Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 23, 1993 TAG: 9310260314
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
The resolution is intended to send a message of displeasure from the Board of Supervisors to the state and federal governments on mandates that the General Assembly and Congress impose on localities but for which they provide no money.
That leaves the county to pay for mandates it did not create.
''Unfunded mandates are a real problem for us in Pulaski,'' said Jerry White, board chairman. ``
Increasingly, programs we would like to develop for the county of Pulaski go by the wayside because of the flood of expenses required by new mandates from Washington or Richmond.'''
The state mandates that have hit Pulaski County particularly hard have been education and solid waste management.
The county has lost state money for schools because it has lost students, and that money is based on student population. State standards of quality mandates remain unchanged, even though there is less money to pay for them.
Solid waste management costs grew from less than $200,000 per year in the 1980 s to more than $2 million now. This has helped clean up the environment but, unlike the 1960s when Congress paid 75 percent of the costs of clean water mandates, no federal aid has been forthcoming.
The mandates from both federal and state levels have been coming faster in recent years as their own revenues have been decreasing in comparison with expenses.
The National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, U.S. Conference of Mayors and International City/County Management Association have all declared Wednesday as National Unfunded Mandates Day to focus national attention on such mandates.
In Virginia, the effort is supported by the Virginia Municipal League, Virginia Association of Counties and Virginia School Boards Association. They will hold a news conference at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in front of Richmond City Hall.
But Pulaski County officials, including White, have been complaining about unfunded mandates for years. White seldom misses a chance to bring them up whenever the board meets with state or federal legislators.
``It's time Virginia taxpayers woke up to the burden that unfunded mandates are placing on local finances,'' White said.
by CNB