Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 13, 1992 TAG: 9202130259
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
SCHOOL BUDGET PROPOSAL FACES TOUGH ANALYSIS
Montgomery County's proposed school budget faces a rough ride through the Board of Supervisors - and may even hit a brick wall. Supervisors want to study it closely and cut, cut, cut. The alternative: a big tax increase.
The Montgomery County school budget for next year - a proposed hefty increase - is facing a Board of Supervisors eager to wield the budget-cutter's knife.
The board asked County Administrator Betty Thomas Tuesday night to prepare an analysis of the School Board's budget request.
"We need help on where reductions need to be made," said Supervisor Henry Jablonski, who proposed the analysis.
Other supervisors agreed with the need for study of the school system's $52.3 million budget request. It would require $12.2 million more from the county's general fund than this year - an increase of 67 percent.
But if it were up to supervisors' Chairman Ira Long, no study would be needed.
"As far as I'm concerned we send this damn thing back to [the School Board] and say do it over," Long said.
"To me it's an insult."
Supervisor Joe Gorman said he'd like information from the School Board about why additional money is needed.
"There's no accountability or justification for any of the categories," he said.
Jablonski said he agreed that many of the proposals are needed for the county to have a "super-duper" school system. But the state defines a quality school system as one that meets state standards, he said.
Without cutting school and other county budget requests, the supervisors would need to raise an additional $11.8 million in local money.
That would require a real estate tax increase of 44 cents this year and another 22 cents next year, raising the rate to $1.36.
The current tax rate is 70 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Property owners now paying $350 a year on a $50,000 home would pay another $220 with a 44-cent increase. Property taxes would nearly double with a 66-cent increase.
In addition to the school budget analysis, Jablonski said he'd like Thomas to prepare figures showing what it would cost to operate the schools at last year's levels, but with additional money to open the new Falling Branch Elementary School in Christiansburg and give school employees a "reasonable" raise.
Thomas' proposal of 4.5 percent merit raises for other county employees may be an indication of what the board considers reasonable.
The discussion of the school budget followed Thomas' presentation of the overall county budget of $72.8 million for next year, which includes the schools' request. That's $15.4 million more than the current year's budget.
Of the proposed increase, $2 million is not requested by the School Board.
Most of that would be spent on landfill operations and would come from the landfill enterprise fund, which is self-supporting.
Thomas is proposing an increase of only $164,118 - or 1.24 percent - for the operation of county departments, excluding the landfill and the schools.
Without a tax increase, the county is expecting a revenue increase in the coming year of only $560,000.
The recession has stymied the growth of retail sales and property-related tax revenues, with the exception of some taxes related to business investment in furniture and machinery and tools.
Most of the proposed increase in the county budget - 87 percent - is in the school budget.
Including all sources of proposed revenue - county, state and federal - the school budget is $13.4 million higher than this year's $39.23 million, an increase of 34 percent.
The School Board has proposed a raise for all school employees, including an average 15.24 percent increase for teachers.
Most school employees did not get raises this year.
Teachers have argued that even with the proposed raises, which would bring the average teacher's annual salary to $31,556, Montgomery teachers would still be almost $4,000 behind the current average teacher's salary statewide of $35,360.
The next biggest new item in the school budget is $3.04 million to equip the county's 700 classrooms with computers.
Other major spending increases would be:
$1 million for 24 new teachers.
$720,000 for 15 new school buses.
$370,000 to pay half of the premiums for health insurance for the families of school employees.
The school budget also proposes new money for teaching supplies, dropout prevention, field trips, elementary guidance counselors, elementary art and music teachers and high school band uniform replacement.