Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 14, 1994 TAG: 9412140101
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Montgomery officials, like their counterparts across Virginia, fear a potential shifting of costs from the state to local level as a result of tax-cutting plans.
Barring that though, the county Board of Supervisors heard Monday that a growing economy means steady, if not spectacular, growth in tax revenue.
Revenues are up 1.1 percent, or $278,847, over projections halfway through the 1994-95 budget year. Moreover, Finance Director Carol Edmonds expects revenues for 1995-96 will be 4 percent higher, giving the supervisors $1.15 million of wiggle room.
If the past is any guide, that wiggle room will turn quickly into standing room only as petitioners seek a piece of the $70.67 million budget pie.
County budgets are to be turned in and compiled beginning next week. And School Superintendent Herman Bartlett is to unveil a list of spending proposals to the School Board next month. Moreover, the school's budget expert said last week he expects state school revenues to be down this year, putting more costs on the county.
Last winter it would have required a 14-cent tax increase to pay for everything proposed; instead, the board cut some spending, delayed other expenses and raised the property tax rate by 21/2 cents, the first major increase since three new members were elected in 1991. Real estate taxes account for 80 percent of local revenues, or $20.5 million this year.
Edmonds presented the board with a host of charts to track how growth is affecting tax collections for Montgomery County, the New River Valley's largest local government.
In the budget that ended June 30, sales taxes collections - the largest other revenue source besides property taxes - hit their highest mark since before the 1990 recession; they are expected to continue to grow this year and into the 1995-96 budget.
The one local tax the governor has targeted for elimination is the gross-receipts tax, which is a significant revenue source for Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford and other local governments. But Montgomery doesn't levy the tax. Instead, it has a tax based on year-end retail inventories. Edmonds said there's some speculation that tax could be targeted for elimination in the future, which would mean a loss of approximately $1 million in revenue for the county.
The county School Board is to propose a 1995-96 budget to the Board of Supervisors by early February. The supervisors will then refine the overall county budget, including schools, by mid-March before adopting its tax rate by early April.
by CNB