Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993 TAG: 9303040265
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Short
MONTGOMERY PROPOSES TAX INCREASE
Montgomery County supervisors Wednesday night voted to advertise a $66.9 million budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year.The budget is roughly $5.7 million higher than what was approved for the current year, but roughly $1 million less than what the county expected to spend this year.
It would require a 3-cent increase in the 70-cent real estate tax rate. That would amount to $15 per year on a home assessed at $50,000.
The board rejected a proposed $7 million increase in the school budget. Instead, the supervisors approved funding for a budget that the School Board said would meet its minimum needs.
But the school budget would include enough money to provide a salary increase for school employees approved by this year's General Assembly, 3 percent for teachers and 2 percent for other school employees.
The supervisors also approved a $258,000 School Board initiative to expand the reading recovery program, designed to catch reading problems in the earlier grades.
Some supervisors wanted to advertise a 5-cent tax increase, fearing they didn't have enough information on the impact of the teacher raises and some other school programs. The 3-cent figure was a compromise.
Supervisors can lower the advertised rate but cannot raise it.
Supervisor Henry Jablonski warned board members that he probably wouldn't support any tax increase when it comes time to take a final vote. Jablonski said many people in the county are living on fixed incomes or are out of work and probably will be facing higher federal taxes this year.
A public hearing on the budget is set for March 18.