FRANKLIN BUDGET INCLUDES PAY RAISE

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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 11, 1992                   TAG: 9202110324
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT                                LENGTH: Short
FRANKLIN BUDGET INCLUDES PAY RAISE
Franklin County school employees would get a 6 percent raise and an extra $60 a month for health insurance next year under a preliminary 1992-93 budget request released Monday.
The compensation package would require as much as $1.6 million in local tax revenue over current appropriations.
A School Board subcommittee presented the figures during a budget work session with a Board of Supervisors committee.
Supervisor Wayne Angell said he thought the board would be sympathetic to some type of compensation increase, particularly in light of skyrocketing health insurance costs. An employee's monthly cost of a family health plan is expected to increase next year from $361 to $505.
"That is not tolerable," Angell said.
Both sides agreed it was too early to project how much money would be available for salary increases. County Administrator John Lester noted that tax collection rates have fallen because of the recession, a trend that could make for a very tight budget year.
Raising the school system's share of health premiums from $120 to $180 a month would cost $370,000.
A 6 percent pay raise for all employees for the 1992-93 school year would cost about $1.2 million if no extra state funds are available.
The insurance premiums and pay raise would require more than a 20 percent increase in the county's land tax rate.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB