THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996                    TAG: 9605040124
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 20   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   63 lines

LAST CHANCE FOR RESIDENTS TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT BUDGET PROPOSED REAL ESTATE TAX INCREASES TO FUND SCHOOLS ON AGENDA AT FINAL HEARING

Time is running short for the public to comment on the city's proposed $898 million operating budget - and so is the chance to comment on a proposed real estate tax increase that would accompany it.

The final hearing will come Thursday at 2 p.m. and it will mark the last chance for the public to let City Council hear their thoughts on the range of options that are now being discussed.

Central to the discussion is how much of an increase - if any - the city should approve to pay for additional needs for the school system, which last year ran up a $12.1 million deficit.

There are four options to consider.

The first is a 12-cent tax increase proposed by the School Board that would fund all the programs Schools Superintendent Timothy R. Jenney wants. The money would provide a 5 percent raise for all employees and an expansion of certain school programs.

The second option is a 7.4 percent increase that Jenney said he could accept without cutting programs. This increase would give employees a 3.3 percent pay increase and replace some teachers with paraprofessionals.

A third option is a 3.2 percent increase that would force the elimination of growth in magnet school programs and increase funding needed to educate more than 800 new students who have moved into the area. City Manager James K. Spore backs this option.

The fourth option is no tax increase.

The property tax rate in Virginia Beach is $1.189 per $100 of assessed valuation, meaning that the owner of a $100,000 house paid $1,189 in taxes this year. A 12-cent increase would require that homeowner to pay $1,309 next year; a 7.4-cent rate increase would push taxes to $1,263 on the same house; 3.2 cents pushes the rate to $1,220.

A 12-cent tax increase would fund:

$400 million - the School Board's proposed budget, which includes: 5 percent raises for all employees; expansion of the Kemps Landing Magnet School, the International Baccalaureate Program and the Math/Science Magnet Program; reduction in kindergarten through grade 3 class sizes.

A 7.4-cent tax increase would fund:

$393 million - the budget the superintendent said he could afford without cutting programs. Among the reductions from the School Board's budget: giving employees a 3.3 percent salary increase rather than 5 percent; replacing some specialized teachers with paraprofessionals; reducing budget to compensate for changes in state law related to employee life insurance premiums; continuing a program to have administrators teach five days per school year instead of hiring substitutes.

A 3.2-cent tax increase would fund:

$385 million - the city manager's proposed budget would cut raises to 3 percent and eliminate growth in magnet programs, but includes $5.3 million for educating the 870 new students who have moved into the district since last year and $22,845,688 to cover items that were unbudgeted or underbudgeted in the current budget. ILLUSTRATION: Info Line

by CNB