Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 30, 1995 TAG: 9511300088
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-23 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The first hearing will be held by the Planning Commission and the second by Town Council. Both will begin at 7 p.m.
Town Manager Clay Goodman said during council's Nov. 21 meeting that the Planning Commission has spent many months updating the zoning ordinance and the maps that go with it and has held two citizen workshops to review proposed changes.
Copies of the ordinance and maps are available for study at the town Municipal Building and at the Vinton Public Library, he said.
In another matter, councilmen adopted an ordinance designed to revise the business, professional and occupational license tax, which was targeted for death in the most recent session of the General Assembly.
The attempt to kill the law failed, but to address some of the complaints from business and professional people, Vinton council members adopted an ordinance designed to bring the town's taxes in line with other localities.
The model ordinance Goodman presented to council members has been recommended by the Virginia Municipal League, which has urged its adoption by all localities to give statewide uniformity in the law.
Goodman said one problem was that each locality adopted its own BPOL tax and there were vast differences from locality to locality. This was an irritation for business and professional people who operated in several localities and were faced with different tax rates, filing deadlines, definitions of various businesses and professions and other regulations the laws required.
The BPOL tax is a significant source of income for many localities, Goodman said, and its elimination would put many communities in a revenue squeeze. In Vinton, the tax is expected to bring in about $242,000 this fiscal year, he said.
Criticism of the law led to a movement in the General Assembly to repeal legislation that gives localities the power to enact a BPOL tax.
On another matter, council approved nearly $550,000 in capital improvements for the current fiscal year. This is part of a five-year plan of projects the town would like to complete between now and the end of the 1999-2000 fiscal year. The plan is updated and revised each year.
Approved for the current fiscal year was $400,000 worth of general improvements and $144,413 in utility improvements.
The plan has been aired at three public hearings with few comments from citizens, Goodman said.
by CNB