there gets to be the strongest advocate for a moratorium on new growth.

[00:34:45] But, you know, it goes against the need for housing in our community, and I'm disappointed in how sometimes Percival acts towards the county and trying to help with better relations with that.

[00:35:03] However, I want to say that there is a cause for being a neighbor by having affordable housing. I did my doctoral work in neighbor language, and it was something very compelling that you're not just looking out for your own interests, but you're looking out for the interests of others.

[00:35:26] I know that's the task before you all as the Board of Supervisors. In fact, as a Presbyterian minister, I took a vow to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love. and I'm sure that in some ways that's a kind of a sense of who you are in your public service as well. I want to encourage us to be supportive and I thank you for the half cent sales tax that you do to support housing. I know that you also have other pieces in the budget to support

[00:36:00] rent subsidy and the like and I'm so thankful for that but I know it's just a small part of the problem and I know you know being part of the new Virginia majority meetings and with the housing department here in the county that it only makes a small difference in that and in some ways I think the imaginative need is to find a way to provide more housing just more housing and if I could tell you my imagination there's two new metro stops and why not build a city around those

[00:36:38] Metro stop so that we do provide more housing. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you. Next we have Gary Higgins And like I said, we'll go back to the Webex and see if Morning Supervisor Sainz members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning I want to touch on a couple things related to the budget the other night I was here for the presentation of the school budget and in this document here that they passed out which was the

[00:37:12] slides they put up on the screen. There's no mention in that document in those slides of the actual enrollment, and there's no mention of the cost per pupil. Now, the cost per pupil was mentioned in the presentation, but it was not mentioned at all in this document. I had to go to the summary to find that, and I would like to point out a couple things to you about that. In 2020, the enrollment in our schools was, I'm sorry, in 2020, the cost per pupil in our schools was $15,241.

[00:37:45] okay? They're projecting a cost per pupil of $19,903. This is in three years. Over three years, we're going to increase the cost per pupil by 31%. Now, if you look at the enrollment, the enrollment in 2020 was $84,175. In 2023, it is $82,233. That is a decrease in enrollment of 2.3%. So we're going to raise the cost per pupil by 31% when we see an enrollment

[00:38:18] that is down by 2.3%. In the past, enrollment always drove the cost of education. This budget has never been reconciled since 2001, 2021, when they projected an 86,156 student body, and that never happened. It was actually 81,504. This budget continues to grow while the enrollment drops. And the act of hard enrollment from 2020, we haven't gotten back to that yet. It was 84,177 today it's 82,233. This is all in the wavy guides. You can go look it up and you can look for yourself.

[00:38:59] Lastly, I want to talk about my own tax assessment. Get a little selfish here about that, but I think you all should be aware. My tax assessment last year from our commissioner of revenue here went up 34 percent. My actual taxes went up 22 percent. This year, my assessment's gone up another almost 12 percent, which means at the same rate of increase, you guys are increasing the tax rate as well.

[00:39:27] That's going to be another 7%, so I'm going to have a 30% increase in taxes over two years. Thank you, Mr. Higgins. We're going to go back to the WebEx. Two of our speakers from the WebEx are being told are online now, so we'll go to Ilhai Hassa Amfar.

[00:39:47] Are you there? Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me, Tom? Yes, ma'am. You have two minutes and 30 seconds. Go ahead. In support of the proposed 2024 Loudoun County budget, I'm Ella Hayha-Samsa, representing the Loudoun County Community Services Board.

[00:40:08] I'm not only a board member, but also a mother whose daughter has been suffering under the diagnosis of schizophrenia for the past 23 years. I'm also a researcher in the field. I have seen what works and what does not. The current system primarily relies on hospitals and law enforcement with unsatisfactory results.

[00:40:31] This costs us more due to unnecessary referrals to hospital emergency rooms and heavy reliance on lengthy hospitalization. Also, delegating management of mental crises to law enforcement creates threatening circumstances, often leading to regrettable tragedies.

[00:40:50] That is why I ask you to please support the necessary county planning and building to implement a much-needed crisis receiving and stabilization center, or CRSD. These centers are essential to meeting growing behavioral health crisis needs statewide by offering immediate access to care.

[00:41:12] The Crisis Now model defines facility and service standards of CRSD, including a 23-hour assessment provided by a professional therapist who will provide recommendations for appropriate public or private mental health care.

[00:41:27] The model supports delivery of care, assessment, and treatment in a comfortable and safe facility that is more like a living room than a hospital emergency room. It will serve to take pressure off the state hospital system and our county chairs as mental health care becomes more readily available at an earlier stage in less intimidating ways to all of our citizens.

[00:41:53] The center will enable the Region 2 CSPs together to move toward achieving the state-mandated crisis services of STEPS, Virginia. And it is important to note that even if this CRSC and the other Region 2 crisis service expansion requests are funded this year by the state and localities, Region 2 will still only have 68% of the capacity recommended by the Crisis Now model that the state has endorsed.

[00:42:21] I hope you share my concern for those vulnerable citizens in our community, that are our family members, our neighbors, and our friends. and I thank you in advance for your attention and support all right thank you so much our next we have uh Julia Richardson are you there yes I'm here can you hear me yes ma'am you have two minutes and 30 seconds go ahead I apologize we were having trouble joining the meeting I'm Julia Richardson I am also on the community services board with Ella Hay and I am a licensed clinical social worker by profession and I'm also the vice chair of the board thank you for hearing about those

[00:43:00] topics that are really important to us and to the Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Developmental Services. I want to talk about the importance of the board action to support the county administrators' urgent critical needs. You'll see it in budget priorities number one through 11 for this department.

[00:43:19] I want to emphasize priority three, the crisis intervention team, community access response outlined on page E44. The requested positions for this crisis intervention team include two mental health and substance abuse developmental disability service management positions, one behavioral health team leader, two behavioral health therapists, three intervention clinicians, two peer specialists, and three Loudoun County Sheriff deputies, which are required to implement the requirements of the Marcus David Peters Act. These positions will allow the department to establish three crisis intervention team. So this is just the staffing and the positions required to respond to the

[00:43:57] behavioral health issues in crisis. This is the partnership between behavioral health and our law enforcement. Please consider the necessary board action to support community behavioral health crisis response. These positions and this resource are sufficient to cover one shift with three teams that we've requested, and the teams are intended to improve coordination between the regional crisis call center and 911 response. Thank you for your support of behavioral health, mental health.

[00:44:22] Thank you being told we have another One of the speakers who signed up to speak in person is now trying to get on the WebEx So I'll give them a few moments to get settled in is there anybody else in the room wishing to speak that has not signed up to speak

[00:44:38] Okay, all right. Give us a few moments, please bear with us. We're having some technical difficulties

[00:45:37] So give them a few more moments 30 seconds. We'll begin this for smire, okay speaker. Yes, sir

[00:46:31] my name is Morris Meyer, the chair of the Sustainable Energy Standing Committee of the Loudoun County Environmental Commission. In our review of the Commission's Loudoun County CCA feasibility study and the county energy strategy, our county has an energy footprint larger than eight states and DC and over 100 countries.

[00:46:52] This is primarily due to the data center energy shed. Our environmental commission has recommended its first round energy work plan to the board. I've personally seen the professionalism of the procurement division, the county energy procurement staff, our staff liaisons, and other county staff that have addressed our commission.

[00:47:15] As we have recommended large energy matters to the Board in a manner similar to Fairfax County, a recent Environmental Commission meeting raised an administrative need for an energy program manager. Creating administrative structure for new programs such as a county energy aggregation or a green bank would be part of the purview of the energy program manager.

[00:47:41] The energy program manager would work with the Loudoun County Finance Department to review the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and the Department of Energy Loan Program Office and other state and federal funding for Loudoun Energy Programs.

[00:48:00] In addition to funding the Energy Program Manager, there have also been discussions of direct board funding of environmental justice and energy equity from the county. As Fairfax County is proceeding toward a green bank financing system, Loudoun County could use the federal clean energy accelerated funding as a mechanism for granular low-income energy investment.

[00:48:26] Some funds to match the Fairfax County effort might be helpful to align our counties. As I mentioned to Chair Randall a few months back, a CCA is a macro investment vehicle for the county, which would have between $100 and $200 million of funds to basically add into the county.

[00:48:51] And a green bank is sort of a micro-investment strategy, which would leverage funding to folks that basically have low credit scores and don't really have access to funding for clean energy investments.

[00:49:10] We've already done our second round board recommendations in the Sustainable Energy Standing Committee And we look forward to working with the board as time goes on. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. Thank you All right. Do we have anybody else? Okay. I'm gonna ask one more time if anybody in the room who is not signed up to speak I wish to do so now. Please stand up and let it be known. All right going once twice Sold okay. Well that concludes our public hearings for this year's budget

[00:49:43] Discussions thank you for everybody that came out in the last three hearings and enjoy the rest of your day meeting adjourned our hearing adjourned. Thank you

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