Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 22, 1995 TAG: 9504240028
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's one of the highlights of the proposed 1995-1996 budget Smith presented to City Council on Friday.
The city sold $9.9 million in bonds in December, half of which went toward construction of its new baseball stadium. After the cost of the stadium doubled, to $10.1 million, council took $5 million from reserves to make up the difference.
Smith's proposed budget calls for the real estate tax rate to remain at $1.18 per $100 of assessed value. It's been at that level for seven years.
Smith's budget also proposes that personal property and machinery and tools tax rates remain at $3.20 per $100 of assessed value.
``We promised no tax rate increases, and there won't be any,'' Councilman Alex Brown said..
The budget is a long way from being final. Council has yet to hear from community service agencies and the public. However, Brown said the tax rate is one area that ``absolutely will not'' change.
That doesn't mean, however, that residents won't be paying more taxes.
In fact, many will.
It's a reassessment year in Salem, and on average, assessed property values went up about 8 percent, Finance Director Frank Turk said.
``The tax rate hasn't changed, but changes in assessed values changed how much people owe. But that doesn't change but every two years in Salem,'' Turk said.
The reassessment, coupled with taxes from new construction, is expected to add $861,000 in revenue in the coming year, Smith said in his budget summary. And business and personal property tax revenue is expected to increase $377,000.
Where residents will feel the biggest change, however, is not in taxes, but in sewer rates.
Turk said sewer rates will increase about 37.5 percent next year. Residents now pay an average of about $8 a month. He expects that to increase to about $11 next year.
The increase, which Smith said has been anticipated for two years, will pay for the city's portion of renovations to the regional sewage treatment plant and replacement of the Roanoke River interceptor.
Telephone bills also may be higher in the city. In his budget summary, Smith recommends that the 911 user fee be doubled, to 90 cents a month. A 45-cent rate has been in effect since 1987 and ``only offsets a small fraction of the total cost of operating the 911 communications center,'' Smith wrote.
The $72.2 million proposed budget, which is about 4.4 percent larger than last year's, provides for about a $600,000 surplus. Any additions to the budget will come from that unappropriated money, Smith said.
Council will begin fielding community service agencies' requests for funds on May 8. It also scheduled work sessions for May 9 and 10. Public hearings for the budget have not yet been scheduled.
by CNB