Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 2, 1995 TAG: 9503020040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Budget analysts told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that they are expecting a substantial surplus when the fiscal year ends June 30, thanks to an unanticipated boost in tax revenues.
Brent Robertson, the county's budget manager, said the bulk of the additional money comes from taxes on vehicles, tools and machinery. The county will collect between $500,000 and $1.7 million more in personal property taxes than originally estimated, he said.
"The biggest wild card is the personal property tax. There is a real difficulty in projecting that, because it's a function of the economy," Robertson said. "As things look better, people could start replacing their vehicles, but then again, it might plane out."
An additional $500,000 is expected from real estate taxes; and by the time these large bonuses are added to smaller gains throughout the budget, the total could reach $3 million, Robertson said.
That's good news for the 1995-96 budget process, which got under way this week. But some supervisors said a surplus that high is a bad sign. Supervisor Bob Johnson argued at a work session Tuesday that overly conservative revenue estimates make the task of budgeting more difficult.
"In order to be able to plan for services, you have to know how much money you have to spend," he said later. "When they miss it by $3 million, that limits my ability to do what I've been elected to do."
Johnson said the county's staff has a track record of underestimating revenues.
"They aren't doing me any favors," he said. "I'm not going to spend the money willy-nilly, but we had some real tough budget decisions to make last year."
County Administrator Elmer Hodge told the supervisors, however, that the conservative approach to projecting revenues is the lesser of two evils.
"I will always try to be conservative," he said. "I'd rather do that than have to come back to you with a shortfall near the end of the year."
Hodge said he will recommend that the $3 million surplus be split between the school and county budgets and go toward debt repayment and one-time expenditures.
In addition to the current budget's surplus, revenue estimates show that the county will have about $5.2 million in new local money to spend during the 1995-96 fiscal year.
The Board of Supervisors committed itself during Tuesday's work session to keeping the real estate tax rate steady, but most county landowners will pay more in taxes for the fiscal year that begins July 1 because of increases in the assessed value of their homes.
Assessments on existing residential property went up last year by 3.3 percent on average.
The real estate tax rate is $1.13 per $100 of assessed value. For example, a taxpayer who owns a home assessed at $105,000 can expect to pay $1,186.50 in real estate taxes.
The personal property tax rate is $3.50 per $100 of assessed value.
The increase in revenues is unlikely to result in a lower tax rate, Johnson said, because "we have a lot of needs that have gone unmet."
As federal and state governments continue to provide fewer resources and make more demands, local governments will be responsible for picking up the slack, he said.
Hodge agreed. "While $8 million extra in revenues sounds like a wonderful, wonderful place to be, we have $1 million in debt service and many maintenance projects that have gone without funds," he said. "These all have to be considered, and it will be a challenge."
A public hearing on tax rates will be held March 28 at 7 p.m. at the Roanoke County Administration Building. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for April 25.
by CNB