Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 31, 1990 TAG: 9005310448
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But when it was over, Lester hadn't changed his mind.
"I was against it to begin with, and I'm against it now," he said, as his wife, Charlotte, nodded in agreement.
All he's heard from Musser and other consolidation supporters, Lester said, are "a lot of `maybes' and `what ifs.' . . . There are no benefits for the county."
From all appearances, Musser was unable to sway any of the 30-some people who turned out for the meeting. "I don't see any consolidation supporters here - except Howard Musser," county Supervisor Lee Eddy said afterward.
Musser knew what he was getting into when he accepted the Bent Mountain Civic League's invitation to debate Don Terp, one of the leaders of Citizens Against Merger.
And hearing a city councilman defend the consolidation plan could reinforce the perception of many county residents that Roanoke is trying to force consolidation upon them.
But Musser wasn't afraid to toss a few barbs during the two-hour debate and question-and-answer session. "Will people be standing here 20 years from now saying, `We should have consolidated 20 years ago?' " he wondered. "If so, I want `I told you so' chiseled on my headstone."
The failure of the 1969 consolidation referendum led to duplication and waste in the city and the county, and the same will happen if consolidation is defeated again this November, he predicted.
Bent Mountain residents have nothing to fear from a consolidated government, Musser said. "We aren't going to blacktop the county. . . . You'll still be able to breathe the fresh air. The quality of life is not going to change."
The county, which gets 84 percent of its tax revenue from homeowners, needs the bigger commercial and industrial tax base of the city, he said. Tax increases, or reductions in public services, are inevitable as long as the county's tax base is mostly residential. "It may take some time, but I'll be proven right," he said.
Sure, "Taxes are going to increase over the next 20 years no matter if you consolidate," Musser continued. But the increase would be smaller in a consolidated government.
Terp - who wore his trademark plaid shirt, suspenders and white sneakers in a pointed contrast to Musser's solemn blue suit - said consolidation isn't necessary to save money and avoid duplication.
The solution is cooperation - and that's something the city hasn't been doing much of with the county, he said. Roanoke has to "run the show, or they'll take their ball and bat and go home."
Cooperation "has no cost, and we can start tomorrow," Terp said.
Citizens Against Merger projects that residents of the consolidated Roanoke Metropolitan Government soon would be paying a tax rate of $1.50 to $2 per $100 of assessed value. "You're getting nothing for your money but higher taxes and more government," Terp said.
The sample budget included in the consolidation plan showed a tax rate of $1.23 for residents of the former city and $1.10 for residents of the former county. But that was intended to show only what the tax rates might have been if the two localities had consolidated this year.
Terp also challenged a newly formed group of consolidation supporters in the county to stick to the facts in its presentations. If they do, he said, "They'll have a tough time, because all the facts are on our side."
by CNB