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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 21, 1993                   TAG: 9304210205
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BEDFORD RAISES TAXES

Taxpayers in Bedford County will pay more in real estate taxes next year, but not as much as originally proposed, the county Board of Supervisors decided Monday night.

The supervisors voted to increase the real estate tax 3 cents, from 62 to 65 cents per $100 in assessed real estate value.

That means a $15 increase in the tax bill on a house assessed at $50,000, from $310 to $325.

The supervisors had considered a 5-cent increase in the tax rate.

County officials estimate the 3-cent increase will raise more than $500,000 in additional county revenue annually.

The supervisors also voted to raise the personal property tax from $6 to $6.50 per $100 in assessed value, and they raised the vehicle decal fee from $10 to $15.

Both increases had been previously discussed by the supervisors and should generate about $500,000 for the county in annual revenues.

The approximately $1 million in extra money will go to balancing a $64.6 million budget for 1993-94 that the supervisors also approved Monday night.

The spending plan is $7.3 million more than this year's budget.

Included in the budget is nearly $1 million in new expenses needed for the opening of the new county landfill in October and a 3 percent pay raise for employees.

The Bedford County School Board budget of $38.4 million was not changed in the county budget.

The supervisors also agreed to spend $89,000 for the purchase of a county industrial park site, which is the last major obstacle facing Bedford County before it can receive state approval as a certified business location.

Originally, the supervisors were faced with finding $3 million in new revenue for the coming year. But in work sessions during the past month, they cut more than $1 million in proposed spending, and the county came up with some additional revenue it originally had underestimated.

By raising both real estate and personal property taxes, plus the decal fee, the supervisors said they hoped to spread out the tax burden, rather than hit just real estate owners or car owners.

The decal fee was last raised in 1973, the personal property tax in 1989. The last real estate tax increase was in 1990.

by CNB