
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995                   TAG: 9502020035
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DON'T THROW WRECKED CARS AWAY

Q: Some railroad officials at the derailment in Radford on Monday told me the new automobiles the train was hauling would be crushed or cut up for salvage. Some of them have very little damage. Why would the railroad take a loss like that, and why couldn't the cars be donated to a nonprofit organization?

R.V., Radford

A: Legal title to those automobiles and pickup trucks is held by the automakers. Ford and Chrysler, together with insurance companies, will decide what's to be done with them.

A Norfolk Southern Corp. spokesman said the automobiles would be unloaded at Walkertown, N.C., and inspected for damage.

Three possibilities exist for disposal, according to Ford, which built most of the cars. Fixable vehicles are repaired by Ford dealers and sold at auction, with the buyer receiving a list of the damages.

Cars that are a mess are scrapped.

Ford donates some cars to schools and colleges for laboratory work by shop and engineering classes. These cars are sawed in half so no one will be tempted to fix them up for road use.

Payroll differences

Q: Why does the city of Roanoke employ three times as many people as Roanoke County, when each has a population of nearly 100,000?

R.A., Roanoke County A: Much of the difference is constitutional. Cities are more independent of state government than are counties and are responsible for more services.

Roanoke County has 735 full-time employees. Roanoke has 1,930. Two of the larger differences are streets and fire departments.

Roanoke employs 75 to maintain streets. The county has no street department; roads are kept up by the Virginia Department of Transportation. (VDOT also maintains 10.5 miles of Interstate 581 and U.S. 220 in the city.)

For emergency services, Roanoke has 242 firefighters. Roanoke Emergency Medical Services has 26 full-time and 25 part-time workers and about 100 volunteers.

Roanoke County has 55 full-time fire and rescue personnel, backed up by 600 volunteers.

For social services, Roanoke employs 176 and Roanoke County 58.

Populations, by the way, are 97,000 in the city and 81,000 in the county.|

IRS expenses

Q: What percent of the funds taken in by the Internal Revenue Service are required to operate the IRS?

K.B., Roanoke

A: The IRS has a hefty budget - $7.3 billion for fiscal 1994.

IRS spending, though, is minuscule when compared with collections for tax year 1993 - $1.085 trillion net, after refunds.

The IRS spent 0.68 percent of what it took in during 1994.

Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.|

by CNB