Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 10, 1993 TAG: 9306100319
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE LENGTH: Short
The county Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 Monday to eliminate the program - in place since 1948 - because claims have exceeded revenue from stamp sales, said County Administrator Richard Flora.
Annual revenue in recent years, he said, averaged about $9,000. Last year, claims amounted to about $24,000.
The program was supported by hunters who bought a damage stamp along with hunting licenses. Half the revenue went to farmers and the rest to the county's fire departments and rescue squads and to program administration.
Board Chairman Zane Jones said he voted against eliminating the program because most of his constituents in the Simmonsville Magisterial District are farmers, many of whom have told him they wanted to keep the program.
Most of the money paid to farmers from the program in recent years has gone to those in the Simmonsville district, Jones said.
He also said he voted against eliminating the program because the county will lose about $5,000 a year in revenue. The county will need to make up the emergency-services funding previously paid by the damage stamp revenues, Jones said.
In another action, the supervisors adopted a $4.4 million county budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The budget contains no major changes, and the tax rate remains the same as it has been for the last three years, Flora said.
The supervisors appointed Grover C. Mitchell to the Board of Zoning Appeals and reappointed Robert Keffer to the Social Services Board.
by CNB