RADFORD COUNCIL TAKES 1ST LOOK AT TIGHT BUDGET

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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 18, 1992                   TAG: 9202180316
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: JUDITH SCHWAB SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium
RADFORD COUNCIL TAKES 1ST LOOK AT TIGHT BUDGET
City Council met Monday night for its first pass through a 200-page, $35.9 million budget.
Council discussed the city manager's budget items and proposals for utility and service expenditures, but is saving the big-ticket items - like the School Board budget - for later meetings.
To obtain the necessary 3 percent decrease from 1991 spending, the budget included no salary increases for regular city employees and included some personnel cuts.
The only scheduled pay increase was a proposed doubling of the $100 per month council members receive for their work and a $125 per month raise for Mayor Tom Starnes. Council member Bobby Nicholson expressed concern about accepting the additional pay, but Starnes suggested the pay increase could be given to charity or even back to the city.
A proposed capital improvement program of about $900,000 was left out of the spending proposal. City Manager Bob Asbury said that cut "goes beyond not being realistic to not doing good business."
Council scrutinized item after item, trying to look for ways they could save money, but kept stumbling over cuts they felt were unrealistic.
Some departments - finance, for instance - cut all long-distance telephone expenses from the budget and all travel expenses. Council members, realizing the department couldn't function without some long-distance calls, put most of the allocated funds back into that line item and added $100 for travel.
The police department cut its clothing allowance but got it back when Police Chief A.C. Earles explained that non-uniformed officers had to pay for clothing ruined during arrests.
Council member Guy Wohlford pointed out the city couldn't go on cutting salaries in the police department. The department trains personnel and then loses them to Radford University and other departments in the area where pay is better, he said.
The Fire Department cut its chemicals and gases budget from $1,300 to $325 and decided to take a chance by not keeping the fire-fighting materials in stock. It's impossible to predict how much of the materials may be needed, so the department proposed the lowest practical amount.
Council decided to add $15,000 to the school bus fund instead of raising the price of riding the bus.
Council will continue budget discussions Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in council chambers.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB