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

DATE: SUNDAY, July 1, 1990                   TAG: 9007020271
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

(YAWN)

Roanoke County and the city of Salem got into a nice little spat over which is really telling the truth about the county's fiscal future. And on the other side of the valley, though less angrily, the town of Vinton told Roanoke City Councilman Howard Musser to forget the idea of requiring voter approval before Vinton annexes eastern portions of the county.

The county is on the fiscal defensive because it would rather the word of coming tax hikes be whispered than shouted. No, the county is not about to go broke. But if a water reservoir at Spring Hollow is to be built, if its new police department is to be maintained, if its schools are to add the kinds of programs that residents seem to want . . . .

Salem is on the offensive, because it scents an opportunity to expand its borders. Under current state law, the city can't annex county residents who don't want to be annexed. But laws can change - and besides, there's nothing to prevent county residents from seeking voluntary annexation into Salem. One way to recruit them: Suggest that county taxes are sure to rise.

Vinton is a town that's part of the county, and not an independent city such as Salem and Roanoke, which just happen to be surrounded by the county. Under the law, Vinton can file suit for involuntary annexation anytime it wants; why should it heed a Roanoke City councilman's advice?

Alert readers may have noticed that until now the "c" word hasn't been mentioned. That's because Roanoke City-County consolidation has virtually nothing to do with any of this, except perhaps to offer some hope of a way out. (Exception: Musser's status as a negotiator of the proposed consolidaton agreement is what gives him some slight standing to render advice to Vinton.)

If merger fails in the November vote, the county still will face the prospect of higher taxes. (Indeed, the prospect seems a bit greater without consolidation than with it.)

If merger fails in November, Salem still will be on the lookout for county land to annex. (Witness the Red Lane case, wherein Salem paid the bills for those county residents wishing to be annexed.)

If merger fails in November, residents of east county still will be subject to involuntary annexation by Vinton. (The county, of course, could fight it; the effect likely would be some annexation anyway and the transfer of several hundred thousand dollars from taxpayers' pockets to those of annexation attorneys and consultants.)

And if merger fails in November, Roanoke Valley residents can count on the bickering to continue churning without surcease. Cooperation instead of consolidation? Right.