Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 20, 1991 TAG: 9103200317
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Administrator Richard Huff managed to keep increased taxes out of the budget. He said he cut spending wherever possible and made no allowance for salary increases or hiring of new employees, except those requested by the School Board.
The county's total expenditures were set at $38.3 million, 1.1 percent higher than this year.
Estimated new revenues of $400,000 will come from increased real estate valuations.
Huff also asked for an increase in the tipping fee at the landfill to $28 a ton from $20. That increase would generate $125,000, he said.
He also said the county should not absorb costs incurred by state cuts.
"As long as the state can push off additional expenditures on localities, they will," he said. "I suggest that we send a strong message back to Richmond that [budgets for] state-controlled offices will not be balanced on the shoulders of local government."
Because of state school cuts, the Board of Supervisors and the School Board may have a battle on their hands.
School Superintendent Leonard Gereau requested an increase of $237,343 from the county to this year's school budget of $9,535,369. Huff's recommendation was a $30,733 cut.
Speaking to reporters after his presentation, Gereau said the School Board came up with the best budget it could. He said he didn't foresee a major fight, but the Board of Supervisors and the School Board will have to reach a compromise, he said.
Gereau asked for three additional resource teachers for the gifted program, handicapped accessibility in school buildings and upgraded heating and ventilation systems.
Funding in the Franklin County school division is in the bottom 25 percent in the state, Gereau said. Most Virginia schools have more money to spend to meeting instructional and operational needs, he said.
It would be the first drop in school funding from the county since the 1987-88 fiscal year. Local funding increased steadily from $6.4 million to $9.53 million since then.
"We are committed to education," board member J. Michael Brooks said. "It's the state level that's cut, and we shouldn't be made to take up the slack."
In other business, the board reviewed four options on redistricting. It focused on two: moving 3,918 people, with each district losing or gaining from 66 to about 800; or moving 3,223 people, shuffling some precincts and adding a new polling station to Rocky Mount.
The board will discuss the other two options at the next meeting in April.
by CNB