
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 27, 1990                   TAG: 9006270344
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Short

PULASKI TAX INCREASE PROPOSAL OPPOSED AT COUNCIL HEARING

A handful of residents who spoke at a public hearing on a proposed tax raise Tuesday urged council members to reconsider before the increase before they adopt the town's 1990-91 budget.

"Every year I sit back and watch tax increases come and go," said Jim Reynolds, who owns Master Chef restaurant in Pulaski. "I'm sick of them."

Reynolds said the cost of running his business has continued to increase over the years. "I'm concerned," he said. "When is the end coming?"

Council has proposed an increase of 5 percent for real estate and personal property taxes and a 2.5 percent increase for utility taxes to help balance the proposed budget, which includes $4.46 million for the general fund.

Other proposals include a 10 percent increase in water rates and a 20 percent increase in sewer rates.

"This water hike is what's killing us," said Carolyn Hager, who owns the E-Z Way Launderette. "Most of my customers are on fixed incomes - they can't afford this."

Vice Mayor Jim Neighbors emphasized: "I'm in the bottling business - my father-in-law is telling me I'm out of my mind." Still, he said, council members have looked at the other alternatives.

"We're trying to do the things we have to do to make this a good, working budget," he said. "We went back and we cut things.

"Hopefully, the roof doesn't leak in here," he said, pointing at the ceiling of council's chambers. "Repairing the roof is one of the things we cut out."

by CNB