Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 20, 1991 TAG: 9103200218
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
The tax increase proposed for an average home would be 7 percent. The tax bill for a house valued at $80,000 before last year's reassessment would be $695 under the proposal, a $47 increase from last year's tax. That bill reflects an average 19 percent increase in the property value and the proposed new tax rate.
The county Taxpayers Association has attacked the proposed budget and circulated handbills encouraging people to attend the budget hearing.
Citing the weakened state of the economy and the high unemployment rate in the county, Jim Williams, president of the association, argued that a tax increase would not be in the county's best interest.
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, the association said it has located potential savings of $2.6 million in the budget. The school budget could be cut by $1.1 million and the rest of the budget by $1.5 million, said Barry Worth, vice president of the association.
Worth also suggested the supervisors should start an indexing system for the county real estate and personal property taxes.
Under his proposal, those making more than $60,000 would pay 100 percent of the tax rate, those making between $20,000 and $59,999 would pay 75 percent of the rate, and those making under $20,000 would pay half the rate.
Indexing would put the tax burden on higher-paid citizens such as Virginia Tech employees, who are continually hollering for tax increases, said association member John Beamer. He said the proposal was intended to get the supervisors thinking - "a little shock therapy."
How an individual property owner's tax bill would increase under the proposed budget would depend on how the value of the property changed in last year's reassessment.
However, it is possible to look at an example of a tax increase using the average assessment increase of 19 percent.
Using that average, a house valued at $80,000 in 1990 will have increased to $95,200. The new tax bill, reflecting both the increased assessment and the changed tax rate, would be $695 - a $47 or 7 percent increase over the previous bill.
Not all property has increased by the average. The tax on some property may actually come down because of lower-than-average increases in assessed value.
For example, a four-bedroom Cape Cod house in Windmill Hills subdivision in Christiansburg was valued at $60,100 before the reassessment and $65,900 afterwards, an increase of roughly 10 percent or only a little over half the average.
The tax bill on this house would actually decrease from $487 to $481 under the proposed tax rate. (The owner, meanwhile, has placed the house on the market and is asking $89,950.)
To raise part of the money needed to balance the budget, the supervisors propose boosting the real estate rate from 68.5 cents to 73 cents. Because of the recent reassessment, the real estate rate has to be lowered from the current 81 cents to 68.5 cents on each $100 of assessed value to prevent an increase in taxes simply because of the higher property values.
Proposed increases in other tax rates include:
Personal property from $2.15 to $2.30 on each $100. (The tax on a $10,000 automobile would increase from $215 to $230.)
Machinery and tools from $1.70 to $1.82 on each $100.
Merchants capital from $6.05 to $6.45 on each $100 of 20 percent of assessed value.
The county's motor vehicle decal also would go up from $15 to $21, and consumer taxes on gas, electric and telephone service would increase.
Almost three-fourths of the 1991-92 budget will go for education. The largest share of the proposed $42.36 million education appropriation - $38.95 million - would go for the operation of the public schools.
Responding to a cut in state support and tight financial times, the School Board asked for $427,698 less than this year and roughly $3 million less than the schools said they need.
The supervisors had considered another $500,000 in cuts, but the School Board successfully fended off further reductions.
The school budget does not include raises for any employees except cafeteria workers, who will get a 2 percent raise.
Likewise, other county workers will not get a raise next year.
The next largest share of the budget goes to public safety, which gets 6.42 percent of the budget or $3.72 million compared with $4.1 million this year.
Other proposed spending includes $2.69 million for health and welfare compared with $2.77 million this year; $2.95 million for government administration compared with $2.54 million; and $2.95 million for public works compared with $1.28 million.
Only 45 percent of the proposed budget - $26 million - is paid for with local funds. State funds play a significant role in the operation of the schools and other county departments.
Nevertheless, without proposed tax increases the supervisors' spending plan would face a $1.2 million shortfall.
The Taxpayers Association discounts the need for a shortfall or tax increase.
The schools' $5 million operation and maintenance budget is $1 million too high and another $100,000 could be cut from school administration costs, the association's Worth said.
Among the possible savings in the remaining county budget, Worth said, $563,000 could be cut from a contingency fund, which Worth called "a slush fund" for the supervisors. Another $156,000 could be saved by eliminating the office of the county's finance director and shifting his duties to the treasurer, Worth said.
The association also said the school system could save money by starting a flexible benefits program for school employees that would shelter some of the salary of school employees from taxes.
Thursday's hearing on the budget begins at 7 p.m. It will be followed by a separate hearing on the proposed new tax rates at 8 p.m.
by CNB