Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 17, 1991 TAG: 9104170410
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The action surprised Hodge, who had expected the supervisors to do little more than ask questions about the budget during the specially scheduled work session
But the supervisors said the county should start preparing now in case sweeping reductions in personnel and programs are required to balance the 1992-1993 budget. "If we're going to have to cut back, I'd rather do it one step at a time" than all at once next year, Supervisor Dick Robers said.
Supervisor Harry Nickens said the board could take another look at county finances in December, midway through the 1991-1992 budget year, and "if it appears we're in good shape, we unfreeze the $400,000."
The supervisors stopped short of ordering Hodge to make the cuts. Instead, on a split vote, they asked Hodge to tell them at next Tuesday's meeting what he would cut.
And while the supervisors might decide then that $400,000 is too much, Steve McGraw seemed to be the only one who would flat-out oppose some sizable cut in the budget.
"You're going to have an impact [on residents] when you take a lean budget and cut it $400,000," he warned. "I'll just remind the board not to barbecue the administrator when the complaints start coming in."
Hodge clearly was piqued by the board's action. "I thought we [the staff] were trying to be conservative and responsible," he told the supervisors. "I think we've handled this extremely well, and I haven't heard much encouragement from you. . . . We were trying to postpone any impact on citizens, hoping for a better economy. [Now] we're at that point where, when I go back for more cuts, it's going to hurt."
Hodge said afterward that he did not know what cuts he would recommend. "I wasn't prepared for this. I'm going to have to go back and take a look at it."
The supervisors made one cut for Hodge, voting 3-2 to eliminate $55,000 budgeted for the purchase of five vehicles. "When times are tough, you don't buy a new car," Supervisor Bob Johnson said.
McGraw and Supervisor Lee Eddy cast the two "no" votes. Eddy argued that the county needs to replace vehicles regularly. And McGraw said decisions such as that should be left to Hodge.
Before Tuesday's work session, the county's 1991-1992 budget was ready for the board's approval. The budget was nearly $340,000 in the red when Hodge gave it to the board last month. But he had balanced it with $98,500 in new revenue from a 5 percent admissions tax, a 1 percent increase in the cable TV franchise fee and $239,000 in various cuts. The budget even includes a 2-cent reduction in the county's real estate tax rate, from $1.15 to $1.13.
What worries the supervisors is Hodge's projections for the following year.
The worst-case scenario he gave the supervisors last week shows $2.4 million in new revenue in 1992-1993 but potential spending increases totaling $8.3 million.
Hodge based the revenue projection on a 5 percent increase in assessments, no change in state funding and no increase in the $1.13 real estate tax rate.
Many of the potential increases in spending could be delayed - but not pay raises for employees, the supervisors said. A 5 percent raise for county government and school employees would cost $3.6 million.
There is no money for raises in the upcoming year's budget.
"We're buying ourselves 12 months, then we're looking catastrophe straight in the face," Johnson said of the 1992-1993 projections.
Also on Tuesday, the supervisors gave preliminary approval to a new cable TV franchise agreement with Cox Cable Roanoke. Under the agreement, Cox Cable will extend service along U.S. 220 South and U.S. 221 South within four years. And it will lower the housing density required to extend cable service in rural areas.
by CNB