Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 28, 1994 TAG: 9404280191
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
No taxes will be increased, although residents will pay some extra costs for water and garbage-collection services.
The $18 million budget includes a $10.4 million general fund, the largest ever for the tax-driven fund. This year's general fund budget was $9.6 million.
In the form passed Tuesday, council voted unanimously to increase garbage collection rates by $1.52 for each two-month bill, and the average water bill from $28.22 to $29.75 a month.
The budget includes:
$953,000 for payment of debts;
$367,000 for street repaving;
$89,000 for water main replacements;
$80,000 for the new town park at Blacksburg Elementary School on Prices Fork Road which will be open next school year;
$19,000 to link by computer the town's planning and engineering department.
The budget also includes 4 percent raises for town employees, double this year's raise.
For the past two months Town Council has held work sessions to pour over the 300-page document.
"Well, it's April 26, and we have a budget, which is more than some governments can say," Mayor Roger Hedgepeth said with a smile.
Also Tuesday, the council voted its members a raise. Effective July 1, the mayor will be paid $7,800, and council members $6,000 apiece, up from $6,000 and $4,800, respectively.
The council members voted 5-2 for the raises, with Lewis Barnett and Frances Parsons dissenting.
"We don't do this very often," Hedgepeth said. The last time the mayor's and council's salaries went up was in 1990.
by CNB