DATE: Tuesday, March 25, 1997               TAG: 9703250423

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   32 lines

STATUS REPORT: PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL BUDGET<

STATUS REPORT:

PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL BUDGET

Background: How can a city afford to better educate its children, keep the best teachers in the classroom, refurbish its neighborhoods, improve its financial health and attract more businesses all at once? That's the dilemma Portsmouth faces in its proposed operating budget for the 1997-98 fiscal year. The school district asked for an additional $3 million in funding but received only $500,000. City staff says Portsmouth can't afford to spend any more money on education without sacrificing other services to residents or raising taxes.

The proposed budget: $276.8 million, an $18 million increase over last year. The city would make up the increase in spending by raising fees for refuse removal, emergency 911 service, water usage and sewage treatment as well as additional revenues from real estate taxes caused by growth.

DEVELOPMENTS MONDAY: At the council's budget work session, Mayor James W. Holley along with Councilmen James T. Martin and Bernard D. Griffin Sr. proposed that the council meet with the School Board to discuss the budget. City Manager Ronald W. Massie also said he plans to meet with Superintendent Richard Trumble in the coming weeks. ``We need a meeting of the minds to find some direction we would want the whole process as a family to follow,'' Holley said. ``My experience has been the sooner, the better. Let us have some open and candid discussions and dispel some of the hard feelings that may come about.''

Next step: A public hearing to discuss the budget, April 8.

To get involved: Call the City Council offices at 393-8746.

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