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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 26, 1991                   TAG: 9103260379
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

TAX INCREASES VOTED DOWN IN RADFORD

After several work sessions, council has reviewed all requests and trimmed almost $593,000 from the 1991-92 budget. It now stands at $34,390,511.

An official vote will be taken after a public hearing later this spring.

Real-estate taxes would remain at 70 cents per $100 of assessed value. Machinery-and-tools taxes would stay at $1.40 per $100 assessed value. The personal-property tax rate will increase, but only to get the same amount of revenues once the city switches to a different means of assessing vehicles. The new rate will be $2.14 per $100 of trade-in value.

Council members Garrett Weddle and Polly Corn voted against the budget after Councilman Guy Wohlford asked whether avoiding tax increases this year will only make the impact worse next year.

"We know that something drastic is going to have to be done next year," when council may well face increasing taxes or reducing services, Corn said.

Councilman Bob Nicholson said the economy had to be taken into consideration when deciding whether to raise taxes. Mayor Tom Starnes cautioned that the city "can't get by like this again next year."

Even though Wohlford initiated the discussion, he voted with Starnes and Nicholson to keep tax rates the same.

Weddle said he voted "no" because he was concerned about the large reduction in the capital-improvement fund. The reduction over last year's capital-improvements budget is 93 percent, giving "practically nil" for 1991-92, he said.

More than $727,000 in capital-improvement needs were identified for 1991-92, but only $7,500 has been included in the budget. Starnes has said the city may have to consider a bond issue for capital improvements.

In other action, council voted 3-2, with Starnes and Wohlford opposing, to move a road-improvement project on Rock Road down a notch in the city's request for funding under the state Department of Highways six-year plan for urban improvements.

Instead, when the state holds its pre-allocation hearing in Salem April 8, Radford's priority will be connecting Jefferson Street to Tyler Avenue on the east side of Radford University and improving another stretch of Tyler Avenue on the west side of the university.

Council supported the Jefferson Street project 4-1 in a November straw vote. Wohlford changed his vote Monday. A 1990 estimate placed the project cost at $2.3 million.

Improvements to Rock Road from Wadsworth Street to First Street have moved the plan up in priority for several years, and preliminary engineering on the $4.3 million project began in July. Plans call for the segment of road to be widened and straightened to accommodate four lanes. Council could decide four lanes are not needed, which would cut the project cost.

In November, Corn said she favored the Jefferson Street project because she thought traffic was heavier there than on the Rock Road stretch. And once Dalton Hall at Adams and Fairfax Street opens the traffic likely will increase, she said.

"It seems as though Rock Road is being put on the back burner every time it comes up," said James Hickman, a resident of the road.

He said traffic and a lack of sidewalks makes Rock Road dangerous for pedestrians. Sidewalks and room to walk are abundant around the university, he said. Hickman also said Nicholson should have abstained from voting because he is employed by the university.

Nicholson is assistant director of the university's physical plant. He said after the meeting that he always tried to be extremely aware of conflict-of-interest issues and did not make votes for any personal gain.

Abie Williams, developer of the 52-acre Inglewood Subdivision along Rock Road, echoed Hickman's concerns. He said he had a petition signed by 17 Inglewood residents supporting the Rock Road improvements and could have had more people in the audience had the discussion been listed as an agenda item.

Keywords:
GARY WEDDLE