Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 22, 1995                   TAG: 9506220036
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

NEW REVENUES WON'T COME FROM NEW TAXES

Tax rates will remain at 14.4 cents per $100 for real estate and 45 cents per $100 for personal property. Some residents' real-estate tax bills will increase, however, because of a countywide reassessment last year that saw property values go up by an average of 5.19 percent.

The $13,365,000 budget, which begins July 1, includes a 5 percent pay raise for town employees, an anticipated $2.5 million bond issue to pay for renovations to the proposed recreation center in the old Lowe's building on North Franklin Street, $900,000 for a new rescue squad building and more than $1 million for water and sewer service to the Falling Branch Industrial Park, which the town will incorporate into its boundaries under an agreement with Montgomery County.

The current budget is $10.1 million.

Also Tuesday, council agreed to place more traffic signs on Park Street, where residents have complained about speeding vehicles. Police issued 25 speeding tickets in just over a year, their records show, and five traffic accidents occurred.

In other actions, council passed a user's agreement with the Solid Waste Authority that guarantees that Christiansburg will use the authority and provide it with revenue, an important consideration because the authority does not have taxing power and does have bond debts to pay off

Council also agreed to provide sewer service to the Merrimac-Slate Branch area, which lies outside of the town. Residents there will pay for the service, based on the amount of sewage they produce.