BEDFORD BOARD HEARS MESSAGE: NO TAX RISE

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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 13, 1993                   TAG: 9304130291
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD                                LENGTH: Medium
BEDFORD BOARD HEARS MESSAGE: NO TAX RISE
There were no fireworks, but the message to the Bedford County Board of Supervisors Monday night was clear: Cut county spending and don't raise taxes.
However, few of the people who spoke at a public hearing on three proposed tax increases for Bedford County had any specific suggestions on what spending to cut or how to generate revenue without raising taxes.
That task - a job none of Monday's speakers said they envied - is up to the seven county supervisors who listened through the hour-long public hearing attended by about 50 people.
"You are being paid for it, so go ahead and take the heat," said Jack Mills, one of about a dozen residents who commented on the proposed tax increases.
The supervisors are considering increases on real estate taxes, personal property taxes and vehicle decal fees to compensate for a more than $1 million shortfall in the county's proposed 1993-94 budget.
Under the proposed increases, real estate taxes would jump from 62 to 67 cents per $100 in assessed real estate value, personal property would go from $6 to $6.50 per $100 in assessed value and car decals would increase from $10 to $15. The county estimates that the added taxes would generate almost $1.4 million in county revenues annually.
Board Chairman Tony Ware said he, too, didn't envy his or his fellow supervisors' position. "I don't think there's a person on this board who wants to raise the first tax," he said.
Still, it seems unlikely that the supervisors will back away from raising the three taxes. Increased operating expenses - particularly for the new county landfill, which must meet new and more stringent state and federal guidelines starting this year - has caused a $1,045,924 shortfall in next year's proposed budget.
And despite the call by some county residents Monday not to raise taxes, opposition overall to the tax increases has been fairly meager. In fact, one speaker said that if the supervisors had proposed only a three-cent jump on real estate taxes, then they probably would have had virtually no opposition.
Others disagreed, saying that taxpayers are fed up. "Each year it doesn't go down. It goes up . . . I think it's time to stop," said Dave Smeltz.
He suggested that the supervisors should consider temporary tax increases to meet budget shortfalls, but then they should return to the original rates. His was one of the few specific suggestions given to the supervisors.
Most of the speakers instead urged the supervisors to look closer at next year's proposed budget for ways to cut spending. The supervisors are expected to vote on the budget and tax increases next week, and still may make changes to both.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB