Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1993 TAG: 9309150208
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The tax increase ends a dispute with Montgomery County about who will staff the temporary jail facility.
The lockup, opened in June 1991 as a joint venture between the town and county, is equipped with a closed-circuit television link to the county magistrate's office in Christiansburg so prisoners don't have to be taken there for processing.
Council members agreed that while they hated raising the tax, the benefits of the electronic magistrate system far outweigh the extra 63 cents that residents will see added to their phone bills in mid-November.
"During peak-activity times we need the police officers on the street and not running back and forth to Christiansburg," said Mayor Roger Hedgepeth.
The ordinance raised the tax from 23 cents to 86 cents a month.
Police Chief Don Carey said the electronic magistrate saves the town more than 2,000 work-hours and $12,000 in vehicle maintenance per year. The average time it takes a Blacksburg officer to make an arrest has been cut from 90 minutes to 32 minutes.
The town spent about $100,000 for the jail annex and electronic magistrate and provided $15,000 a year toward the operation of the program. Montgomery County spent roughly $65,000 for the facilities and agreed to staff the jail annex 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
But last September, county officials gave the required 12-month notice to terminate its contract to staff the facility. Since then, Blacksburg officials have expressed irritation at the county's "erratic or nonexistent" staffing of the jail; and in May, Town Council passed a resolution criticizing the county's management of the facility.
The tax increase will generate $98,809 a year, enough for the Police Department to hire and certify one part-time and two full-time officers to staff the jail from Wednesday to Saturday, peak times for arrests in Blacksburg.
Carey said having the new officers will free higher-paid, sworn officers to provide more coverage in their assigned patrol areas.
Peter Wesel was the only resident to protest the tax increase during Tuesday's public hearing.
"You'll see my face every time I feel your hand near my wallet," he said. `It's 63 cents today and what's it going to be tomorrow? . . . I'm a firm believer that this town is overpopulated with police officers who sit on their [behinds]."
by CNB