Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 10, 1991 TAG: 9104100359
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The supervisors halved a proposed 10 percent admissions tax after hearing complaints by business people.
And they agreed to reconsider their preferred redistricting plan after Bonsack residents said they did not want their community divided.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge had figured the supervisors would approve a 10 percent admissions tax, and he had used the expected $100,000 in revenue to help balance his proposed 1991-1992 budget.
Instead, the supervisors approved a 5 percent admissions tax, the same as Roanoke and Salem have.
But that's no problem, Hodge said afterward: The county can make up the $50,000, thanks to lower-than-expected interest rates on lease-purchased items.
Owners of some of the businesses that would have to pay the admissions tax told the supervisors that they and their customers could ill afford it.
Connie Hausman, owner of Dixie Caverns, said she would have to raise ticket prices $1 to cover the tax, the recent increase in the minimum wage and other new expenses. "I can't expect people to pay much more than I'm already charging," she said.
"We are trying to keep prices down so we can keep kids off the street and let them get some exercise," Raymond Setchel of Star City Roller Skating Center said. "I can compete against my competitors. . . . I can't compete against the county."
After the public hearing, the supervisors voted unanimously to set the tax at 5 percent instead of 10 percent. "If not for you people coming today, and the phone calls I've had, this would have gone through at 10 percent," Supervisor Dick Robers said.
But later, Supervisor Harry Nickens said, "We just threw away $50,000."
The budget Hodge gave the board last month was out of balance by $338,000. But he has been able to close that gap with the revenue from the admissions tax, an expected increase of $175,000 in state funding for schools, eliminating the county's annual report, eliminating the purchase of baseballs for youth league teams and other savings.
Last month, the supervisors reviewed six redistricting plans. The plan that most of the supervisors preferred made few changes in magisterial district lines.
One of the changes it did make was to split Bonsack along U.S. 460 between the Hollins and Vinton magisterial districts. Bonsack is entirely in the Hollins district now, although the community has historical ties to Vinton.
"Bonsack is one of the oldest and most historic communities in Roanoke County," Don Terp told the supervisors. Because of rapid residential and industrial growth there, "we need community integrity more now than ever before."
The supervisors asked County Attorney Paul Mahoney to come up with alternative plans that would put Bonsack entirely in either the Hollins or the Vinton district.
That's not as simple as it might sound, because the U.S. Justice Department requires districts to be roughly in population. So redrawing the line around Bonsack means other district lines would have to be redrawn. And there are other considerations, such as the supervisors' desire to put the entire North Lakes subdivision in one district.
The supervisors are to give final approval to a redistricting plan at their April 23 meeting.
Also on Tuesday, the supervisors gave the Roanoke Symphony permission to hold its annual polo match at Green Hill Park.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB