ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 11, 1997 TAG: 9703110085
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MARK CLOTHIER THE ROANOKE TIMES
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 12, 1997.
Two proposed rental rates for Blacksburg's Parks and Recreation
department facilities were listed incorrectly in Tuesday's New River
Current. Rental of the community center gym with the use of the clock,
would climb from $28.50 to $35.00. Use of the multi-purpose room for
three hours would rise from $60 to $75.
Town budget would change some fees to underwrite its 911 and recreation programs.
The town has released its proposed budget for next year, detailing how it will collect and spend $21.5 million.
With no increase in the town's tax rate proposed, the budget is expected to grow by 3.2 percent, or $675,000, over this year's. A public hearing is set for April 8. Town Council is expected to consider adopting the budget at its April 22 meeting.
In the proposed budget:
The town's real estate tax stays 20 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The emergency-911 tax, assessed on monthly phone bills, goes from 86 cents per line to $1.25. The tax supports the operation and maintenance of the town's emergency dispatch center. The Virginia General Assembly allows local governments to use the tax to recoup emergency-911 personnel, equipment and maintenance costs. The town's current 86-cent rate should recover about 54 percent of the system's cost. The 39-cent increase should add about $64,000, allowing the town to recoup 75 percent of the cost.
Town water rates will climb 12.5 percent, sewer rates 5.5 percent, for a total average increase of 9 percent.
Some parks and recreation costs will climb. The extra fees would generate about $16,600. The extra fees would allow the town to recoup 67 percent of the cost of running the Indoor Aquatics Center and to help pay for the improvements being made to the department, including the purchase and refurbishing of the former Boatwright property. The added fees will also help offset the increase in the minimum wage, earned by the department's part-time staff.
Proposed fee changes include:
Rental rates for the community center gym would climb from $20 to $25 for two hours without use of the clock. With the clock, the rate would go from $60 to $75. The three-hour rental rate for the program/activities rooms would rise from $30 to $40. The cost of renting the multipurpose room for five hours would rise from $12 to $18.
Fees for the Aquatic Center would rise as well, including an increase in the cost of a yearly pass. An adult pass would climb from $150 to $180. All others would go from $125 to $150.
Town employees would receive a 3 percent raise, plus a 1 percent to 3 percent raise tied to the individual employee's evaluated performance.
Copies of the proposed budget are available for review at the Blacksburg branch of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library on Draper Road and in the town clerk's and town manager's office in the Municipal Building, 300 S. Main St.
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