Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 3, 1995 TAG: 9502030091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON and DAN CASEY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``It will mean real money back to Roanoke city public schools,'' which were preparing for funding cuts of at least $22 per pupil in anticipation that Gov. George Allen's proposed tax cuts might pass.
Herbert said a statewide grass-roots effort played a key role in defeating the tax cuts. Across the state, county and city officials and school boards took their cases against proposed tax cuts to citizens, who in turn lobbied state lawmakers to vote against them.
``My reaction when I heard this is that Virginia representative government worked.''
Roanoke Vice Mayor John Edwards, a Democrat:
``I'm glad to hear that [the General Assembly] has defeated the ill-considered repeal of the BPOL taxes. A repeal would create enormous problems for many localities. Roanoke last year received $8.16 million from the tax, 6 percent of the city's total revenues. About 36 percent of that goes directly to city schools.''
No matter what parliamentary tactics the governor may try to resurrect the cuts, ``I think it's highly unlikely that the repeal of BPOL will go through this year. The sentiments of [lawmakers in Richmond] who I talked to is they were very much against repealing the tax. ... The only people in favor of it were some Northern Virginia businessmen.''
John Stroud, president of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce:
``If they are going to take away the ability of the city of Roanoke to generate $8 million, there has to be a way to replace that $8 million.''
Whatever the outcome of political wrangling in Richmond, the state needs to ``look at the way business is taxed and come up with some fairer ways,'' Stroud said.
James Arend, president of the Roanoke Valley Business Council, which represents chief executives of the valley's 50 largest companies:
``If the people we have elected to the state legislature feel that this is an inappropriate way to reduce taxes - as admirable a goal as [reducing taxes] might be - then we would be supportive of the legislature.''
The council had opposed tax cuts, arguing that they would undermine stable revenue sources for higher education and the arts, and force the state to go into excessive debt to build prisons.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB