Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 11, 1994 TAG: 9401110155
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KAREN BARNES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
In a recent meeting with area lawmakers headed for the General Assembly, Lynchburg officials stressed their need for other sources of revenue - including a possible annexation of Bedford County's affluent Forest area.
Lynchburg Mayor Julian Adams said the city's economic influence extends beyond its political boundaries. He contends that Forest residents who work and play in Lynchburg without paying city taxes should reach into their wallets out of a sense of fairness.
"Those who are mobile and financially able to move up and out should not be allowed to move out to escape responsibility," Adams said. "They're getting a free ride right now."
Anita Garner, a Forest resident spearheading the consolidation effort with her husband and volunteers, responded that perhaps Adams should impose an exit visa on departing Lynchburg residents heading for the suburbs.
Bedford County Supervisor Henry Creasy, who represents Forest, said Forest residents pump money into Lynchburg's economy, which should at least equalize costs in services.
One alternative to annexation floated at the meeting was a revenue-sharing agreement between Lynchburg and Bedford County's 150-acre industrial park on U.S. 221 in Forest, less than a mile from the Lynchburg line.
But cooperation should not mean Bedford County giving handouts to Lynchburg, Creasy said.
Adams advocates revenue-sharing, but Bedford County Administrator Bill Rolfe said he has not been contacted about it. Plus, Rolfe added, the voters would have the final say; revenue-sharing with another government requires a referendum.
A state moratorium on annexations is in force until 1995. Creasy and Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, support extending the moratorium.
Adams said annexation talk is "strictly academic at this point." But, he said, Lynchburg's future could depend on the moratorium's repeal.
"Lynchburg could eventually die if the laws don't change," he said. "At some point, sooner or later, something's going to have to give. And if that means people in small, affluent areas have to give some for the betterment of the whole, well, that's what `commonwealth' means."
There are some services that Forest residents do pay for, however. If a Bedford County student opts to enroll in a Lynchburg school, the price tag is $2,000. Forest uses Lynchburg's sewer system and buys water from the city - at an inflated price, Rolfe says.
To have such different water rates within a small geographic area threatens the ideas of the greater Lynchburg area's Region 2000 plan, which promote joint growth, and makes industrial recruitment difficult, Rolfe said.
Creasy said more cooperative work is needed to ease tensions. "What we need to do is not be at odds on where the dividing lines are," he said. "We need to work for cooperative industry and a better way of life."
Adams denied that annexation is high on Lynchburg's agenda, despite the conversations, which he says were fueled by the Bedford city/county consolidation drive and the moratorium's approaching deadline.
The problem is inequity in taxing ability between cities and counties, Adams said. Generally, cities have broader taxing powers than counties. But, Adams said, cities get the short end of the money stick.
Cities receive about 60 cents for each dollar sent to Richmond, while counties take in $1.60 for the same investment, he said.
Adams wants to level the playing field. "Everyone should be playing by the same rules," he said. Otherwise, options for cities to gain additional revenues - as through annexation - must be considered.
That would be one issue for Lynchburg's city lobbyist to tackle, Adams said. But the high-paying position is vacant, with just days left before the General Assembly opens.
Under state law, if Bedford city and county consolidated as an expanded city, Lynchburg could not legally annex any part of the new city.
by CNB