Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 3, 1990 TAG: 9005030699
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Council voted to ask City Manager Robert Herbert to look into the feasibility of increasing the city's 4 percent lodging tax on hotel and motel rooms to help pay for it.
Doubling the tax to 8 percent would produce about $1 million a year that would be available to finance a center, said Councilman David Bowers.
Bowers said the time has come for council "to be bold" about the convention center and be willing to raise the lodging tax. Cost estimates have varied, but consultants have projected the price to be at least $20 million.
The lodging tax would be a good funding source because about 80 percent to 90 percent of the money is paid by people who live outside the city, Bowers said.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles said some voters told her they were disappointed the city had not included the convention center in Tuesday's bond issue - which provided money for the renovation of the old Jefferson High School, drainage and schools.
Based on the comments she heard at voting precincts, Bowles said she believes voters are ready for a bond referendum on a convention center.
Bowers said he hopes the city can begin construction by 1993.
Bowers' lodging tax proposal came at a budget study meeting at which council members indicated they are unlikely to make any significant changes in the proposed $150.6 million budget.
Herbert has recommended doubling the cigarette tax to 10 cents a pack and prorating personal property taxes to provide funds to give an additional $829,000 for schools in the next fiscal year.
Mayor Noel Taylor and Bowles said they liked Bowers' proposal, but some council members questioned whether the city might lose convention business if the tax is too high.
"Doubling the tax might discourage people from coming to Roanoke and staying in hotels here," said Councilman Robert Garland.
Consultants have recommended the convention center be built on the site of Norfolk-Southern's office buildings across North Jefferson Street from Hotel Roanoke. The city will try to acquire the site from the railroad. NS plans to construct a new office building at Williamson and Franklin roads.
City officials have been talking about a convention center for several years. Two years ago, Herbert appointed a task force to study the proposal and make recommendations on funding and other issues.
Herbert said he was glad to hear council's enthusiasm for a convention center, but it is part of a package of projects that includes Virginia Tech's plans to renovate Hotel Roanoke. City officials are working with Tech officials and others to put together plans and funding sources for the projects, he said.
The city wants to remain competitive with other localities on the lodging levy and other taxes, Herbert said.
Bowers said he wasn't wedded to doubling the lodging tax. He said he just wanted Herbert and other city officials to consider it as one source of funding. "I don't want to tie the city manager down. I want him to consider all possible sources," said Bowers.
Finance Director Joel Schlanger said several cities in Virginia have a 5 percent lodging tax, but none has a higher rate.
On another matter, council was told the city's Emergency Medical Services system is "outstanding and second to none in the nation." Dr. Thompson Berdeen, medical director of the EMS system, said the city's efforts in the past two years to upgrade the system that uses a combination of volunteers and paid personnel has been successful.
"We asked you for a good program. We now have an outstanding program," Berdeen said. "From the medical community, we thank you."
Herbert has recommended that council provide an additional $164,000 in the next fiscal year to make more improvements in the EMS system.
This includes about $50,000 for the use of firefighters to respond to emergency rescue calls in the Garden City and Deyerle Road neighborhoods because city emergency medical teams cannot answer all calls in these areas within the city's 8-minute standard.
The rest of the money will be used for overtime pay for the city's paid emergency rescue staff, equipment and operating costs for Roanoke Emergency Medical Services Inc., the management agency for the city's volunteer rescue workers.
Herbert has recommended the city begin billing residents for the portion of the cost for emergency calls that is not paid by insurance companies. The city began billing insurance companies this fiscal year for calls and expects to collect about $216,000. He said the city can expect to collect an additional $164,000 a year if it bills patients for the rest of the cost.
City officials said several factors would determine the amount that patients would have to pay out of pocket for emergency calls: insurance coverage, policy deductibles and ability to pay. They said the ability to pay would be determined on a case-by-case basis and adjustments could be made to individual bills.
The city has fire stations on Bennington Street Southeast and Aerial Way Drive Southwest, so firefighters with emergency medical training could respond quickly to emergency calls in these neighborhoods.
The firefighters, who will be trained as emergency medical technicians, can provide basic life support services until more highly trained rescue workers arrive, Herbert said.
by CNB