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

DATE: SUNDAY, March 6, 1992                   TAG: 9203060236
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HEY, SCHOOL BOARD: THERE'S A RECESSION ON

At least the [Montgomery County] Board of Supervisors has gotten the word there is a recession and a large number of people in this area are unemployed, living on a fixed income or working for low wages.

The School Board, on the other hand, thinks this is the opportune time to ask for an outlandish increase in school funding, thereby doubling our already high property taxes and placing us on the same road as the federal government by spending more money than the county takes in. Needless to say, the ones that have said that they would not mind having this burden cast upon them probably have a vested interest in the system.

This is a time to tighten our belts and "bite the bullet." Such rampant spending is one of the reasons we are having trouble competing with foreign countries. To pay this kind of taxes, we need higher wages thereby making our goods more expensive.

Hopefully within the next years our School Board will be elected, not appointed. So taxpayers remember well the names on the present board.\ John D. Coffey Riner

by CNB