Bill seeks to reduce Amherst Co. School Board salaries after error

RICHMOND — A bill that is pending in the General Assembly seeks to fix “an honest mistake” that led to Amherst County School Board members being paid more than state law allows, said Brian Ratliff, schools superintendent.

Starting about 2005, school board members, who are appointed by the county Board of Supervisors, have been paid about $4,200 per year, Ratliff said.

Amherst School Board members voluntarily reduced their salaries to $2,200 in January after learning they had been overpaid, in the legal sense, Ratliff said.

School Board members believed a section of state law that allows elected school boards to set their own salaries also allowed the Amherst board members to set their salaries, Ratliff said.

The overpayments come to $1,800 per year for each of seven board members.

Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, who is sponsoring SB 673 in an attempt to fix the mistake, said other counties have made the same error in raising salaries of their appointed boards.

Currently, the Virginia State Code limits Amherst County’s School Board salaries to $2,400 per year. The state code also sets the school board salaries for 12 other counties and 15 cities and towns that still appoint their school boards instead of electing them.

The General Assembly has held that power over school board salaries for about 150 years, Newman said, because it keeps county and city governing bodies from using the salaries as a reward or punishment for political motives.

Newman’s bill officially would reduce the Amherst board’s salary to $2,200. That reduction is a way to recompensate the county treasury for the overpayments, Newman said. School Board members also could reimburse the county individually if they choose to do so, he said.

It remained unclear Wednesday just what effect Newman’s bill might have on repayments.

In the version of the bill that Newman introduced, the new language would say, “Any salary increase voted on and approved by the Amherst County School Board ... prior to Jan. 1, 2010, is hereby deemed valid.”

The House of Delegates has refused to include that forgiveness clause in its version of the bill.

A conference committee of three delegates and three senators will try to work out the disagreement before Saturday, when the assembly is expected to adjourn.

Compensation for other school boards in the region varies.

Lynchburg School Board members are appointed, and serve without pay, said Tom Webb, vice chairman. The state code, however, authorizes Lynchburg to pay school board members up to $2,400 per year.

Webb said he thought that perhaps half a dozen other school boards around the state also serve without pay.

In Bedford County, school board members are elected and receive $4,000 annually for serving. The board chairman earns an additional $600 and the vice chairman an additional $200, said Ryan Edwards, spokesman for Bedford schools.

In Campbell County, school board members also are elected. Their pay is about $4,200, said Leon Brandt, a board member. Campbell’s board chairman is paid about $4,500, Brandt said.

Ratliff said Amherst officials discovered the overpayment problem in December when a board member asked a tax question. The member wanted to know if the school board salary should be reported in his personal tax return, Ratliff said.

That led to someone’s looking at the state code and discovering that it limits the Amherst salaries to $2,400. “We said, ‘uh, oh,’ and immediately called our attorney,” Ratliff said.

The discovery was discussed publicly at School Board meetings in December and January, Ratliff said.