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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 13, 1990                   TAG: 9003133305
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI                                 LENGTH: Medium

PULASKI EYES TRASH FEE

The budget proposes a user fee for garbage disposal that would total about $1.50 a month for households and $17.50 a ton for businesses.

The amount is about half of what it currently costs the county to bury waste.

Either way, the Board of Supervisors has to have some way of making revenue for a general fund that shows an 11 percent increase over last year, said Joe Morgan, county administrator.

"The good news this year is that there is no tax increase," Morgan said Monday night after board members got their first glimpse of the budget proposal. "The trade-off is instead of a 7 percent increase in the real estate tax, there will be less then $2 a month added to garbage bills."

Supervisor Bruce Fariss said during the 1 1/2-hour meeting that taxes may have to be increased anyway - if not this year then next.

"As I look at it - and I know this is heresy - I think we're going to have to increase the tax rate a few cents," he said. "Budgets have gone up every year and we've had problems for the last two years trying to manage a deficit."

As it stands this year, the budget proposal for the general fund comes up about $2 million short of the expected expenditures.

Morgan said that although the proposal isn't balanced, the board could even it out by appropriating $2 million from reserve funds. He said the money would go toward one-time expenses, including the closing down of the Cloyd's Mountain landfill and drainage and water line relocation for Oxford Avenue.

"It would be a major mistake to use the reserve funds for ongoing expenses," Morgan said. He said he expects next year's operating expenses to be more in-line with revenues.

The proposed budget also includes a pay increase of 3 percent for constitutional employees in July, followed by a 2 percent increase in December. The raise was mandated by the General Assembly.

County employees will receive a 4 percent increase, which reflects the cost of living, Morgan said. Most of the county's employees also are eligible for 5 percent merit increases.

The overall proposed budget is for $35.8 million, a 3.2 percent increase in total spending over last year.