Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 30, 1993 TAG: 9303300301
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The county Board of Supervisors passed a $66.9 million budget Monday night that will require no increase in county taxes.
The board had a public hearing on a budget that would have required a 3-cent increase in the county's real-estate tax rate, but it was able to eliminate the tax increase without any major cuts in the school budget or the budgets of other county departments.
At a public hearing on March 18, a majority spoke in favor of the tax increase to avoid making cuts in the school budget.
In place of raising taxes, the supervisors are depending on $307,740 they hope will be left over from this year's school budget and on $113,039 that is the county's estimated share of a state recordation tax on deeds.
Although they had already gone through several long meetings to prepare the budget, the supervisors made additional cuts before they approved the budget on a 7-0 vote.
The board eliminated one of the county's three dog warden jobs and killed the proposed purchase of a new truck for the warden for a combined savings of $35,000. The job is vacant.
The board also removed $20,000 from the school budget that had been set aside to buy a car for the school system. Herman Bartlett, who becomes the county's superintendent on July 1, does not get a car under the terms of his contract.
As he has done in the past, Supervisor Jim Moore of Blacksburg used charts and graphs to argue against drastic cuts in the school budget.
The new county budget includes a school operating budget of $42,680,905, or an increase of 4 percent over this year's school spending. The budget contains a 3 percent raise for teachers and 2 percent for other school employees.
The overall county budget for next year is 9 percent or $5.5 million, more than this year's $61.3 million.
The taxpayers' share is about $25.5 million, about the same as this year. The remainder is financed with state and federal tax monies.
by CNB