Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 18, 1992 TAG: 9203180265
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
He knew the answer before he asked.
Nonetheless, Gereau went before the Board of Supervisors to plead his case for a $1.3 million increase in local school funding next year.
Gereau - noting that Franklin County school employees are some of the lowest paid in the region - asked for 6 percent raises and increased health insurance supplements for all employees.
"I'm asking you to do the best you can," said Gereau, who received an enthusiastic ovation from about 50 teachers in the audience.
Members of the Board of Supervisors, who are on record saying they do not want to raise taxes this year, had no comment on the proposed 1992-93 school budget. Supervisors have until April 28 to act on the proposal.
In his speech, Gereau said he was perturbed to learn last week - before he had a chance to make his pitch - that the supervisors had been given a spending plan that recommended no increase in school funding.
Gereau said it was "humiliating and intimidating" for the School Board's request to get shot down without a chance.
Last week, County Administrator John Lester gave supervisors a sneak preview of his budget recommendations, which included no property tax increases and "level funding" for schools.
Lester appeared to back away from both recommendations in his budget presentation Tuesday.
He told supervisors that he included no tax increase at least for the "beginning stage" of budget deliberations and that level school funding was "not necessarily to be considered as a recommendation at this time."
Later, Lester declined to clarify his statements and said he would not respond to reporters' questions unless they were in writing.
Asked why he would not talk to reporters, Lester said, "It's my prerogative as an American citizen to do as I damn well please, as long as I abide" by the state's Freedom of Information act.
Lester's refusal to talk with reporters is unusual among county administrators in Virginia and comes less than two weeks after Lester told the Roanoke Times & World-News that he would resign amid reports of infighting between county employees.
On March 5, Lester tried to send his letter of resignation to a reporter by facsimile machine, but could not get the machine to work. Later, he decided to keep his job.
Lester's $37.3 million budget recommendation contains no new initiatives and no property tax increases. However, he does recommend that the Board of Supervisors enact a meals tax, raise landfill tipping fees and borrow $3.5 million to pay for a new landfill that will open in January 1994.
Other highlights of the budget include:
No pay raise for county employees.
Granting a longstanding request by the Retail Merchants Association to increase the county's contribution from $3,500 to $10,000, putting the group on par with the local Chamber of Commerce.
A 6.9 percent increase in the county's share of employee health insurance premiums.
Earlier, Gereau thanked the Board of Supervisors for its recent support, which has enabled the school system to reduce class size, open a new middle school, launch a model dropout prevention program and make all buildings handicapped accessible.
Gereau said the next challenge would be to make the salaries of school employees competitive with surrounding localities. Last year, the average salary of Franklin County teachers was $26,285, which ranked 15th out of 16 area school divisions, he said.
Gereau noted that school employees took a pay cut last year because of frozen raises and skyrocketing health insurance costs. By next fall, insurance premiums will have risen $254 a month since 1990-91 for employees with family coverage, he said.
To pay for the proposed raises, the Board of Supervisors would have to raise the property tax rate from 50 cents to about 58 cents per $100 in assessed value, he said.
"We need to make education a priority," he said.
by CNB