Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 15, 1993 TAG: 9304150140
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
LEVEL FUNDING SOUGHT FOR PULASKI SCHOOLS
It will come as a disappointment if not an outright shock to the Pulaski County school system and other county agencies that the Board of Supervisors is looking at level funding for its 1993-94 budget.At least it will start there, and then decide where any increases might be needed.
The board hopes its effort at holding down spending will strike a responsive chord with taxpayers, because it knows it will face pressures from the agencies for more money.
There never was any possibility that the board would raise the personal property tax rate enough to give all the agencies everything they wanted in next year's budget, an overall increase of 10.4 percent. That also would have required a 4-cent increase in the real estate tax rate.
Real estate taxes are now 70 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, and personal property $1.50 per $100.
The supervisors had talked last month about increasing the general fund by 3 percent, which would require a 50-cent increase in the personal property tax rate. That caused some concern from representatives of several county agencies at the board's budget session Tuesday night.
Melinda Zalecki, county library director, asked that $25,000 she requested for an automated circulation system be kept in the library budget. Surrounding libraries have gone to such systems, she said, and "if we wait much longer, we're just going to become a dinosaur."
Supervisor Bruce Fariss said that, while such a system would increase library efficiency, it comes down to little more than convenience.
Extension Agent Richard White asked for a $5,000 increase for his office to cover the county's share of state-mandated raises for its five staff members. Without it, he said, "we'd have no choice but to look at positions, I guess."
Following all the pleas for restoring various budgets to their original requested levels, Fariss suggested developing the budget from a different direction than the customary one.
Instead of totaling all the requests and cutting them back, he said, the board should look at the tax rate first and then decide how much of an increase to give, if any.
If the board is not ready to increase taxes, he said, it should look at keeping funding levels for next year as they are now.
"I have no trouble starting with level funding," board Chairman Jerry White said. "I'd rather work from the bottom up than from the top down."
"You have to live with what you've got," said Supervisor Ira S. "Pete" Crawford.
Fariss said that, because last year's reassessment generally raised property values, the effect is a tax increase anyway. He also was concerned over the lack of reserve funds for emergencies.
The county's biggest costs - and therefore the areas where the most cuts would have to come in what has been requested - are in capital outlay and schools.
The School Board is seeking $484,000 more in local money for the 1993-94 budget year, and $773,800 for capital outlay, which is an increase of $273,800 over the $500,000 approved last year.
White said the board told school officials last year that it might not be able to fund $500,000 for capital outlay every year, and now more is being sought.
That $500,000 for school capital projects came out of reserve funds amounting to about 5 percent of the county budget.
So, even if the supervisors actually held all of next year's expenses to the same levels as the current ones, it would still be starting out 5 percent in the hole.
The board's next budget workshop is Monday at 7 p.m.