Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990 TAG: 9003290471
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PETER MATHEWS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
But the supervisors did manage a small tax cut. Responding to concern that the General Assembly will phase out the merchants capital tax, they cut that tax from $6.56 per $100 of assessed value to $6.03. They had cut the tax last year, too, by 34 cents.
The supervisors also reduced the proposed $25-per-ton landfill dumping fee to $15. Blacksburg and Christiansburg had reacted unfavorably to the higher figure.
"They're still not going to be happy," said board Chairwoman Ann Hess. "But they're happier with this than they were with $25, and they understand where we're coming from."
The real-estate tax rate rises to 81 cents per $100. That means an increase of $25 on a $50,000 house.
Supporting the budget were Hess and Supervisors James Moore, George Gray and Todd Solberg. Supervisors Ira Long, Joe Stewart and Henry Jablonski voted against it.
The board retained a cut of about $268,000 in the school budget request. Solberg sought assurance from School Superintendent Harold Dodge that expansion of the Writing to Read program would be spared, but Dodge said that was up the School Board, which had not considered where cuts should be made.
The board cut an appropriation for secondary roads from $100,000 to $50,000. The county can obtain matching funds from the state for each local tax dollar it spends.
Several supervisors had designs on that $100,000 in road money. There were plans to use it to cut the merchants capital tax, reduce the real estate tax increase or give it to the schools. Eventually half was used to cut the tax on retailers and the other half went to roads.
Afterward, no one on the board appeared too unhappy with the outcome.
"I'm real pleased with it. We have a budget that responds to the community support at the public hearing," said Hess, in a reference to a March 20 hearing at which school budget backers substantially outnumbered opponents of the tax increase.
"It addresses the concerns raised about the [landfill] tipping fees and contains some initiatives that recognize we're an urbanizing county."
Stewart, Long and Jablonski reiterated their opposition to tax increases.
"It's too high," Stewart said of the budget, about $5 million more than this fiscal year's. "It could have been millions less."
"I just generally don't believe we have to increase [taxes] every year," Jablonski said.
"I guess I'd say that we did the best we could," said Gray, who had suggested adding the road money to the budget. "Obviously, I wish we had a lot more money."
by CNB